Response to Caroline's Post

I don’t know of that many comedians, so I wouldn’t say it’s surprising that I have not heard of John Mulaney. Although, after watching some of his clips and hearing his jokes, I can say I definitely appreciate his sense of humor and found myself laughing at his jokes. I for sure enjoy the fact that he is a relatable comedian that makes himself seem inferior to everyone. It seems like the idea of relatable comedians that put themselves down and joke about their own lives is a common theme among comedians. This is because he does sound very similar to Jim Gaffigan. I wonder if generally relatable sounding comedians are more successful than other types that may use the superiority theory against the audience by making themselves seem better than society. The joke that was included about the highway driving was very relatable to me, and probably many other people. I can say there have been many times where I have been driving and did something wrong which got me honked at. Afterwards, I usually knew that I was the problem and basically deserved to be honked at, which is essentially what his joke seemed to be explaining. This is a great example of using the superiority theory against oneself by making ourselves seem superior to a past self or action. I also found myself trying not to laugh when the joke was mentioned about people probably thinking there was a dog driving his car texting and drinking a smoothie. I think this joke could fall into incongruity and superiority theory. This is because one would not expect a dog to be driving a car, but it also put himself down by comparing his driving to that of a dog. Mulaney’s sense of humor is intriguing and I definitely would like to watch more of his comedy clips.

Comments

  1. Shane HerronOctober 12, 2018 at 10:21 AM

    Say more about this idea of "generally relatable". that's such a common but nebulous idea and explain it more if you could.

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  2. Hannah ThomasOctober 12, 2018 at 3:03 PM

    Your claim that generally more relatable comedians may be funnier than other comedians is an interesting theory. It makes sense to say comedians may employ a more humorous style if they attack themselves rather than the actions of others. The superiority theory was founded on the ideology of human distaste for being laughed at. Hobbes' claimed one can only laugh at their past mistakes once they have overcome their past follies. In other words, people can ONLY laugh at their actions once (in a sense) they can no longer picture the mistake as their own. If an entire theory was founded on this concept, it seems plausible to say Mulaney would be careful not to make fun of his audience and may be receiving laughs from his audience by doing so.

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  3. UnknownOctober 17, 2018 at 9:38 AM

    I definitely agree with your claim. This type of humor, I think, is generally much more well received in the sense that who wants to go to a comedy show and be made fun of? This "generally more relatable" comedic theory is interesting because it does not necessarily fit any of the three theories we have studied, which shows just how difficult it is to relate each joke to one of them. Humor and comedy is so complex that often people just need to laugh instead of analyze why they are laughing.

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