Laughs With Lindsey

What incredible timing... I watched Elf last night! This movie is a classic, and one of my very favorite Christmas movies. I agree with Jane that many humorous scenes in the film are examples of the superiority theory of humor as the audience is amused by Buddy's childishness and naïveté. However, I would assert that the majority of the movie is comprised of examples of the benign-violation theory of humor. Buddy is constantly violating universal societal rules because - as Jane pointed out - he was raised in the North Pole and is therefore unaware of how the real world functions. Here's a clip containing a few examples of his violations:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSx4r8Gayb4 . He violates sanitary rules when he eats gum that he finds on the street, social rules when he approaches random people in an effort to find Santa, rules of courtesy when he stays in the revolving door for too long, rules of consumption when he takes multiple flyers from the men handing them out......

I didn't recognize Eric Andre at all until that last clip with Amber Rose: "Why would you say something so controversial yet so brave?" In spite of this, I found his content to be hilarious exactly because of how unstructured and awkward it is. I enjoy the way Theo applied the theories of humor to his style, specifically the theory of incongruity. Andre is, as Theo pointed out, an absolutely absurd character, and the plot (or lack thereof) is ridiculously difficult to follow because it's all over the place. I think this style of sitcom is very attractive to our generation, partially because we can watch it whenever we want without any sort of prior context needed, but mostly because it satisfies our need for absurdist humor... And this idea connects back to the relief theory of humor. As a generation growing up in a world that is failing politically, socially, economically, environmentally, etc., we get some sense of relief from consuming entertainment that mirrors th...

Friends - The One in Vegas: Part 1 1) Overall Perceived Funniness: 7 2) Overall Reported Enjoyment: 5 3) Types of Humor Evident in the Episode: putdown humor, wordplay humor, sarcasm, joking socially, self-deprecation, incongruity, people doing stupid things, a sight gag, naughty humor The Office - The Dundies 1) Overall Perceived Funniness: 8 2) Overall Reported Enjoyment: 9 3) Types of Humor Evident in the Episode: putdown humor, sarcasm, joking around to fit in, joking socially, incongruity, people doing stupid things, dark humor, sick humor, naughty humor This is such an interesting phenomenon! I actually found the episode of The Office much funnier than the episode of Friends, and I wouldn't be surprised if that had something to do with the lack of a laugh track for two reasons: reality and relatability. To me, Friends feels more staged than The Office. I've even noticed, having watched Friends all the way through, that the same laughs are often repeated (there...

Since we've been talking about memes and meme culture a bit this past week, I thought it would be appropriate to discuss a meme in my lead blog post. So I began scrolling through the Instagram explore page for inspiration. I saw many clever memes, amusing vines, and witty tumblrposts that I'd already seen before, but nothing really struck me as new or interesting. Then, I stumbled across something I did not expect:  this . A description could not possibly do it justice, so please go take a look for yourself. Anyway, I wasn't sure if this was staged by the account owner or if it was an actual scene from something, so I did a little research. What I found was even funnier that the meme itself: there's an actual, real-life mini-series on YouTube called "The Most Popular Girls in School" which follows the daily lives of... Barbies. Yes, you read that right. This hilariously unnerving hybrid of Gossip Girl and Keeping Up with the Kardashians is a stop...

Paige brought up many interesting points in her lead blog post, but I'd specifically like to focus on one aspect: not the fact that people can be swayed by political satire, but more specifically  whose opinions are affected by those of others. To put it as a question, who is the most susceptible to influence, and why? I would assert that Paige's example of a conservative reexamining his political views and reconsidering his support of Trump as a result of his friend's off-handed comment is highly unlikely. Why? Because he has already made up his mind, and is likely to dismiss his friend's jab at the Trump administration as either a joke or a misinformed critique. I think it's possible for people's views to drastically change, just not that rapidly, and not because of such an insignificant interaction. Rather, my (largely anecdotal) assertion is that those who are most vulnerable to the influences of political satire and the opinions of others are: A) the uninf...

I thought Lucy's post did a great job of explaining why viewers find The Office  so hilarious. Although it is not my favorite sitcom of all time, it would definitely be included in my top five, and I can't help but laugh every time I rewatch an old episode. I agree almost completely with Lucy's analysis of the character of Michael Scott: we laugh at him because we feel his intelligence and social graces are inferior to ours (the superiority theory). However, I would also assert that our amusement is partially a result of the incongruity theory and the benign violation theory. For example, Michael makes many inappropriately-timed jokes that don't really apply to the situation at hand. When Michael shows up to Dwight's wedding unexpectedly, Dwight says, "I can't believe you came!" to which Michael replies, "That's what she said." This is a touching and heartfelt moment, and the audience can't help but laugh as it's interrupted (but ...

I found Paige's lead blog post interesting and quite refreshing. I've of course heard the expression "laughter is the best medicine," and I've always been told that laughing is good for you in many ways, but I never knew any practical applications of this theory in regards to psychotherapy. I recently took up yoga, and this has been a great outlet and stress reliever for me. When I can't make it to the PAC or there aren't any group fitness yoga classes that fit into my schedule, I pull up a YouTube video from the channel Yoga With Adriene and practice on my own time in my own room. Stress relievers can come in many forms and can vary in effective for each person, but Paige's example of smiling or laughing for no reason as a way to relieve tension reminds me a lot of a recurring theme in Adriene's videos: she encourages her viewers to smile while they practice. Between reminders to check your posture, stop clenching your shoulders, or be mindful of ...

I found Caroline's topic choice absolutely hilarious. I had never heard of John Mulaney before now, although his face did seem very familiar; however, I watched with with amusement the three clips attached to Caroline's post, and I fully intend to procrastinate on other homework through the use of Mulaney's hour-long Netflix specials. His anecdote about his bad driving was hilarious, and although I would agree that his self-deprecation in indeed a form of reverse-superiority theory, I believe that this specific example implements more of the relief theory - he makes light of what can be, in reality, a very frustrating encounter with a bad driver. Instead of getting mad ad Mulaney or people who lack the same skills he does, he encourages them to laugh at the ridiculousness of a full-grown, relatively successful man who doesn't realize he's in the wrong lane. His skit reminded me of a scene from the hit sitcom Family Guy, in which Peter swears to a future of abstinenc...

I read Alexis' analysis of this Cody Ko video before watching it, and I must say that she brought up some good points. Her assertion that both the benign-violation and superiority theory are utilized here was clearly spot on, although they were not used very effectively: Cody and Noel's use of mocking comes off more as cruel than benign. Furthermore, the superiority theory applies more to the TLC Virgin Diaries series itself than to their ridiculing of it. Regardless of one's virginity or lack thereof, anyone could laugh at Skippy because of his awkwardness and even creepiness in some instances. His actions are truly cringe-worthy. However, I would argue that Cody and Noel's video eliminated my initial amusement through superiority over Skippy due to my fear of being perceived as smug or downright dick-ish, as the two came off to me. I didn't think their video was funny at all. I found it lacking in creativity, and I think their vulgar language, contrary to what Ale...