Robin Liepman and the Pursuit of Laughyness

So I'll start this blog by saying that its been really hard to concentrate because my housemate is talking to his girlfriend in the other room very loudly about how they should pretend to fight each other in public or something like that, so to fix that I decided to blast some Pirate Metal. Yes, the most epic thing ever! Fuckin pirates conquering the seas by melting peoples faces off with their epic shredding. Although I must admit that I love Viking Metal way more.

Anyways, back on topic. I wanted to write this blog on the philosophical/psychological concept of humor. We all experience it, but do we really know exactly what's going on (same with masturbation) when someones words or actions stimulate us to the point of laughter? Here's my attempt to be a cocky, pretentious, arrogant etc. butthole by explaining why I think we laugh.

After much thought and experimentation, I came up with my theory of what exactly triggers the neural function that causes us to laugh (without tickling because that is cheating and can also be considered sexual harassment). The combination of correct words, tone and context that hits us in our funny spots and makes us feel so good that we want more and more (similar to Chinese food that you keep eating until you yarf because of the drugs they put in it) must have some underlying pattern to it. In fact, I've found two patterns which exist in everything funny. Test it out for yourself! Here they are:

1. We laugh when we are made to feel good about ourselves. There are two examples to fortify this belief. One is that we laugh when we "get" a joke, because it makes us feel intelligent, part of the group, and like we have a good sense of humor. The other example is that we laugh when we see the pain of others, especially others that we don't feel connected to, because it makes us feel better about ourselves. It puts us in a position that is higher, or better off than that which we are witnessing. We laugh at slapstick. We laugh when people are made fun of, and when we're younger we laugh at retards until we're told that we shouldn't, and then we only do when no one who cares is around. I actually feel shitty about that last sentence because I don't laugh at retards, but it's the best example I could think of and it proves my point. "Mommy, why does he have three eyeballs? HAHAHA!" Mom says, "YOU PIECE OF SHIT SON OF MINE! He's got cyclopscosis! He can't help his disorder! Eat this fucking bar of soap! It will be your only dinner for the next three weeks! Fuck you!" See, we laugh a little bit at the pain of the child in the last example because we are not him and he is being scolded, plus it's a ridiculous scenario, which brings me to my next point.

2. The second pattern of comedy, I will explain in the sophistical dialect I have erected from years of academic perseverance (for no particular reason). In my scholarly opinion, it can be summed up in three words: Deviation of Expectations.
We, as matured members of a society, have developed expectations for how the world works, how everything fits together, and because of this we are able to communicate and agree with each other. If everyone lived in completely different mental worlds, society wouldn't be possible. That's why we must agree on conditions and expect them. This creates mental lines and boundaries, telling us what we can and can't do. So when one of these lines is tripped or crossed over, it will evoke an emotional response. If we cross these lines of expectation in a way that also involves pattern one, then we create funny. If we don't involve pattern one, people can get scared, angry, or even homicidal. That's why it's good to make sure your audience feels good about themselves. Expectation must be deviated from, but the audience must still feel good about themselves. The only exception I can think of to rule one is if the comic makes generalized observations about the audience that they don't 100% identify themselves with/as. For example, if the comic says to an audience of students, "Oh god, another performance in front of acne-infested, sex-craving, moronic college students! I should just kill myself now!" That would most likely get some laughs because it's an over-exaggerated generalization but still partially true, whereas if the comic made specific comments such as, "I hate ugly people. All the ugly people please leave the building now, I never want to see your stinky faces again. Yes I'm talking to you, and you and you (points to ugly people in audience)," then all the people in the audience who aren't cocky assholes would most likely feel uneasy about the comment because it's a straight insult and not a joke. I could go way more in depth with examples but we're all intelligent comedians, so I'll leave the rest of the thinking up to you!!!!!!!!1111111 But the best example I can think of to prove this point is this: We don't laugh when we tickle ourselves, but we laugh when we are tickled. It's because we are surprised, we don't expect this new feeling.

Well that's it for me. I've figured out the secrets of comedy and can die happy. That is false. I have much more to do with my life.

See you in class chickendinkles!

Love Robin Liepman (minus the love, I don't know you well enough. Take me out to lunch after class and then we'll see what happens).