Humor Theory: A Trio of Ticklers

Laugh! It's good for you! Cheerfulness, happiness, and joy may offer different depths and dimensions, but the bottom line is this: lighthearted moments lighten our loads.

If cheerfulness is a giggle, and happiness is a chuckle, then perhaps joy is a deep-seated belly laugh. All three are necessary, if we are to enjoy the ride we call life.

What do we find funny? What makes us laugh?

Comedy theorists have proposed three basic premises for humor. Most jokes, prank, and comic efforts do fall into one of these areas.

Incongruity: What's Wrong With This Picture?

Incongruity is what puts the punch in the punch line. This is the surprise, the startling ending, the "Ooh!" in humor. Incongruity is the oxymoron, the unexpected, or the unlikely comparison. Perhaps two or three items, or people, are linked in a way that strikes us as odd.

It's all about timing. A comedian begins to tell a joke or a story, and we think we know where he is headed. All of a sudden, he comes to the end of his tale (usually quite abruptly), and we are halted in our tracks. The breath catches in our throats, and we burst out laughing. Yep, he got us that time!

Here are a few simple examples:

"Jumbo shrimp. What's with that?"

"Government intelligence? Oh, yeah!"

"Genuine cubic zirconia. Sure, Honey."

Here's a slightly more complicated one, from Groucho Marx:

Q: What do you get when you cross an insomniac, an agnostic, and a dyslexic?

A: Someone who stays up all night wondering if there is a Dog.

It's incongruous. Something doesn't quite fit. And it's funny.

Relief: Surprising Them With a Smile

Certainly, laughter itself is a relief. Laughing is one way we blow off steam and release stress.

However, for comics, the relief theory is much more than that. In fact, the relief theory of humor is a two-sided coin.

First, what makes a joke funny? Much humor is funny simply because we feel a sense of relief at the end of the tale.

Perhaps a comedian has related a long and involved tale. We expected a raunchy, racy, or really horrid ending. At the last minute, the joke turns a sharp corner. Suddenly, a play on words or a quick-switch changes the entire tone of the story.

The other side of the theory relates to comic relief. We have all seen this in movies. A scene may be very dark, sinister, suspenseful, or sad. Suddenly, when we think we can take it no longer, something hilarious happens.

Whew! You can hear an audible sigh of relief sweeping through the audience. What a relief!

In all of his movies (regardless of the actor portraying him), British spy James Bond is known for his trademark quips and one-liners, which are usually delivered right after a moment of intense tension.

For example, at one point, Agent 007 tosses a villain out of an airplane mid-flight and mutters, "Have a nice flight."

In another scene, the arch-villian is electrocuted, and Bond says, "Shocking, simply shocking."

Even if the audience groans, it's comic relief.

Superiority: Stabbing Someone With Satire

One man's humor is another man's bigotry.

The superiority school of humor includes jokes in which some person or other group of people are the target of our sarcasm or scorn. Usually, someone is made to look idiotic or inept, unattractive or otherwise uncool. Sometimes, a comedian will retell a comic catastrophe that seems funny, simply because it happened to someone else.

Redneck jokes, blonde jokes, ethnic jokes, and others all fit into this category.

We've all heard such jokes, and we may be somewhat ashamed to admit that we have probably all told them as well.

Derision and prejudice are hallmarks of superiority humor. With such jokes, we are laughing at someone, not laughing with them.

Here's an example of a superiority joke a woman might tell:

Q: What should you give a man who has everything?
A: A woman to show him how to work it.

Here's a superiority joke that aims at humor by making someone look dumb or foolish:

A man spoke frantically into the phone, "My wife is pregnant, and her contractions are only two minutes apart!"

"Is this her first child?" the doctor asked.

"No, you idiot!" the man shouted. "This is her husband!"

Basically, superiority jokes poke fun at someone, targeting another person or group of people to do so. Often, this sort of humor may be tagged a "cheap shot," because the comedian elicits a laugh from his audience at someone else's expense.

Occasionally, a comedian will offer a variation on the superiority tactic by making himself the butt of his own jokes. Audiences may find themselves laughing right along with him, as they identify with his foibles or mishaps.

In other instances, a pair or group of comics may banter with one another, offering insults and other barbs. Laurel and Hardy, Abbott and Costello, The Three Stooges, Burns and Allen, The Honeymooners, Sonny and Cher, Rowan and Martin, and others have belonged to this camp.

Laughter Matters

Nothing reduces our stress like a really good laugh. For a moment, our troubles subside, and our perspective is regained.

Perhaps many of our modern-day, stress-related health problems can be attributed to this simple predicament: Most of us probably take ourselves much too seriously.

Silent movie star Charlie Chaplin somehow understood this truth. "A day without laughter is a day wasted," he said.

"Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine," wrote British poet Lord Byron.

Singer and songwriter Jimmy Buffett put it this way: "If we couldn't laugh, we would all go insane."

What a ride!