From the T9 function on flip phones to Swype on smart phones, spelling mis-predictions are the bane of handheld communication. It’s hard to catch all the typos that result from Autocorrect Fails. Using The Benign Violation Theory, we can break down when Autocorrect Fails will be (especially) funny. Humor arises when something is wrong yet […]
With the Super Bowl and its humorous ads approaching, I have reposted this blog. NOTE: it is a little out of date – the original publication date was in 2011. The original title: Which is more violent? A) The Super Bowl or B) Super Bowl ads? The Super Bowl featured numerous injuries, but not all […]
The next time you check into a hotel, I suggest you check for bed bugs. What do you do if you find evidence of bed bugs? A) Grab your bag. B) Go to the front desk. C) Tell an associate that your room has bed bugs. D) Enjoy an upgraded room.
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 […]
Quick post. I am headed to Chicago for the Association for Consumer Research (ACR) Conference. The mission of the Association for Consumer Research is to advance consumer research and facilitate the exchange of scholarly information among members of academia, industry, and government worldwide. Basically, a bunch of nerds get together and talk about the problems […]
Reposting something I wrote last year during last the Bronco’s season opener: It may sound crazy to some of you, but I recently made the choice to stop caring about football. The seeds were planted many years ago when I skipped a Super Bowl (the Packers were playing, I think.) The three reasons why I […]
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 […]
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, […]
