"A priest and a rabbi walk into a bar... " You have heard this
joke set up a thousand times. Before the joke reaches its punch line
you're smiling and the guy next to you is moaning. "Knock, knock?"
Unless the joke teller is a third grader with a lisp you know this
riddle will end with a thump. Of course if you are the proud grandma
this will be the funniest joke you ever heard and slip the future
comedian a buck.
So why do people respond differently to jokes? How can a joke that causes one person to snort and spit and practically whiz on the floor, not even make another person crack a smile? Uhm, sorry about the crack reference.
What Makes Us Laugh?
The success of a joke is between the speaker and the receiver. A guffaw is achieved when one of the following resonates with our personal feelings and beliefs:
There is actual science behind a good joke and laughing. Long before we learn to speak, we laugh. It's part of the universal human vocabulary. Robert R. Provine, Ph.D., professor of psychology and neuroscience at University of Maryland, found that laughter provides a novel approach to the mechanisms and evolution of vocal production, perception and social behavior.
Dr. Provine also observed that the speaker typically laughs more than the receiver, and that laughter was most common in so-called "in-groupness", strongly suggesting that laughter has an important social role. A middle-aged man speaking to a group of like-aged men on the subject of erectile dysfunction hits a home run but lays an egg at a Mommy and Me playgroup. Go figure.
Laughter is Contagious!
Laughter is contagious, too. In 1962 an outbreak of contagious laughter erupted in Tanganyika. What started as a fit of laughter among a group of 12- to 18-year-old schoolgirls quickly rose to epidemic proportions. Contagious laughter spread from one individual to the next, eventually infecting adjacent communities. The epidemic was so severe that it required the closing of schools for six months. Think about a time you were in a group, someone told a joke and the laughter escalated to a roar that could not be stopped.
The "funny bone value" of a joke is a calculable measurement. Many professional comedians videotape their comedy sets to later assess the success, or failure, of individual jokes. There is a computer program devised by comedian Steve Roye that measures the number and duration of laughs for each performing minute. Your teacher was right; knowing basic math will always matter.
A good joke, well conceived and executed, is only as good as the speaker and the audience who receives it. This probably explains why I stopped telling knock-knock jokes in the third grade. Who's there?
So why do people respond differently to jokes? How can a joke that causes one person to snort and spit and practically whiz on the floor, not even make another person crack a smile? Uhm, sorry about the crack reference.
What Makes Us Laugh?
The success of a joke is between the speaker and the receiver. A guffaw is achieved when one of the following resonates with our personal feelings and beliefs:
- Shared viewpoint. Stereotypes, aging bodies, dating nightmares, etc.
- An exaggeration of a person, place or thing. Mother-in-laws, waiting room at the doctor's office, bodily functions (boys love these jokes).
- A slice-of-life observance that captures a moment or a bit of truth thus making us feel in communion with our own idiocy. Going through security at the airport with a Swiss Army knife (or more than 3 oz. of liquid) in your carry-on. Oops.
There is actual science behind a good joke and laughing. Long before we learn to speak, we laugh. It's part of the universal human vocabulary. Robert R. Provine, Ph.D., professor of psychology and neuroscience at University of Maryland, found that laughter provides a novel approach to the mechanisms and evolution of vocal production, perception and social behavior.
Dr. Provine also observed that the speaker typically laughs more than the receiver, and that laughter was most common in so-called "in-groupness", strongly suggesting that laughter has an important social role. A middle-aged man speaking to a group of like-aged men on the subject of erectile dysfunction hits a home run but lays an egg at a Mommy and Me playgroup. Go figure.
Laughter is Contagious!
Laughter is contagious, too. In 1962 an outbreak of contagious laughter erupted in Tanganyika. What started as a fit of laughter among a group of 12- to 18-year-old schoolgirls quickly rose to epidemic proportions. Contagious laughter spread from one individual to the next, eventually infecting adjacent communities. The epidemic was so severe that it required the closing of schools for six months. Think about a time you were in a group, someone told a joke and the laughter escalated to a roar that could not be stopped.
The "funny bone value" of a joke is a calculable measurement. Many professional comedians videotape their comedy sets to later assess the success, or failure, of individual jokes. There is a computer program devised by comedian Steve Roye that measures the number and duration of laughs for each performing minute. Your teacher was right; knowing basic math will always matter.
A good joke, well conceived and executed, is only as good as the speaker and the audience who receives it. This probably explains why I stopped telling knock-knock jokes in the third grade. Who's there?
