Lucy's Comedy Blog

Prior to reading Katherine’s post, I had not heard about Jim Gaffigan, and I do not watch much stand up comedy, but after hearing about his style of comedy, I think I would be interested in watching him. I would agree that Gaffigan making fun of society would be an example of superiority theory since he is making himself out to be better than society and pointing out their flaws. When Gaffigan pokes fun at himself, would this still be superiority theory, because he likely is looking down on himself and therefore not feeling superior. If Gaffigan is making fun of a past self, then this could be superiority theory since he is saying that he is somewhat superior now. I also found the joke about the 50 calories and the Big Mac very funny because it is accurate that you do not burn as many calories at the gym as you would expect, and certain fast foods have so many calories. This joke could also be an example of incongruity because you would not expect someone going to the gym t...

I have heard of the show Seinfeld countless times, especially when people bring up The Office because supposedly the two are very similar shows, but I have yet to watch an episode or clip. After watching the clips Jake had in his post, the show actually seems very funny and unsurprisingly similar to The Office since they were made around the same time. When you mentioned they kept the same characters and did not bring in many new ones, it somewhat reminded me of Friends since they mainly stick to their friend group and occasionally bring in other characters. It does seem like Seinfeld has even less new characters, which is not something I look for in a show, because I like when they bring in new characters every once in a while. Seinfeld truly sounds like a purely comedic show and is centered around laughs and not emotional events. I personally enjoy shows that include comedy, emotions, and relationships, like Friends and The Office, because it is the best of both wor...

  Friends and the Three Theories of Humor The comedy TV show, Friends, is definitely a great example of a piece of comedy that utilizes the three theories of humor throughout all episodes of the show. I definitely agree that the show is hilarious and likely makes people laugh from a combination of these three theories. First, I agree with the point made that Chandler Bing’s humor and jokes throughout the show are an example of the superiority theory. I have definitely noticed throughout all of the episodes that Chandler adds little side comments and jokes to make himself seem higher up than everyone else. There are even times that the other characters comment on Chandler’s sarcastic remarks. One example I found of his humor being an example of the superiority theory is when Chandler is on the phone and says, “I got her machine”. Joey responds by asking, “Her answering machine?”, to which Chandler replies, “No, interestingly enough her leaf blower picked up”. Thi...

Different Theories on Humor By: Lucy Waszak            There are three main theories that try to explain comedy. These include the incongruity theory, superiority theory, and relief theory. The Incongruity theory tries to explain that we laugh because of the uneasiness between two concepts that do not go together or make sense.  The account I found most persuasive on the Incongruity theory is Emmanuel Kant's account of it. He explained that something absurd and outlandish needs to happen to make us laugh. Kant describes, " Laughter is an affection arising from a strained expectation being suddenly reduced to nothing"(Lippitt 1). It is not exactly known what Kant meant by the expectation being reduced to nothing, but there is an interpretation of his claim that would make sense. It says that at the start of a joke we have a certain expectation of where it is going to go. When the joke is finished we realize that we were on t...