Have you been to a haunted house recently? There are two kinds of comedy associated with haunted houses: You observe people being scared and then laughing about it. You laugh at people’s reactions to being scared. Both seem to be happening here. Check out more here. Alf Lamont, a friend and supporter of the Humor […]
Why are these funny camera angles funny? A funny camera angle is funny when it creates a benign violation. The benign violation theory proposes that humor occurs when a situation is simultaneously seen as wrong, unsettling or threatening (i.e., a violation) and okay, acceptable or safe (i.e., benign). A survey of the photos above reveal […]
In case you missed it, the Twitter hashtag, #AddaWordRuinaMovie, blew up on Saturday. A simple, fun concept. I jumped right in with: Lawrence Fishburn of Arabia Back to the Future Tense Dog Day Afternoon Tea The Graduate School La Dolce Curriculum Vita The Shawshank Redemption Center Kramer vs. Cosmo Kramer Schindler’s Listserve Eternal Sunshine of […]
Joel Warner and I were recently asked by Huffington Post to comment on philosopher Daniel Dennett’s TED talk. Our response can be found here — or below. Time to put humor under the microscope Daniel Dennett makes a good point in his TED talk, Cute, Sexy, Sweet, Funny, when he argues our sense of humor […]
I have been asked to a give a talk at a law and well-being conference today. The title of the talk is: What Makes Things Funny? Implications for Morality, Good Manners and Well-Being A talk like this makes me think about my humor research in new ways. When people consider humor’s effect on well-being, their […]
Friend, Alf Lamont, took on the topic of Dad Humor in advance of Father’s Day. My family is a peculiar cycle of funny and unfunny. My dad is an intelligent, accomplished, caring, and otherwise excellent father, but he’s a miserable comic. His jokes have nearly rendered me blind from how far back my eyes roll, […]
