1. What is Humor? Introduction For many people, humor is something on which they never really reflect.

This lack of reflection could be due to the fact that as soon as you try to dissect a joke, it has lost all that made it humorous. A joke is often understood as simply a tool to help individuals experience momentary pleasure. As such, jokes are usually viewed as disposable artifacts. This is probably best displayed by the candy Laffy Taffy and the childrens jokes that are printed on their wrappers, for example: How do you mend a broken jack o' lantern? -- With a pumpkin patch. Where can you find an ocean without water? -- On a map. What time is it when an elephant sits on your fence? -- Time to get a new fence.1 The joke is read, chuckled over, and then promptly discarded. Is this all a joke is good for? Is there something more to a joke than just understanding the punch line? As Conrad Hyers states, Getting the point of a joke is not the same as getting the point of joking.2 Humor is something that many, including Aristotle, believe to be a uniquely human experience.3 Furthermore, humor is common to all human cultures; though it does not always translate between cultures, humor is present in every known civilization.4 Of course, as any comedian would tell us, comedy is much more complicated than simply reciting jokes. For Christians and churches, how we understand humor and comedy can help us to better understand our culture and our world. Humor enables an audience to look at the world
1

For more painfully horrible Laffy Taffy jokes you can visit, StephMineart, Laffy Taffy Jokes (the worst jokes in the world), http://www.commonplacebook.com/jokes/funny_lists/laffy_taffyhtml.shtm (Accessed Nov. 9, 2010). 2 Conrad Hyers, The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith: A Celebration of Life and Laughter (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1981), 20. 3 Andrew Stott, Comedy (New York: Routledge, 2005), 127. 4 Simon Critchley, On Humour (New York: Routledge, 2002), 28.

from a distance, to see things as ridiculous as they may be, or as beautiful as they could be.5 Comedy can simultaneously be read and experienced on multiple levels, without the audience being fully aware of the philosophizing that is occurring to them.6 This chapter will briefly analyze the origins of comedy, give a brief overview of some theories that try to explain why jokes make people laugh and, examine some comic forms and devices, and finally attempt to give a brief evolution of modern stand-up comedy. By understanding these forms and devices readers can discern what truth the humorist is trying to bring to the light. In attempting to reveal truth humorists have the potential of operating in a quasi-prophetic role for their society. EvolutionofComedyandHumor Many believe that the ancient Greeks invented the popular forms of comedy. The Greeks may have named the genre and defined the categories but they cannot lay claim to inventing the form. Cultures from around the world have various types of comic motifs, characters, and themes. However, much of the research regarding comedy begins with the Greeks and their development of comedy. For the sake of this chapter we will begin with the Greeks as well. Other chapters will examine how a book like Job in the Old Testament can be read through a comedic lens. VillageFestivalsandPlays Early comedies are believed to have originated in village festivals.7 The origins of comedy can be deduced from its etymology, Greek words komos or komai, and the oda, words that reflect comedys roots in the Greek peninsula. Komos translates as revel, while

Critchley, On Humour, 87-88. Ibid, 87. 7 Stott, Comedy, 25.

6

komai comes from the word for village.8These village plays were a part of the religious and harvest festivals and eventually developed a life of their own refusing to die out. Satire When village plays began to mock local politics or religious structures, satire was born. Satire is derived from the Latin satura, which means medley, or hotchpotch, and also describes a type of dish, alluding to its origins in country festivals and at feasts.9 The authors Horace and Juvenal are some of the earliest known satirists, but the form is very alive today. Satire is a particularly powerful device when it comes to confronting those in power. Paul Provenza explains modern satire as, mocking a point of view by embracing it so fully as to allow its absurdity to become self-evident.10 Modern popular satirists include Stephen Colbert, John Stewart, and television programs like Saturday Night Live. These voices often use satire to highlight hypocrisy and what they believe to be broken in the American political system, and other cultural phenomena. Often, this is done through the development of caricatures of leaders or types of public figures. ComicCharacters As stated above, comedy from around the world often utilizes the same types of characters. The Court Jester, the Trickster, the Simpleton, the Underdog, etc. are all examples of characters that are recognizable cross-culturally.11 When the audience can recognize the characters, the text receives a new depth. These characters can also be found in the text of the Bible. For instance, if one reads the Garden of Eden narrative in Genesis 3, the serpent has many of the Tricksters characteristics. In 2 Sam. 11-12, when the prophet Nathan confronts King
Ibid, 4. Ibid, 110. 10 Paul Provenza and Dan Dion, iSataristas! Comedians, Contrarians, Raconteurs &Vulgarians. (New York: Itbooks an imprint of Harper Collins Publishers, 2010), xx. 11 To read more about the various comic characters from cultures around the world read, The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith: A Celebration of Life and Laughter, (New York: The Pilgrim Press, 1981).
9 8

David about his adultery with Bathsheba and murder of Uriah, Hyers points out that Nathan has unprecedented access to the King similar to a Court Jester. Further, Nathan uses a simple story to provoke an emotional response from David, and Nathan then turns the story on David and reveals the Kings guilt.12 Characterizations like these can be key indicators as to what the author or performer is trying to express. Utilization of these universal character types can help an audience embrace a comedy even when they are not familiar with the entirety of a particular culture.13 Theories of Humor Why Do We Tell Jokes? There are a few dominant theories about humor and joke telling that have been proposed to help people understand whats happening when people tell jokes. These theories are helpful starting places for understanding what is happening with certain jokes or stories, and why we laugh, even at jokes that we might find offensive. Also important in the discussion of comedy and humor is examining comedy in a literary sense. SuperiorityTheory This theory is summarized well by Jim Holt who stated that under this theory, all humor is at root mockery and derision, all laughter a slightly spiritualized snarl.14 The joke in this theory is used as a means to elevate the joke teller over the subject of the joke. This is often the motivation behind ethnic or sexist jokes. These jokes, and the tellers of these jokes, are not concerned with the feelings of those who are being mocked in the joke.
Hyers, The Comic Vision and the Christian Faith, 44. This phenomenon of universal comic characters can be seen today in attempts to export comedies from one culture to another. For example, The Office started as a UK television show, and was translated to the United States. The U.S. and U.K. versions of The Office developed different plots and story lines but they both utilized common comic characters that one might find in their own work place. Another example of this kind of cultural translation of comedy can be found in recent attempts to export Everybody Loves Raymond. See, Marc Maron, Phil Rosenthal, on WTF with Marc Maron, http://www.wtfpod.com/podcast/episodes/episode_176_-_phil_rosenthal, accessed May 22, 2011. 14 Jim Holt, Stop Me If Youve Heard This: A History and Philosophy of Jokes (New York, W. W. Norton & Co: 2008), 83.
13 12

Relief Theory Freud presented the Relief Theory famously in his book, The Joke and Its Relation to the Unconscious.15 Again, Jim Holt summarizes Freuds by saying, The laughableideally a naughty jokeliberates the laugher from inhibitions about forbidden thoughts and feelings.16 For Freud, our jokes ease the tension between our internal censor and the world around us. When we laugh at jokes we are allowing ourselves to temporarily break free of the rules and norms of our society. IncongruityTheory In this theory the audience is surprised when the orderly world in which they exist is shocked by something that doesnt fit their expectations.17 Humor then is the surprise that we experience when someone essentially breaks the rules of the universe. When Fredrick Buechner discussed presence of comic elements in the Bible he said, the tragic is the inevitable. The comic is the unforeseeable.18 Comedy is found in the surprise that breaks the rules.19 This kind of comedy can be absurd, or over the top, but it can also be a subtle twist at the end of a comedians story. Willie van Heerden provided a helpful table that presents how these three theories interact:20

15

Sigmund Freud, The Joke And Its Relation to the Unconscious, trans. Joyce Crick (New York: Penguin,

2003). Holt, Stop Me If Youve Heard This, 83-84. John Morreall, Taking Laughter Seriously (New York: State University of New York, 1983), 16. 18 Fredrick Beuchner, Telling The Truth: The Gospel as Tragedy, Comedy & Fairy Tale (New York: Haper& Row Publishers, 1977), 57. 19 Critchley, On Humor, 1. 20 Willie van Heerden, Why the humor in the bible plays hide and seek, 94.
17 16

Benign Violation Theory, A more recent addition to the realm of humor theories comes from University of Colorado professor of psychology and marketing Peter McGraw and co-author Caleb Warren.21 This theory proposes that humor is caused by some kind of violation of the norm, which is identified as harmless, and these two characteristics must happen in concert.22 This theory would account for why some people might find a joke to be humorous while others find the same joke to be offensive. For those who take offense to the joke the violation, either situational or moral, is not harmless. This theory seems to be a merger of the three theories stated above. The common thread underlying all of these theories is that they require the audience of the joke to be surprised and delighted by the punch line is some way. If one is going to laugh at a joke, they must understand the premise, but be suddenly shifted into a new or different
For a basic introduction of this theory read: Joel Warner, The Humor Code. Wired (May 2011). 141145. For, McGraws Paper see: A. Peter McGraw and Caleb Warren, "Benign violations: making immoral behavior funny." Psychological Science: A Journal Of The American Psychological Society / (APS 21, no. 8 [August 2010]: 1141-1149. MEDLINE, EBSCOhost accessed May 9, 2011). 22 McGraw and Warren Benign Violations, 2.
21

perspective.23 If we are not surprised or even shocked by a joke or a story then it is not a joke. Furthermore, there must be a common understanding between the joke teller and the audience in regards to the things like type of joke, stereotypes that might be in use, as well as elements like joke rhythm and cultural references. And of course all of these theories are exactly that, theories. It may be that no one theory can adequately explain what is happening when an individual or an audience laughs at a joke.

Each of the // theories is useful, but its crazy to attempt to analyze all jokes using just one of them. The Superiority Theory lakes jokes a product of pure emotion and instinct: aggressive, masculine, competitive. The Incongruity and Ambivalence theories see jokes as products of reason, crediting us all with perhaps too much cognitive clarity. And the Release Theory tries to mirror the physical pleasure of laughter with a similar psychological response.24 (94-94) As weve seen, Freud believed that the jokes you enjoy are highly psychologically revealing. Wed like to suggest that its the theory of humor that most appeals to you that ides a more accurate personality test. The truth is that you cant help but invest jokes with something of your own character.25 (95)

LiteraryComicTheory Classical comedies as well as more modern comic forms like romantic-comedy films share a common plot line. Northrup Frye states that comedy follows a, U-Shaped plot, with action sinking into deep and often potentially tragic complication and then suddenly turning

Morreall, Taking Laughter Seriously, 39. Jimmy Carr and Lucy Greeves. Only Joking: Whats So Funny About Making People Laugh? (New York: Gotham Books, 2006), 94-95. 25 Carr and Greeves, Only Joking, 95.
24

23

upwards into a happy ending.26 The point of these comedies is ultimately the reintegration of the protagonist, back to the good life or reintegration back into society.27 Hyers also presents a theory that is similar to this when he presents his three levels of humor. The kinds of humor follow the themes of paradise, paradise lost, and paradise regained.28 The laughter of paradise is presented as innocent and idyllic; the laughter of childhood.29 This is the kind of laughter that happened before the Fall of Man in Genesis 3. After the Fall the laughter of paradise lost proceeds from the Adamic knowledge of good and evil.30 This kind of humor can often be viewed as cynicism because it wrestles with faith and doubt as well as pain and suffering. Such joking is often used to make sense of the world and the frustrations that people are facing. The danger at this level is to not move on to the third stage. Over time, and with the acquisition of wisdom, one can find the laughter of paradise regained. As Hyers states, this kind of humor, moves from playful innocence through truth and justice to humility and compassion . . . .It does not reflect conflict so much as resolution . . . it proceeds not from a position of weakness and turmoil but from a position of strength.31 Understanding the theories of humor presented above, Fryes U-shaped plot line and Hyers three levels of humor, an observer of comedy and comedic forms can see how to interact with a comedic text, as well as when examining and comedians with discernment. Comic Devices As stated above, jokes require shared information between the joke teller and the audience. Some of this shared information includes comic devices. For the sake of this essay,
Northrop Frye,Fables of Identity: Studies in Poetic Mythology (New York: Harcourt, Brace & World, Inc., 1963) 25. 27 J. William Whedbee, The Bible and the Comic Vision (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1998), 8. 28 Hyers, The Comic Vision and The Christian Faith, 33. 29 Ibid, 33. 30 Ibid, 34. 31 Ibid, 37.
26

we will introduce a few common biblical comedic devices including: puns, irony, hyperbole, and reversal.32 Puns are often regarded as the lowest form of humor.33 A pun is a joke that uses words that sound similar or uses a word that has two possible definitions to make a joke. Heres an example: The book of incantations was useless. The author failed to run a spell check. In this pun, the hearer would need to know that incantations are also called spells, but also that failure to run a spell check can result in errors and could render something that would require exact phrasing useless. Puns can be easily missed if the joke teller and the audience do not share a certain amount of shared information. Irony is often understood to be using words to express something opposite to what is actually intended. This device is often utilized in satire, and laced with sarcasm, and is used to highlight the incongruities in the world. The danger of irony is alienating the audience, as people might not understand the communicators honest opinion or their point in using irony. Satire can often be misunderstood if the audience is not aware of the ironic tone of the text. Hyperbole is simply an exaggeration that is created to make a point. When someone says, Ive been waiting forever that is a simple example of hyperbole. An example from the Bible is in Matt. 23:24, You blind guides! You strain out a gnat but swallow a camel. Here Jesus is accusing the religious leaders of straining out small things they dont want to eat, while still swallowing something that is impossible, i.e. a camel. Reversal is another often used tool in comedy. These reversals appear as sudden jolts to our expectations. Reversal is as simple as Jesus saying, Many who are first will be last, and many who are last will be first (Matt. 19:30). Reversal also occurs in narratives. A non-biblical
There are other comic devices but as this essay will be working a great deal with the text of the Bible, we will limit the discussion at this point to these common biblical expressions of humor. 33 Unless of course you are the one who creates the pun, in which case you think puns are insanely clever.
32

example is the story of the tortoise and the hare. One would expect that the faster animal, the hare, would win a race, but his arrogance leads him to be overly confident. All the while, the tortoise is steadily completing the race and is the victor. Another example of reversal occurs when the high school quarterback loses the homecoming queen to the captain of the math and physics club. How Then Does Humor Reveal Truth? The power of humor lies in its ability to disarm the audience. Often the jokes the comedian tells are aimed at the audience, not necessarily as an attempt to show their superiority, but in order to reveal a shared human depravity. Because the audience is laughing they are expressing their own implicit identification and participation with the premise of joke. The expression, Its funny because its true is often uttered at a moment of self-realization. Societies that have a healthy relationship with comedy have a pressure valve of sorts to help people cope with the tensions in their world.34 These societies will also have a community of people who will be able to hold a mirror to the despicable traits of the members of that society. For instance, when someone tells a joke that reveals bigotry of some sort, they have the ability to address the underlying illness of a society, and these jokes can liberate people from their own destructive ideologies.35 Van Heerden rightly states, . . .humour can be both a reflection of our society as well as an instrument for changing it.36 Humor can challenge a society but it can also confront individuals. When an audience member laughs at a joke, there is an implicit participation in the premise of the joke, and the
Stand-up comedy is on the rise in Arabic countries. It will be interesting to see how stand-up comedians might bring about transformation in an area of the world that is typically known for strict religious adherence and political oppression. For more on this read: Barry Nelid, Stand-up comedy doing serious business across Middle East, CNN.com, http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/11/26/middle.east.comedy/index.html?hpt=Sbin (accessed November 26, 2010). 35 Stott, Comedy, 115. 36 Willie van Heerden, "Why the Humour in the Bible Plays Hide and Seek with Us." Social Identities 7, no. 1 (March 2001): 75-96. Academic Search Premier, EBSCOhost (accessed March 31, 2011), 85.
34

mirror is turned on them for a fleeting moment, where they can ask themselves, Is this the person that I want to be?37 Often, these moments can be missed if the hearer is not attentive to his or her own life. Comedy has the power to put the issues of the day right in the audiences face, and asks, What are you going to do with this information? Humorists and comedians may be the best source of accurate information for the state of a society. The work of the humorist, in all the varied forms, is to examine the world around them in order to understand how their audience is looking at those same things.38 The comedian who looks closest at the world will draw the most compelling pictures of the world, and they will bring the audience into the world as it is, or as it could be.39 Humor then can be a powerful tool to motivate people to change the society they live in, and to change themselves.40Comedy will probably never lead to massive rebellion in the streets, but it can create a moment for change in the lives of individuals as they hear a joke, and are forced to reflect on their own relationship with the premise of the joke. In the play Comedians, Trevor Griffiths presents a comedy class in England in the 1970s. The teacher, Eddie Waters, is a former comedian who desires to help these aspiring comics to rise above the baser elements of comedy. When talking about stereotypes and biases Waters argues that: A joke that feeds on ignorance starves its audience. We have the choice. We can say something or we can say nothing. Not everything true is funny, and not everything funny is true. Most comics feed prejudice and fear and blinkered vision, but the best ones, the best ones . . . illuminate them, make them clearer to see, easier to deal with. Weve got to make people laugh till they cry. Cry. Till they find their pain and their beauty. Comedy is medicine. Not coloured sweeties to rot their teeth with.41 The Evolution of Stand-Up Comedy

Critchley, On Humour, 12. Provenza and Dion, SATIRISTAS, XIV. 39 Trevor Griffiths, Comedians (New York: Grove Press, Inc., 1976), 14. 40 Critchley, On Humor, 1. 41 Griffiths, Comedians, 17-18.
38

37

How then did stand-up comedy evolve? Where did these rogue observers come from? What characteristics do they share? Why should we care about their role in society? The challenge of classifying stand-up comedians is that they tend to refuse any one mold. Comedy takes many forms and there are numerous books on the different ways that comedy is communicated. For the purposes of this paper our focus will now turn to the phenomenon of stand-up comedy. The origins of this art form are founded in Vaudeville Acts in North America.42 Vaudeville shows provided a variety of entertainments styles in one show, Music, dancing, illusions, comedy, impersonators, etc. Many of the comedians that originated from the Vaudeville tradition were known for their range of performance skills. Milton Berle for example had a diverse range of skills, His first solo act, in 1924, was twelve minutes long. As well as gags, it featured two songs, a card trick, a soft-shoe dance and an impersonations of Eddie Cantor.43 After the Vaudeville circuit was essentially acquired by the movie industry.44 The focus of young comedies transitioned the to the plethora of hotels in the Catskill Mountains, which was a vacation destination for New York Jews this area became known as the Borscht Belt.45 There was also a growing number of comedy cabarets began to cater to black audiences in urban centers, this was called the Chitlin Circuit.46 Around the middle 1900s Las Vegas casinos began to give comedians stage time as well. Stand-up comedy was beginning to be a cultural phenomenon in the United States with parallel evolutions in different cultures. Of course, this is

Oliver Double, Getting the Joke: The Inner Workings of Stand-Up Comedy, (London: Methunen Drama, 2005), 19-22. 43 Double, Getting the Joke, 22. 44 Double has provided a great history of the origins of Comedy in Getting the Joke, 23. 45 Double, Getting the Joke, 23. 46 Double, Getting the Joke, 24.

42

just primarily in the United States; there is also a compelling history of the evolution of stand-up comedy in the United Kingdom.47 Comedy had another transformation with comics like Mort Sahl, who transitioned from traditional comedy styles of pure jokes and punch-lines, into a more autobiographical and observational style. As Zoglin says, The old comics made jokes about real life. The new comics turned real life into the joke.48With this evolution many of these young comedians left the theaters and began to perform in cafs with poets, songwriters, and beatniks.49 George Schultz in Sheepshead Bay, New York created Pips, the first space dedicated purely to Stand-up comedy, in 1962.50 This club was followed by the Improv, which was created by Bud Friedman. New York would become the epicenter of comedy for years with clubs like the Improv, Catch a Rising Star, Carolines, and the Comedy Cellar.51 According to John Limon, the term Stand-up comedy came into existence around 1966.52 Many of the early comedians were known for their one-liners and short stories. Some of the fathers of modern stand-up comedy include, Jack Benny, Milton Berle, Bob Hope and Frank Fay. In the 1950s and 1960s however, as much of the culture of the United States was going through post WWII transformations the traditional stand-up comedy began to go through a transformation as well. The leader of this transformation to many was Lenny Bruce.53 Bruce used offensive material and words to bring the audience to laughter. He opened the door for a

For the sake of space this paper will not have time to investigate this evolution. Oliver Double goes into great detail in giving the evolution of Stand-up Comedy in the U.K. in Oliver Double, Stand-Up: On Being A Comedian, (London: Methuen, 1997). 48 Richard Zoglin, Comedy At The Edge: How Stand-Up in the 1970s Changed America, (New York: Bloomsubry, 2008), 5. 49 Double, Getting the Joke, 27. 50 Double, Getting the Joke, 27. 51 To get the full history of the New York comedy club scene see, Zoglin, Comedy At The Edge, 87-107. 52 John Limon, Stand-up Comedy in Theory, or, Abjection in America, (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2000), 7. 53 Limon, Stand-Up Comedy in Theory. 22.

47

new generation of comedians to use their platforms to do more than simply make people laugh, Bruce challenged the systems that were in place (legal, familial, and religious) and he did this through laughter. Bruce was brought before the Supreme Court to defend the first amendment rights of all comedians. Following in Bruces footsteps was George Carlin. Known for his infamous bit, Seven Words You Can Never Say On Television, Carlin pointed out that the words that society finds offensive are silly when compared to the idea of watching people get killed, and encouraging children to watch programs with violence, but there better not be any swearing.54 Another comedian that used his platform to challenge societal expectations was Richard Pryor. As an African-American Richard Pryor confronted racism boldly and with great humor. In one of his most endearing moments Pryor explains his transformed relationship with the usage of the N-word.55 Bruce, Carlin and Pryor are three monumental comedians of the 20thCentury; their impact on stand-up comedy is still felt in todays comedy clubs. In the 1980s comedy clubs began sprouting up across the United States. With the growing popularity of HBO, Showtime, and other networks looking for inexpensive programming Comedians were brought into homes across the country. Comedians today have the freedom to offend like Bruce, Carlin and Pryor, or they can win their audiences through what appears to be simple observation, like Jerry Seinfeld, Brian Regan, and Jim Gaffigan. Whoever they are and whatever their method, stand-up comedians are all trying present the world as they see it through jokes. Conclusion

If you would like to hear this infamous bit you can click here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PrD6k8PDr1o accessed May 23, 2011. Originally found on George Carlin, Class Clown, mp3 download, Released September 12, 2000 by Laugh.com 41:13. Also you can see an interview with Carlin addressing this bit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dxR4RpPL1rc accessed May 23, 2011. 55 Richard Pryor, Live On The Sunset Strip, 30:43 specifically starting at 40:30 Pryor discusses his revelations regarding the N-word.

54

The goal of humor then, is more than a simple laugh. The goal that comedians and humorists should strive for in their joke telling is the kind of humor that points to truth and leads the audience members to find resolution on their own. This kind of humor reveals truth by disarming the audience, and as Griffiths points out, it makes people laugh until they cry. When audience members are confronted with their own absurdity, there is a decision point with which they must wrestle. It is not hard to make people laugh; the real challenge is making people think. From comedys early days in the Greek festivals to todays stand-up comedian, their stories survive when they make people think. Humankind is unique in its ability to reflect on the world and laugh. Furthermore, humans are also unique in that they are capable of changing the situations in which they find themselves. Humor in all its various forms can be a powerful first step in leading to that kind of transformation.