Why was it funny?

The analysis you gave this show was fantastic! I found it really interesting how the structure of this show utilizes the superiority theory to its advantage. The show host, Eric Andre, interviews audience members and asks them absurdly uncomfortable questions, so we, the audience, can get a laugh when feeling superior. By knowing what is happening while the audience doesn't and watching their discomfort and reactions to what’s happening, a feeling of superiority from the unaffected audience (the audience watching the show on TV) is possible. The show also involves very incongruous humor because truly no one would really expect any TV show host to ask audience members the questions Eric Andre asks them. What I also found very interesting was how this particular TV show closely relates to what we've been talking about recently, the absurdist humor style of the millennial generation. Considering the Eric Andre show aired in 2012 and the millennial generation starts in 19...

Hey guys! For my lead blog, we're going to do things differently. I hope this activity turns out to be very fun (a break from our strenuous academic responsibilities) and isn’t too time-consuming. You will need probably over an hour to complete the following assignment (sorry if that’s inconvenient). But, the assignment does mostly involve watching TV. So, hopefully this is a fun assignment! :)  While conducting research for my 3rd essay, I stumbled across an excellent case study conducted with undergraduate students from a large Midwestern urban University. After studying the procedures/results, I thought it would be interesting if we conducted a simpler experiment in our class and see if we draw a similar or different conclusion. Due to possible bias, I will not disclose any information about the experiment until after you've participated in the survey. In order to complete this assignment, you must read my previous post. But, do NOT read until after you’ve completely fi...

...laugh tracks. I've been obsessed with this topic ever since I first did a blog post about it. After participating in the experiment, you probably thought this was a test to see which comedy is funnier,  Friends  or  The Office . Well, that wasn't the experiment's intent. Evan A. Lieberman, Kimberly A. Neuendorf, James Denny, Paul D. Skalski, and Jia Wang conducted a laugh track case study and wrote  The Language of Laughter: A Quantitative/Qualitative Fusion Examining Television Narrative and Humor   in an attempt to uncover the laugh track's exact role in creating humor. Disturbed by the lack of research conducted on the subject, the researchists disproved their initial hypothesis and found successful creation of humor through laugh tracks may be solely dependent on the episode/TV show. In their study,  The Andy Griffith Show 's "Black Day for Mayberry" scored a significantly higher number of comic points (127) when watched WITHOUT a laugh tra...

Incredibly interesting post, Lindsey! The way you analyzed the different theories was so well thought-out and put into words! I especially enjoyed reading your thoughts on the benign-violation theory. You claimed all crude humor in the small youtube series will undoubtedly be benign because the characters used in the storyline are not only fictitious but are dolls. This claim was clever and something I've never thought of before. The jokes in "The Most Popular Girls in School" not offending anyone because the character design is not deliberately attacking a person and their actions. Genius! I can't believe this wasn't obvious. Furthermore, I believe this theory can be extended to other TV sitcoms and comedies. Most all comedies and TV sitcoms have unique plots and character developments to establish an original storyline. Perhaps, this stylistic technique employed by many TV creators is a major reason why many sitcoms have comedic success. Providing the audien...

I love how Faith took a different approach in looking at humor. We've studied this topic in depth from many philosophers' standpoints. And, we've discussed through blogs a little about how humor is used in science. It is interesting to hear the sociological view on humor. I do agree humor plays a major role in our human interactions...that part is obvious. But, whether or not these humorous interactions influence our values and beliefs...this is a harder, interesting, and more complicated question. I believe in a way all human interactions with others influence our beliefs. When challenged with another perspective (especially one with a solid argument), it's human nature to rethink our ideologies. However, claiming jokes play a (major or even minor) role in changing our beliefs, is a difficult argument to prove. Considering the nature of humor (silly and normally not evidence-based), a person with a solid ideology is most likely not going to be influenced. More than a...

The Office differs from most comedy shows in that it employs a unique comedic style. For example, unlike other sitcoms such as Friends and Seinfeld , The Office does not feature a laugh track into its background noise. One can argue this stylistic choice is to create an increased sense of awkwardness and realism to their static office scene, but I believe just like political satire often employs ambiguity to broaden its audience, The Office is utilizing a similar technique.  The laugh track establishes very set and stone points at which the audience is supposed to laugh. In a way, it is possible, since humor is argued not only to be strongly related to social constructs but part of our social identity, hearing a collective of people laughing encourages us to do the same. Even strong moral me finds herself laughing in Friends along with the laugh track at jokes I would typically deem a violation. Telling jokes followed by awkward pauses and complete silen...