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Interpret the Text Using Close Reading
aCTIVITy 1.3
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15 Gary Gulman, a finalist in Last Comic Standing, a reality TV show and comedy competition, gave specifics. “Sometimes it’s a keen observation about something you thought you lived through. Sometimes it’s a juxtaposition of words. Sometimes it’s a gesture or a sound. An encyclopedia couldn’t do this question justice.”
What Are You Laughing At?
16 Yet laughter is not always a planned response to a joke. One study found that
80 percent of the time, we laugh at something that just happens. People often laugh just because someone else does. Like a yawn, a laugh is contagious. That’s why some sit- coms use laugh tracks.
17 Laughter is also social, a way to bond with others. After all, how often do you laugh alone? When two or more people laugh at the same thing, it is as if nature reminds them of what they have in common.
18 Behavioral neuroscientist Robert R. Provine conducted a 10-year experiment
in which he eavesdropped on 2,000 conversations in malls, at parties, and on city sidewalks. He found that the greatest guffaws did not follow intentionally funny statements; people laughed hardest at everyday comments that seemed funny only in a certain social context.
19 “Do you have a rubber band?” is not in and of itself humorous, but it is if it’s said in response to “I like Amelia so much. I wish I could get her attention.”
Theories of Funniness
20 There are three main theories about humor.
21 Release theory—Humor gives a break from tension. In a horror movie, as a
character creeps through a dark house (often idiotically) to follow an eerie noise, he might open a door to find a cat playing with a squeeze toy. The audience laughs in relief. Humor also lets us deal with unpleasant or forbidden issues, such as death and violence. People are often more comfortable laughing at something shocking said by someone else, though they would never say it themselves. Comedian Keenen Ivory Wayans
once said, “Comedy is the flip side of pain. The worst things that happen to you are hysterical—in retrospect. But a comedian doesn’t need retrospect; he realizes it’s funny while he’s in the eye of the storm.”
22 Superiority theory—Audience members laugh at those who appear to be more stupid than they judge themselves to be. Slapstick humor, such as seeing a guy slip on a banana peel, often falls into this category. This theory dates back to Plato in ancient Greece and was prominent in the Middle Ages, when people with deformities were often employed as court jesters.
23 Somecomediansexploitedthistheorybybuildingaroutine—orevenapersona— around the idea that they were losers who couldn’t catch a break. Larry David, David Letterman, and Woody Allen are comedians who have done this, each in his own way.
24 Incongruity theory—People laugh when things that are not normally associated with each other are put together. Many comedy duos, from Laurel and Hardy to David Spade and Chris Farley, feature a thin man and a fat man, a visual contrast.
25 People also laugh when there is a difference between what they expect to happen and what actually occurs. They are being led in a certain direction, and then that direction abruptly changes, and the unpredictability makes them laugh. Children see birds all the time without reaction, but if one flies into their classroom through an open window, they will probably explode in giggles.
my notes
Unit 4 • The Challenge of Comedy • Part 1: Made You Laugh 147
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