It’s a mystifying business, this business of humor – deadly, too, comedians are always talking about, “killin’ their audience. Ordinary folk, in a fit of laughter say, “Stop, stop, please, your killin’ me!”! When a comedian fails to get laughs he may say, “I was dying out there”. Such a violent way to look at things. Death lies in wait at the end of many punchlines I guess that’s why so many comedians commit suicide.
Nothing is funny if it isn’t a surprise.
We laugh at unexpected endings – at punchlines. Some punchlines intentionally don’t punch. We call such jokes, “shaggy-dog stories”, after the famous long dull joke of the same name. We don’t laugh at shaggy-dog stories, we moan. The joke is on us.
Most jokes seem to be on somebody. These jokes at the expense of someone else can be thought of as, banana-skin jokes – a man slips on a banana skin and falls - Ha, Ha, Ha! People who would ordinarily be ashamed to laugh at the painful misfortune of others, laugh at this.
It’s the element of surprise that makes them laugh.
We also laugh at ourselves when we make an unexpected error. Vaudevillian comics made such frequent use of this kind of humor that they had a trade term for it, “Pratfall”.
My gentle wife, Joyce, did not laugh at pratfalls, or any other form of banana-skin joke. She thought the only truly funny kind of humor was self-depreciating humor. It was okay to laugh at yourself. It was never okay to laugh at someone else.
I agree.
There is a dark side to humor that is ancient.
The archetype comedian is the, “Trickster”.
Every Paleolithic culture had their own version.
Tricksters played tricks on respectable order and the people who maintained respectable order. They were supernatural beings, often taking the form of animals. Brer Rabbit is the cartoon version of this sort. Brer Rabbit is a direct descendent of characters from very old African folktales.
Trickster tricks could be playful – or malicious. Satan, disguised as a serpent, tricking Eve with the forbidden fruit, is certainally the most extreme malicious example. Other Tricksters contented themselves with tempting humans into foolish acts that ended in embarrassing paleolithic pratfalls.
At ceremonial tribal gatherings, some member of the tribe would play the Trickster; on these occasions, the tricks would be largely harmless.
By Medieval times the Trickster had become the Jester –
a harmless buffoon, a clown.
In modern times, George Carlen styled himself as Jester.
Trickster, Jester, Clown, Comedian – the title changes, the method remains the same: mock; disparage; exaggerate; deceive. From simple jokes – to parody – to satire – every form of humor depends upon mockery, disparagement, exaggeration and deceit.
Humor seems relentlessly cruel.
Is there anything funny about any kind of joke?
Just one, the joke you tell on yourself.
Self-disparaging humor reminds us of our own failings. Humility is the necessary first step toward improvement. That’s always good.
Anything else?
Well, laughter is said to remove stress. Yes, but the laughter that removes stress from you, adds stress to the person who is the butt of your joke.
Laughter is the weapon of the weak. It attacks the powerful in the only way possible. True enough, but does the powerful person attacked really deserve to be attacked?
Humor can’t tell us that.
The clown can only smirk and honk his horn.
What’s so funny about that?