WEBVTT - Is there a scientific formula for funny? 0:00:00.200 --> 0:00:05.880 Brought to you by the all new Toyota Corolla. Ladies 0:00:05.880 --> 0:00:16.880 and gentlemen looking to stuff you should know. Hey, and 0:00:16.920 --> 0:00:19.560 welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. With me is 0:00:19.560 --> 0:00:22.919 always this, Charles W. Chuck Bryant, and with us as 0:00:23.000 --> 0:00:26.040 not always is all of you guys here at l 0:00:26.120 --> 0:00:34.960 a podcast, but it's a little unusual. I've only done 0:00:35.000 --> 0:00:38.400 this a couple of times before. Yeah, little south by Southwest, Yeah, 0:00:38.520 --> 0:00:43.159 comic con and now podcast. That's right, um, and we've 0:00:43.200 --> 0:00:45.680 got a pretty good crew here, good group, I can 0:00:45.720 --> 0:00:49.400 tell just by the looks of you guys. Um, and uh, 0:00:49.440 --> 0:00:51.080 we've got a very special treat for all of you 0:00:51.159 --> 0:00:53.720 listeners at home. We're all very excited about it. I 0:00:53.760 --> 0:00:55.640 think I'm the most excited about it, but a right, 0:00:56.000 --> 0:00:59.280 you're definitely the most excited about it. Uh. And today 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:02.760 we're talking about, um, Chuck, as you were saying, we're 0:01:02.800 --> 0:01:05.600 talking about we're gonna answer a question, is there a 0:01:05.640 --> 0:01:08.679 scientific formula for funny? And I guess we can kind 0:01:08.680 --> 0:01:14.679 of spoil it now by saying yes and not really right, 0:01:15.480 --> 0:01:22.640 And that was it. That's all. That's the podcast. UM. 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:26.440 I do have an intro if you're interested in hearing it. Um, 0:01:26.560 --> 0:01:30.720 remember our ghosts episode? Yeah, that was pretty bad, so 0:01:31.120 --> 0:01:32.960 we I liked it. We got a lot of We 0:01:33.080 --> 0:01:36.960 got a lot of crud from skeptics surprised they didn't 0:01:36.959 --> 0:01:40.160 like our ghost episode. Um. But there was a guy, 0:01:40.440 --> 0:01:45.240 a researcher named Richard Wiseman from Hertfordshire University in the UK. 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:52.160 Go Figgy Puddings, Um, and they Richard, why do you 0:01:52.160 --> 0:01:54.120 remember who I'm talking about? I remember the guy. We 0:01:54.200 --> 0:01:58.760 interpreted his his research and the ghosts, which is basically 0:01:58.840 --> 0:02:02.120 used to debunk ghosts. We took what he found as 0:02:02.160 --> 0:02:05.120 evidence there there may be such things as ghosts, and 0:02:05.160 --> 0:02:07.480 the skeptics didn't like that at all. But he's done 0:02:07.480 --> 0:02:09.880 some other stuff too, So he makes an appearance in 0:02:09.960 --> 0:02:13.120 this podcast as of right now because before he was 0:02:13.160 --> 0:02:16.480 doing ghost stuff, he was doing humor research. I am 0:02:16.520 --> 0:02:18.440 back in two thousands two. He set up a website 0:02:18.440 --> 0:02:21.600 called laugh Lab and he wanted to find the world's 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:24.760 funniest joke. Really yeah, not to be confused with the 0:02:24.760 --> 0:02:28.040 funniest joke in the world, the Monty Python thing. This 0:02:28.120 --> 0:02:32.840 is different. Um. And there were forty thousand submissions I 0:02:32.880 --> 0:02:35.440 think one point four million hits and this is prior 0:02:35.480 --> 0:02:37.840 to social media, so these are pretty respectable numbers if 0:02:37.840 --> 0:02:42.280 you think about it. And they found the world's funniest joke. 0:02:43.360 --> 0:02:45.760 I generally don't know this, so I'm on pins and needles. 0:02:45.840 --> 0:02:48.600 Do you want to hear? Okay? So this guy is 0:02:48.600 --> 0:02:51.760 out hunting with a friend of his in the woods 0:02:52.040 --> 0:02:56.079 and the friend suddenly just drops over falls to the ground, 0:02:56.760 --> 0:02:58.880 and the hunter picks up his cell phone and he 0:02:58.919 --> 0:03:00.639 calls nine on one and he's is, hey, I think 0:03:00.639 --> 0:03:03.000 my friend just died. We're out here in the woods hunting. 0:03:03.040 --> 0:03:06.280 What should I do? And the nine and one operator says, well, 0:03:06.320 --> 0:03:08.520 first let's make sure he's dead, and so the hunter 0:03:08.600 --> 0:03:12.919 shoots his friend and he goes, okay, Now what that's 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:19.560 the world's funniest joke. It's not okay, but the so 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:22.680 ahead of mixed reaction and what we're talking about now 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:26.359 is the world's funniest joke. And it got a couple 0:03:26.400 --> 0:03:29.480 of laughs here, right. Yeah. I think what that proves 0:03:29.520 --> 0:03:32.080 and the point of this long rambling intro is that, um, 0:03:32.200 --> 0:03:35.880 we pretty much can't predict what's funny, what people are 0:03:35.880 --> 0:03:39.360 gonna find funny, and uh, let's talk about exactly why 0:03:39.400 --> 0:03:41.960 that is chuckers. Yes, well it's subjective, but we'll get 0:03:42.000 --> 0:03:43.840 to that later. Right, Well, we can just throw our 0:03:43.880 --> 0:03:47.440 opinions out then and be right. Well they've been. Even 0:03:47.440 --> 0:03:50.120 though there is no formula as of yet, it doesn't 0:03:50.120 --> 0:03:52.920 mean people haven't tried to find out. Dating all the 0:03:52.920 --> 0:03:57.280 way back to the first masters of comedy, Aristotle and Plato, 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:01.480 two very funny guys, they talked a lot about it, actually, 0:04:01.520 --> 0:04:06.320 surprisingly and um, they basically try to look at what 0:04:06.360 --> 0:04:11.480 compels people to laugh. And Aristotle, I think he thought 0:04:11.520 --> 0:04:13.920 that we're the we were the only creatures to laugh. 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:16.640 Is that right? Yeah, that was just a human phenomenon, 0:04:16.680 --> 0:04:18.960 which is wrong. It's right because it turns out, and 0:04:19.000 --> 0:04:21.840 this is the cutest part of the show too. Um, 0:04:22.040 --> 0:04:26.080 chimpanzees and ring tangs and apes not only laugh when 0:04:26.120 --> 0:04:28.799 you tickle them, but if you go to a baby chimp, 0:04:29.240 --> 0:04:32.240 you don't even have to make contact. You can just 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.560 do the little here I come with the fingers and 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:38.680 the baby chimp will laugh. Apparently, And uh, I did 0:04:38.720 --> 0:04:42.360 look up chimpanzee laughter and it's not um like humans 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:45.039 make the hehes and the ho hoes. There's more of 0:04:45.040 --> 0:04:47.880 a gasping sound apparently, rats do the same thing when 0:04:47.920 --> 0:04:49.839 you tickle that. No, we talked about this and the 0:04:50.000 --> 0:04:52.920 What's So Funny episode? We remember rat tickling with there's 0:04:53.040 --> 0:04:54.880 videos of it out there. They get like a little 0:04:54.960 --> 0:04:57.720 high pitched thing. It's the cutest thing you've ever seen, 0:04:57.760 --> 0:04:59.680 like somebody tickling a rat and the rats is like, 0:05:00.720 --> 0:05:04.440 it's it's very cute. But so yes, at the very least, 0:05:04.520 --> 0:05:11.400 laughter or taking tickling is funny. Is it goes across species? Yeah, 0:05:11.520 --> 0:05:13.360 And we did cover some of this in the show 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:15.440 on did we call it What's So Funny? I think 0:05:15.480 --> 0:05:18.800 so okay um, But laughter is UH is definitely a 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:21.960 human thing, aside from the primates and the rats, I think, 0:05:22.440 --> 0:05:26.120 and it consists of variations of one single basic form. 0:05:26.160 --> 0:05:29.560 It's vowel like sounds repeated every two and ten milliseconds, 0:05:30.120 --> 0:05:33.039 and human skin either he he like you just did, 0:05:33.680 --> 0:05:35.720 or a variation of a ho ho, but you don't 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.920 mix them. Apparently there's never been someone that laughs he 0:05:39.080 --> 0:05:44.920 ho he ho, because that would be up if that's 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:48.200 how you laugh and your your facial muscles get going. 0:05:48.240 --> 0:05:52.600 There's fifteen facial muscles that contract and strain UH. The 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:57.320 zygomatic major muscle, which is your upper lip is is triggered. Um, 0:05:57.360 --> 0:05:59.960 if it's really good, you might get the tear ducks going. 0:06:00.040 --> 0:06:01.960 Gonna know, we've all been there, and you're gonna be 0:06:02.000 --> 0:06:05.919 gasping and your respiratory system is struggling basically to breathe 0:06:05.920 --> 0:06:09.880 at that point, chimp like a baby chip. Uh. So 0:06:09.920 --> 0:06:13.520 that's basically what laughter is babies human babies. Human babies 0:06:14.000 --> 0:06:17.279 start at about three or four months if they have 0:06:17.279 --> 0:06:21.760 a sense of humor, I guess, and uh, some reachers 0:06:21.960 --> 0:06:26.159 researchers have found that, um, we are thirty times more 0:06:26.200 --> 0:06:28.920 likely to laugh in the company of others, uh than 0:06:29.000 --> 0:06:31.080 when you're alone. So it's definitely a social thing. And 0:06:31.120 --> 0:06:33.080 that is if because I read that first, that and 0:06:33.120 --> 0:06:37.320 I was like, clearly they've never watched Portlandia or Eastbounding 0:06:37.400 --> 0:06:39.920 down alone on the couch at midnight. But I mean 0:06:39.960 --> 0:06:43.680 that's a good point because when you're watching it by yourself, like, 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:48.159 you may laugh, but you're not necessarily laughing your off. 0:06:48.200 --> 0:06:50.159 I guess there's another way to put it. Yet, well 0:06:50.200 --> 0:06:53.440 I do, oh you do, of course. But that stat 0:06:53.480 --> 0:06:56.200 though was Um, that was the caveat is that's not 0:06:56.279 --> 0:07:00.200 including TV or any kind of external stimulation, Like if 0:07:00.200 --> 0:07:02.560 you're just alone and you like think a funny thought 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:05.000 or see a funny thing, you're way less likely to 0:07:05.080 --> 0:07:08.679 laugh if you're by yourself. Okay, all right, but whether 0:07:08.800 --> 0:07:13.600 you are in China or Santa Monica, wherever you are, 0:07:13.920 --> 0:07:16.960 laughter is gonna sound very similar like you were saying, 0:07:17.280 --> 0:07:19.720 and um, there is going to be such thing as humor. 0:07:19.920 --> 0:07:22.320 It's not necessarily going to be the same thing in 0:07:22.440 --> 0:07:26.000 China as it is in Santa Monica that gets laughs, 0:07:26.040 --> 0:07:28.440 like it would just be dead silent right now if 0:07:28.440 --> 0:07:34.480 we were in Beijing. Sounded like for a second. But 0:07:34.640 --> 0:07:37.400 so the point is as humor as universal, but it's 0:07:37.440 --> 0:07:41.960 constrained by all these different contexts like um uh, well, 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:45.920 like where you are and not just space but also time. 0:07:46.000 --> 0:07:48.960 Like what guys like Ben Franklin thought was funny, it 0:07:49.320 --> 0:07:53.040 just kind of falls flat today, Like turkey jokes, apple 0:07:53.080 --> 0:07:57.040 apple brandy jokes. That's a turkey joke. He had a couple. 0:07:57.560 --> 0:07:59.520 They weren't that good. They're not, they're not. They don't 0:07:59.520 --> 0:08:04.320 bear eating here. But that all that put together, gender differences, 0:08:04.400 --> 0:08:08.000 economic differences, all of these things kind of separate like 0:08:08.080 --> 0:08:13.240 what's funny from what's not funny depending on who you are. Um, 0:08:13.280 --> 0:08:18.760 but from Aristotle to Plato was one, wasn't he hum 0:08:20.080 --> 0:08:26.040 all the way up to Schopenhauer. Another hilarious dude, Kyrka Guard, 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:28.440 who by the way, has a great Twitter feed. Um, 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:32.240 Kyrka Kardashian, it's um, are you guys familiar with it? 0:08:32.240 --> 0:08:36.960 It's awesome. It's uh Kirka Guards philosophical musings and he 0:08:37.080 --> 0:08:42.720 was pretty dark. UM mashed together with Kim Kardashian's contemporary tweets. 0:08:43.840 --> 0:08:45.760 Let's just go check it out. It's like you'll you 0:08:45.800 --> 0:08:51.560 will definitely follow it. Not her old tweets, now her contemporary. Yeah, 0:08:51.600 --> 0:08:53.400 like for I'll give you one. Okay, that's how one 0:08:53.480 --> 0:08:57.000 today It's it's worth saying. Um. She said, Hey, I 0:08:57.080 --> 0:09:00.640 can't wait until you guys, um smell my new fragrance 0:09:00.679 --> 0:09:04.160 coming out this spring. It reeks of the misery of 0:09:04.200 --> 0:09:09.959 modern life. That was just an average one too. We 0:09:10.040 --> 0:09:11.680 got we got more than a he heat out of 0:09:11.720 --> 0:09:14.880 this guy. It's good right Uh for me, I'm I've 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.680 actually blogged about it the other day. Um, short jokes 0:09:18.720 --> 0:09:21.760 to me are the best brevity is the soul of 0:09:21.760 --> 0:09:24.440 wit or as they said on the Simpsons brevity is 0:09:24.600 --> 0:09:27.400 with of course they had to one up it. And 0:09:27.520 --> 0:09:32.360 my hero and many writers heroes, is the Great Jack Handy, 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:34.760 who is a real person. By the way, I don't 0:09:34.800 --> 0:09:37.040 mean a lot of people think that Deep Thoughts by 0:09:37.120 --> 0:09:39.760 Jack Andy was just some you know, made up name, 0:09:39.840 --> 0:09:42.160 Like there's no one named Jack Handy. It's written by, 0:09:42.240 --> 0:09:44.640 you know, just one of the SNL writers. He was 0:09:44.679 --> 0:09:47.760 an lent writer and his name is Jack Handy, and 0:09:47.800 --> 0:09:50.240 he has been sort of obsessed with creating the perfect 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:54.280 short joke over his career. He's the closest he thinks 0:09:54.320 --> 0:09:57.920 he's ever come. And it's pretty good, I think, is uh. 0:09:58.040 --> 0:10:00.760 The crows seemed to be calling his name. Thought to 0:10:00.800 --> 0:10:06.600 call not bad. That's Jack Handy thinks that's the best 0:10:06.679 --> 0:10:09.439 short joke he's ever written. Jack knows what he's talking, 0:10:09.520 --> 0:10:12.240 so good and uh. It was in a McSweeney's article 0:10:12.240 --> 0:10:14.960 that I first read about this from the New York Times. Um, 0:10:15.040 --> 0:10:18.000 they were talking about the New York Times that that 0:10:18.080 --> 0:10:20.439 writer thought the best one was. And this is pretty 0:10:20.440 --> 0:10:24.679 good too. I came here in peace, seeking gold and slaves. 0:10:27.320 --> 0:10:30.640 So for me, the Great Jack Handy is trying to 0:10:30.679 --> 0:10:34.520 get a laugh out of the fewest amount of words. Um. 0:10:34.559 --> 0:10:37.280 I came here in peking Golden slaves, five syllable set up, 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:41.920 five syllable punchline, beautiful, clean, the master for me? What's 0:10:41.920 --> 0:10:45.200 funny is this? Actually? In my research I ran across um, 0:10:45.520 --> 0:10:49.600 a real formula for funny. Um. That was the yes 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:55.960 part of the answer. Um alcohol plus joke greater than okay. 0:10:56.440 --> 0:11:01.520 So it's X equals F times L plus end times oh, 0:11:01.600 --> 0:11:05.320 divided by P And in those values in there, well, 0:11:05.360 --> 0:11:09.240 p p actually penalizes you because that's the number of 0:11:09.280 --> 0:11:11.240 puns that's in the jokes. So you get all these 0:11:11.240 --> 0:11:13.440 all these points and then it divided by the number 0:11:13.480 --> 0:11:15.720 of puns you used. So um. But one of the 0:11:15.880 --> 0:11:18.800 one of the formulas that that builds up the funniness 0:11:18.800 --> 0:11:21.080 of a joke is how long it takes for the 0:11:21.120 --> 0:11:23.640 punch line to build and then finally pay off. So 0:11:23.679 --> 0:11:26.240 it's like pretty much the opposite of it. So even 0:11:26.360 --> 0:11:28.920 Jack Handy and whoever came up with this formula can't 0:11:28.920 --> 0:11:32.719 agree on how to make something funnier. To figure out 0:11:32.760 --> 0:11:35.080 what's the funniest. Yeah, Well, if it was easy, everyone 0:11:35.080 --> 0:11:36.880 would be doing it, clearly, And we've seen a lot 0:11:36.880 --> 0:11:38.559 of I know you go to see a lot of 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.559 stand up comics a lot, and yeah, you're really into it. 0:11:41.600 --> 0:11:43.160 And through our job, we've gotten to see a lot 0:11:43.200 --> 0:11:46.120 and it's really fascinating, especially when you meet some of them, 0:11:46.160 --> 0:11:49.440 to see them working this stuff out, especially if you 0:11:49.480 --> 0:11:52.040 see them more than once doing kind of the same 0:11:52.080 --> 0:11:55.240 material and the subtle changes. I just I think it's 0:11:55.280 --> 0:11:57.960 really fascinating. And I've been writing a stand aback for 0:11:58.040 --> 0:12:01.280 like ten years. How's it going. It's going pretty good. 0:12:01.360 --> 0:12:05.360 Care to do so? No, not at all. It's got 0:12:05.440 --> 0:12:07.600 a mike, you have an audience. No, no, no, no, 0:12:08.559 --> 0:12:10.760 I don't like. I wouldn't have be I would have 0:12:10.760 --> 0:12:14.280 not even brought it up. There was a writer I know. 0:12:14.960 --> 0:12:16.880 Uh that was a writer named Debrah Solomon for New 0:12:16.920 --> 0:12:19.400 York Times magazine though that asked Chris Rock and I'm 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:22.640 not gonna do my Chris Rock, don't worry, um what's funny? 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:24.320 And his reply was, and it kind of says it 0:12:24.360 --> 0:12:27.040 all is, you want to know what's funny? Is thinking 0:12:27.080 --> 0:12:32.200 about it? What's not funny? Oh yeah, chuck blew that joke. 0:12:33.559 --> 0:12:35.680 It's not a joke. Yeah, you want to know it's 0:12:35.679 --> 0:12:37.280 not funny. It's thinking about it, thank you for that, 0:12:37.520 --> 0:12:40.200 or talking about it, which is what we're doing. So 0:12:40.280 --> 0:12:43.240 stop laughing because this is not funny. Apparently that's right, 0:12:43.240 --> 0:12:45.760 all right, So, um, we are not the only people 0:12:45.760 --> 0:12:48.320 who have ever said, you know, is can you figure 0:12:48.320 --> 0:12:52.079 out what's funny? Scientifically? There's actually a whole study. It's 0:12:52.080 --> 0:12:55.760 called humor studies, and strangely enough, it's not taken very 0:12:55.760 --> 0:13:00.880 seriously among psychologists. Um, although there's you know, an equal 0:13:01.160 --> 0:13:04.640 dedicated amount of work applied to it using the scientific method. 0:13:04.760 --> 0:13:08.720 You have the International Society for Humor Studies. They've been 0:13:08.720 --> 0:13:11.240 around since the eighties. They're trying to like keep the 0:13:11.280 --> 0:13:15.319 flame going. And apparently, um, ever since we started putting 0:13:15.320 --> 0:13:19.160 people into the Wonder Machine and asking them questions or um, 0:13:19.480 --> 0:13:23.760 telling them jokes, we've gotten like a lot more scientific 0:13:23.800 --> 0:13:25.400 basis of what's funny. We'll get into that in a 0:13:25.440 --> 0:13:27.760 little bit. Yeah, that's the f m R I or 0:13:27.760 --> 0:13:29.520 the m R I machine. You don't want to know that. 0:13:29.520 --> 0:13:33.000 That's our little name for though. Um. But prior to this, 0:13:33.080 --> 0:13:35.520 prior to the Wonder Machine being rolled out, like people 0:13:35.520 --> 0:13:37.880 have just kind of it's basically been up to philosophers 0:13:37.920 --> 0:13:40.400 to figure out what's funny, and they've come up with 0:13:40.440 --> 0:13:43.280 some pretty good theories. And there's a big three. There's 0:13:43.320 --> 0:13:45.240 I think as many I saw as many as a 0:13:45.360 --> 0:13:49.120 hundred theories of humor, but then it's been whittled down 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:51.640 to a big three, like pretty much arbitrarily. Or else 0:13:51.679 --> 0:13:53.760 people are like, maybe these three are the right ones. 0:13:53.800 --> 0:13:55.840 Who knows, but I think he's kind of hit on it. 0:13:56.000 --> 0:14:01.760 Um Number one is the superiority theory um Plato, Aristotle, Hobbs. 0:14:02.360 --> 0:14:04.600 They all sort of focus on this dark side of 0:14:04.640 --> 0:14:08.280 comedy and we've all been there. Um, Laughing at someone 0:14:08.280 --> 0:14:13.040 else's expense sometimes can be quite a good time. It's 0:14:13.040 --> 0:14:16.160 pretty much like, Um, this theory would be supported by 0:14:16.360 --> 0:14:19.840 Dwight shrewked like watching him. Yeah, you know, were listening 0:14:19.880 --> 0:14:22.480 to him for sure. And I might have told this 0:14:22.520 --> 0:14:24.280 on another show. But one of the funniest things I 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:29.000 ever saw Bless You, Bless You, was in college in Athens, Georgia. 0:14:29.320 --> 0:14:33.120 I saw a guy face plant really really bad on 0:14:33.200 --> 0:14:37.320 campus one day. You're already laughing, did you laugh? Well? 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:42.240 I laughed at this. The dude fell busted face forward, 0:14:42.600 --> 0:14:45.240 books went spilling out on the sidewalk, and I swear 0:14:45.280 --> 0:14:48.400 to God. Immediately the guy went like this and opened 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:51.800 up a book on the sidewalk like he was reading. 0:14:52.720 --> 0:14:54.960 And I was driving and I saw this happen, and 0:14:54.960 --> 0:14:56.720 I wanted to pull the car over and say, dude, 0:14:56.880 --> 0:14:59.360 you are the funniest person I've ever seen in my life, 0:14:59.680 --> 0:15:01.880 because it was just his instinct to play it off 0:15:01.920 --> 0:15:04.160 like that. And that was man. That was like seventeen 0:15:04.240 --> 0:15:05.720 years ago, and it's stuck with me this day. I 0:15:05.720 --> 0:15:07.400 don't know who that guy was, but I want to 0:15:07.400 --> 0:15:10.320 meet him still, if you're out there, way to go, man, Yeah, yeah, 0:15:10.440 --> 0:15:12.080 but it was I don't know if I would have 0:15:12.120 --> 0:15:14.000 laughed at his expense had he not done that, because 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:18.480 when although the America's funny some video effect, i'll call it, yeah, 0:15:19.000 --> 0:15:22.240 kicked in the nuts juggernaut, that is very much the 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:26.440 superiority theory in action. It is, or it is pretty 0:15:26.520 --> 0:15:30.360 much the converse theory that says the same thing but 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:32.560 has a kind of a different take of It's called 0:15:32.600 --> 0:15:35.800 inferiority theory. It's like the person whoever came up with 0:15:35.840 --> 0:15:38.880 this is like the person who who raises the last 0:15:39.000 --> 0:15:43.760 um bet by a dollar on the prices, right, you know, Oh, 0:15:43.880 --> 0:15:49.000 superiority theory. How about inferiority theory? Um they what they 0:15:49.040 --> 0:15:52.240 came up with was that we see and that guy falling. 0:15:52.600 --> 0:15:55.840 You don't feel better about yourself. You see part of 0:15:55.880 --> 0:15:58.880 yourself and him like you could have just as easily 0:15:58.920 --> 0:16:01.160 fallen or whatever. Yeah, but I wouldn't have been cool 0:16:01.200 --> 0:16:02.920 enough to play it off like I was reading a book. 0:16:03.480 --> 0:16:05.400 I would have picked up my books and ran home. 0:16:06.720 --> 0:16:11.400 Don't laugh at me. So that's where, Yeah, that's where 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.840 the admiration kicks in a right. Number two we are 0:16:14.920 --> 0:16:17.960 we're in the relief theory, which is Freud's theory, which 0:16:17.960 --> 0:16:21.280 means it's wrong. Man, you got it. You've had a 0:16:21.280 --> 0:16:23.320 bone to pick with Freud since I've known you. I 0:16:23.480 --> 0:16:29.760 like Malcolm Bladwell, I like um see is like as 0:16:29.880 --> 0:16:32.960 I just started twitching involuntarily. I like I like Freud 0:16:33.000 --> 0:16:34.680 as a person. I like what he was trying to do. 0:16:35.120 --> 0:16:37.160 I just think he was just kind of full of it. 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.040 All right, So what did Freud say? He wrote about 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:43.520 joking Believe it or not, This is actually um the 0:16:43.600 --> 0:16:46.000 his his theory that I agree with the most. Probably 0:16:46.080 --> 0:16:49.120 his theory of um humor is really theory, and that 0:16:49.480 --> 0:16:52.360 I totally agree. We have like it's it's a build 0:16:52.400 --> 0:16:56.560 up of wait for it, sexual energy that we release 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:01.680 surprised in some way, bless you that this live podcasting 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:04.320 is funny and it's like a whole other sneezy know 0:17:05.480 --> 0:17:10.240 um that we were. We're getting out sexual energy, intellectual energy, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:13.879 whatever is pent up through laughter, which makes sense to 0:17:13.920 --> 0:17:16.960 a certain degree, like there are there are things that 0:17:17.000 --> 0:17:18.800 you laugh at that you can point to and say, 0:17:18.920 --> 0:17:22.119 may may right here. Yeah, or I think self deprecation 0:17:22.200 --> 0:17:23.920 might fall into that a little bit too, like taking 0:17:23.920 --> 0:17:26.160 the things that make you feel bad, making a joke 0:17:26.200 --> 0:17:29.040 about of it. I've lived my whole life this way basically, 0:17:29.800 --> 0:17:31.960 Or anyone that listens to Howard Stern he's been joking 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:34.720 about his small penis for twenty five years. Who knows 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:39.160 if that's true. I think it probably is. But he's 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.560 definitely made a point of joking about it for you know, 0:17:41.880 --> 0:17:45.480 forever five years. Joke man, That means it's it's definitely true. 0:17:45.880 --> 0:17:48.200 So that's the relief theory. And and I think there's 0:17:48.320 --> 0:17:49.720 you know, put a lot of stock in that for sure. 0:17:49.720 --> 0:17:53.040 Well yeah, I mean it's like adding levity to a situation. Yeah, 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:55.800 if and it works, like you can defuse in tense 0:17:55.880 --> 0:17:59.400 situation by making people laugh, and they may even laugh 0:17:59.400 --> 0:18:02.720 in volunteary really so relief theory. Yeah, and every every 0:18:02.800 --> 0:18:07.960 like like every teen movie in history has some dude 0:18:07.960 --> 0:18:09.960 in it that tries to get out of a fight 0:18:10.040 --> 0:18:14.280 by making jokes, which was also me although I didn't 0:18:14.560 --> 0:18:16.240 that wasn't even close to getting in fights, So that's 0:18:16.240 --> 0:18:18.919 not really true. That's because you could talk your way 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:21.280 out of him. Like early on, who would want to 0:18:21.280 --> 0:18:23.960 beat up Chuck? You know? When't you have to be 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:27.000 the meanest guy in the world. You would not, you 0:18:26.440 --> 0:18:29.679 like too much. I think Emily might want to slug 0:18:29.680 --> 0:18:33.080 at me every now and then. Yeah, yeah, okay, so 0:18:33.200 --> 0:18:34.800 that this is the other the last one in the 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.240 big three. Yeah, in congruity theory. Yeah, and this one's 0:18:38.320 --> 0:18:43.720 really um A really big part of comedy forever through today, 0:18:44.040 --> 0:18:53.280 Forever through today is that um. Emmanuel concept in his 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:57.800 uh Tome the critique of judgment. Laughter is an affectation 0:18:57.880 --> 0:19:02.399 arising from the sudden transformation of a strained expectation into nothing. 0:19:03.160 --> 0:19:08.520 So the modern version of that is in incongruity resolution. Basically, 0:19:08.800 --> 0:19:11.680 you're not getting what you expect, so like a punch 0:19:11.720 --> 0:19:14.920 line takes you by surprise, right, like that classic how 0:19:14.920 --> 0:19:20.480 do you keep an elephant from charging takeaway his credit card? Hey? Yeah, again, 0:19:20.600 --> 0:19:23.560 that wasn't my joke. I'm just giving examples here. Well, 0:19:23.560 --> 0:19:26.000 and that's that's sort of the basis of what some 0:19:26.119 --> 0:19:28.480 say is the greatest joke the Aristocrats. Did you guys 0:19:28.480 --> 0:19:31.240 see that documentary For those of you who don't know, 0:19:31.280 --> 0:19:33.639 there's probably like two of you. The the ideas that 0:19:33.840 --> 0:19:36.679 a family goes into a talent agent and says they 0:19:36.720 --> 0:19:38.879 have a family act. And then the point of the 0:19:38.920 --> 0:19:44.639 joke is too nastiest, most blue comedy you can and 0:19:44.640 --> 0:19:46.760 it really gets out of hand if you watch this documentary, 0:19:46.760 --> 0:19:48.920 which is the point and at the end, the punch 0:19:48.960 --> 0:19:51.960 line is what do you call yourselves? The aristocrats? And 0:19:52.000 --> 0:19:53.680 it's not so much about the punch line, but that's 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:57.560 definitely the incongruity, right yeah, I think that that's probably 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:00.920 the basis of humors. It's in and grouvous you it's 0:20:00.960 --> 0:20:05.000 a an expectation you weren't expecting well, and those are 0:20:05.000 --> 0:20:06.600 the best jokes to me is you think you see 0:20:06.600 --> 0:20:09.400 it coming and you get surprised at the end. Uh, 0:20:09.440 --> 0:20:11.800 there's another name for something like that. It's called And 0:20:12.320 --> 0:20:14.800 I didn't even know this was a word till today, 0:20:14.800 --> 0:20:22.000 a para prosed Dokian. Has anyone ever heard that? One person? Now? Awesome, 0:20:22.200 --> 0:20:24.920 I just made it up. Uh. That is a figure 0:20:24.920 --> 0:20:27.800 of speech where the second part causes the audience to 0:20:27.880 --> 0:20:30.919 rethink the first part. And it has been going on 0:20:31.119 --> 0:20:35.040 since Aristotle. For instance, he said on his feet he 0:20:35.080 --> 0:20:39.919 wore blisters. That's one example. Groucho Marks, I've had a 0:20:39.960 --> 0:20:43.680 perfectly wonderful evening, but this wasn't it. That's that kind 0:20:43.680 --> 0:20:50.199 of joke. Uh, the great Homer Simpson like that, that 0:20:50.280 --> 0:20:53.400 was unexpected. Uh. If I could just say a few words, 0:20:53.760 --> 0:20:57.560 I'd be a better public speaker. And Mitch Hedberg, who 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.960 I know, you love, the late great Mitch Heedburgh. I 0:21:01.000 --> 0:21:04.399 haven't slept for ten days because that would be too long. 0:21:05.960 --> 0:21:08.800 Not the good miss Hamburg too. I did some heroin 0:21:08.880 --> 0:21:13.000 before I came in. Right, Wow, that is not funny. Actually, 0:21:13.080 --> 0:21:14.600 you know what we're gonna be getting into that was 0:21:14.640 --> 0:21:19.040 a perfect setup. We're getting into heroine. No joking about 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:22.920 things that divide the what you should be joking about. Yeah, 0:21:22.960 --> 0:21:25.119 it is like someone dying of a heroin over there 0:21:25.840 --> 0:21:29.600 too soon. That was like ten years ago, Thank you buddy. Um. 0:21:29.680 --> 0:21:31.760 So you take the big three and you take a 0:21:31.760 --> 0:21:33.399 little bit of this, and you take a little bit 0:21:33.400 --> 0:21:35.080 of that, and you put them together and you can 0:21:35.119 --> 0:21:38.560 basically explain like just about any bit of humor after 0:21:38.680 --> 0:21:44.160 the fact. That's the key here, um if by I guess, 0:21:44.160 --> 0:21:47.800 just mixing him up. So you have, for example, the 0:21:47.840 --> 0:21:50.879 benign violation theory, which is what you're talking about, Like, 0:21:50.960 --> 0:21:53.159 that's the idea that there you have a little bit 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.439 of incongruity, a little bit of superiority. You mix them 0:21:56.440 --> 0:22:00.560 together and right you you can come up with a 0:22:00.600 --> 0:22:03.120 joke that will make people laugh. But there's also a 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:08.719 line apparently it's across it right with miss hedbird jokes. 0:22:08.800 --> 0:22:12.200 That's the line, um. And once you cross that line, 0:22:12.240 --> 0:22:15.800 then you you quickly go from humor to raising the 0:22:16.400 --> 0:22:19.800 ire of a of a audience. Right, Yeah, they say, 0:22:19.920 --> 0:22:21.960 not want to do Yeah, you like you should keep 0:22:21.960 --> 0:22:24.320 a safe psychological distance, is what they say, where the 0:22:24.400 --> 0:22:26.960 humor isn't so real and the whole too soon thing 0:22:27.040 --> 0:22:30.200 is totally true. There's a certain amount of time and 0:22:30.720 --> 0:22:32.639 it's different for everyone in that line is different for 0:22:32.640 --> 0:22:35.840 everyone that's why it's dangerous to be a comic who 0:22:36.040 --> 0:22:39.879 kind of skirts around those kind of jokes. Ask Gilbert Godfrey, 0:22:40.160 --> 0:22:42.720