Find yourself laughing at a joke that is just "so wrong"? Apparently there's a science behind that. In his new book,
The Humor Code, Warner and McGraw, two professors at the University of Colorado at Boulder delve into comedy trends throughout the world, and develop a theory called benign violation of humor, which is central to many jokes. The idea is that violations are things that are wrong or unsettling, and benign is the nonthreatening part; think of being startled by something and finding out it's not what you thought it was. Tickling, McGraw states, is another example of this, as your experiencing something very unsettling physically, but you known it's benign as you're in no danger (unless you're the tickler and the person you're tickling is a kicker. I WARNED YOU!). Essentially, there needs to be an amount of tension, and a balance, for jokes to fly. If it's toothless, it's not funny. If it violates too much, we become uncomfortable. Various studies on what type of violations are funny found that jokes can indeed be too soon (a month is ideal before your hurricane jokes), distance of the subject matter adds to the joke, and even the physicality of how you receive the joke--jam packed comedy clubs, booze and uncomfortable seats keep you on edge--all effect reception.
Interesting article, it also goes into what makes a good comedian (studies found that comedians tend to have psychotic traits and to die younger...oh my).
ARTICLE:
The Atlantic, February 2014
