Posts

Response to Jane's Post

Elf has to be one of my favorite christmas movies, and I think I’ve watched it way too many times by now. It is still so funny to me everytime, but it also gets emotional too. I definitely agree that the superiority theory is the most prevalent theory of comedy in Elf. When I first saw the blog post was about Elf, this theory immediately came to mind. We as the audience understand that Buddy’s actions are extremely childish and that they are not the smartest, but we still learn to love him throughout the movie for these traits. I also agree that we do not essentially look down on Buddy for his actions, and this is mostly because we understand why he acts the way he does. His naive actions also make the movie so hilarious. The audience can see how Buddy grew up, so they can understand why he is so childish and not like a normal person. This is because we know he was raised by elves, but is actually a human. This clearly messes Buddy up a bit in the way he acts, but we learn to l...
1 comment
Read more

Response to Theo's Post

The Eric Andre Show is probably one of the most random and absurd shows I have ever seen, but it is somehow hilarious at the same time. The reason that I think it is so funny to most people is because of the incongruity theory. Theo outlined how the show can relate to all the three theories of humor, which I agree with, but incongruity is the most prevalent. First, I think the superiority theory is somewhat present since we feel superior to the audience when we understand that the show is actually a joke and not meant to be serious. I do not think this is the main reason we laugh at it though. The relief theory is also relevant since one can notice that the show is making fun of real talk shows. The show has typical interviews with famous people and skits as well. They over exaggerate these features and make them far more unrealistic than normal talk shows. I did love the show and thought it was funny, but I still do not find it superior to normal talk shows like Jimmy Fallon. ...
2 comments
Read more

Response to Hannah's Post

I’ve already seen both episodes, but of course I watched them again because these are my two favorite shows. After watching the Friends Episode I would rate this episode an 8 on funniness. The whole idea of Joey pretending he is still in a movie but is actually just dressing up as a gladiator was so funny to me. There have definitely been episodes I’ve found funnier, but this one was still very good. I would give this episode a 7 for enjoyment. The plot is somewhat predictable that Joey’s friends would fly out to Vegas and find out he is not in a movie. I still enjoyed it, especially the smaller plots taking place during the episode, like Ross walking in on Rachel, and Joey’s hand twin. I think there was slapstick humor, definitely sarcasm, incongruity, slight naughty humor, and people doing stupid things. Next, for The Office Episode, I would give this episode a 9 for funniness as I found myself laughing to myself for most of the episode. For enjoyment, I would give it a 10 bec...
3 comments
Read more

Response to Lindsey's Post

I have surprisingly actually seen these Barbie memes before on instagram and twitter, but I don’t know if I’ve seen the actual videos on youtube before. I always wondered where these memes actually came from, but now it makes sense that they’re from a youtube series. I liked how you used the three theories of humor to analyze this piece of comedy. I think that the Barbie meme videos are almost a reality tv show since it is documenting their lives, which would then make it superiority theory since it is almost belittling their actions. Reality shows are a perfect example of the superiority theory since it is looking down on their actions and in a way making fun of them. I also think it could be an example of incongruity theory since it is so strange that people are getting their entire lives filmed and we laugh at how you would not expect people to have their entire life filmed. The whole ideas that barbies are being filmed and acting completely different than what one would believe ...
3 comments
Read more

Response to Faith's Post

I like how you took a sociological approach to laughter and comedy because I don’t think many people think about in this way. I also find human interactions very interesting, but more from a psychological perspective. I do think this relates a lot to sociology though, and looking at human interaction from both perspectives can be very similar. I just haven’t learned much about sociology, but it seems like an interesting subject. Looking at how multiple people interact with each other with laughter and comedy is something that has interested me since we started learning more about comedy. I think this would be different to do because, in many instances, people just look at comedy in one person alone instead of looking at how it brings people together, or changes a group dynamic. I would agree with you that human interaction shapes how we view the world and is very important to us. Human interactions are the basis to almost everything. With the example of the Trump joke, I think i...
1 comment
Read more

Lead Blog Post on The Office

In my opinion The Office is the best comedy T.V show that has ever aired on T.V. Even though it started in the early 2000s, The Office has become even more popular recently. The Dunder Mifflin Paper company workers are being filmed by a crew everyday for a documentary and they interview the characters too. This is one of the aspects out of many that makes the show so unique. The show mostly takes place in their office which probably isn’t that surprising. If you’ve never watched the show you’re probably thinking how boring it probably is, but you would be wrong. There is constant craziness happening in the office and it is anything but a typical workplace. One scene that helps describe this is the episode “Stress Relief” where Dwight starts a fire so everyone can follow the fire procedure he taught them. After a long time of no one noticing the smoke, the office turns into pure chaos, Stress Relief Episode . The characters on the show are the best part. First, Michael Sco...
1 comment
Read more

Response to Paige's Post

I found this blog very interesting since I’m a psychology major too, so I love reading stuff like this. Laughter and comedy is definitely an interesting concept to try to understand using psychology because there are so many ways to approach how and what inside of us makes us laugh or find certain things funny. Laughter and comedy is definitely a great way to get rid of stress, and I think it would be great to try making people laugh as a form of therapy. I believe this because it is honestly so true that laughter is the best medicine. I can say there have been very few times where I’m laughing but still upset or stressed at the same time. Laughing with friends or watching a funny comedy show can completely change someone’s mood. There have been times where I laugh even when I may not find the joke funny or I’m not in a mood to laugh, but almost everytime I can say my mood is changed. This is something I’ve started to notice too because it just shouldn’t make sense that we start of...
3 comments
Read more