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Why We Laugh Or, Joke Resonance and Universal Truths

resonance
a : the intensification and enriching of a musical tone by supplementary vibration
b : a quality imparted to voiced sounds by vibration in anatomical resonating chambers or cavities
c : a quality of richness or variety
d : a quality of evoking response
(Source: Merriam-Webster Dictionary)

My last blog post was about Necktie Theory, which says that all jokes at their most fundamental, basic level are about the subjective nature of something perceived or believed to be objectively true.  This theory refers to joke content (i.e. what a joke is about) rather than joke technique (i.e. how a joke is written).  Before I get to joke technique in later posts, I’d like to build upon Necktie Theory and talk about a concept I call resonance, which I think help explains why audiences not only seek comedy but are able to grow and be inspired by it.

As I mentioned while explaining Necktie Theory, the way something becomes part of our subjective reality is through our mutual agreement as a society.  To go back to the example that begat Necktie Theory, neckties only mean “male” and “formal” if we all agree that they do.  Thus, a joke about subjective reality must necessarily tap into that mutual agreement, which, by definition, we are all a part of.  In other words, a good joke always connects with universal truth, the truth that we are all inextricably linked to through our mutual agreements about subjective reality and our mutual existence in objective reality.  Resonance is achieved when the comic and audience are vibrating at the same frequency - that is, are recognizing that the truth being discussed is part of the subjective and objective reality we all share.

Discovering resonance is a singular joy for a comedian (at least in my opinion).  When a comedian is trying new jokes, he or she is trying to find what does and doesn’t resonate with an audience.  When a joke hits hard, the large response from the audience is a good indicator that the joke is tapping into something universally felt - in other words, something that deeply resonates.

I think that there are three different kinds of resonance and that comedians differ in their preference for which kinds they use most frequently.  The three types are:

(1) Resonance of nostalgia - This is a resonance of memory.  The audience experiencing this kind of resonance might react: “Oh, I remember that!  We did used to do that!”  It’s about showing how we all had similar experiences in our past, about showing how we all go through many of the same trials and tribulations going through life.

(2) Resonance of emotion - This is a resonance of feeling.  The audience experiencing this kind of resonance might react: “I feel that way, too!  That does also make me feel angry/happy/sad/etc.”  It’s about recognizing that emotions we privately experience are something other people experience, too.

(3) Resonance of agreement - This is a resonance of opinion or thought.  The audience experiencing this kind of resonance might react: “Yes, exactly!  I agree with you!  That does make sense!”  It’s about an argument resonating with an audience’s sensibilities, either because the audience members have made that argument before (“I felt the same way on that issue!”) or because they have been convinced by the argument being made (“That argument makes sense - now I feel that way about the argument, too!”).

You’ll notice that there is a common thread tying all three kinds of resonance together: the recognition that an experience, emotion, or opinion previously believed to have been only experienced by that particular person is revealed to be something shared by most (if not everyone) in the group.

We often think that we’re the only people in the world to have had a certain experience, emotion, or opinion about something.  That makes sense since the only mind we can truly know is our own.  If we’re not told about what other people’s experiences, emotions, or opinions are, it’s easy to feel like we’re all alone.  When we realize that we’re actually not alone - that many of these experiences, emotions, and opinions are universal - we experience deep resonance.

Laughter is very important to the process of achieving deep resonance.  When we start laughing, we are acknowledging a joke’s resonance to us specifically.  But the fact that other people are laughing re-affirms that resonance.  The initial spark of a laugh comes from an audience member resonating with something the comedian said, but the laugh continues and becomes deeper when all of the audience members realize that everyone around them are also resonating with the same thing.  By the end of the laugh, the comedian and audience are experiencing the resonance together.  As a result, laughter serves to both indicate and reaffirm an audience’s realization that the things believed to be separating us (these “individual” experiences, emotions, and opinions) actually bind us deeply together.  Resonance thus connects the universal fundamentality of all good jokes (Necktie Theory) to the audience’s deep experience of this universal fundamentality as laughter.


* Keep in mind that the skilled comic understands what subjective reality in particular is being shared by a particular audience, only tapping into that which is shared by most, if not everyone, he or she wishes to address.  Subjective reality differs from place to place and from culture to culture, so not every joke will tap into the truly universal - i.e., something that every single person from all times, places, and cultures will find funny - but will tap into what is universal for the audience the comedian is presently performing for.  (To use the necktie example once again, not all cultures recognize the necktie as “male” and “formal.”  As a result, a joke specifically about neckties will probably only get reactions when told in the context of a society that does hold these beliefs about neckties as subjective truths.)  That all being said, as much as the specifics of the joke might be steeped in a particular place or culture, at its core, I would still argue that every good joke has the truly universal theme that the seemingly objective is actually subjective.  As a result, it can be argued that even these “specifically subjective” jokes have an underlying universality to them.

** Source of image: http://thisquantumworld.com/ht/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=66&Itemid=45

The Secret of Comedy: Or, The Necktie Theory of Comedy

Little did I know when I first started performing comedy that the secret to writing jokes was hanging occasionally around my neck.

I have often searched for the secret to comedy, that elusive formulation that explains the fundamental basis of all jokes.  Who knew when I began that search that it would lead me to - of all things - the necktie.

Think about the necktie for a minute.  What’s the point of one?  When I was growing up, I certainly didn’t know: my parents never explained it to me - they just made me wear one.  I was a boy and boys wear ties.  They don’t always wear ties (thankfully), but if the event was really serious or formal, they’d have to if they didn’t want to be embarrassed.  I wasn’t quite sure what the point of a tie was at that point, but I did know that tie = male + formal.

But what about the tie itself - that is, a piece of specifically-shaped silk tied in a specific way - is inherently male or formal?  I knew what a tie meant, but I sure as heck didn’t know why a tie meant it.

I can tell you the why, but I might sound like my parents.  Alright, here goes: a tie means “male” and “formal” because I said so.  Actually, it’s not just me - it’s because we all said so.  If enough people agree - society - on something, it becomes part of our subjective reality.  If we all agree that tie means “male” and “formal,” then that’s what a tie means until we all agree otherwise.

Of course, subjective reality is not objective reality.  The law of gravity, for example, is objectively real; it exists whether we agree it exists or not.  It doesn’t matter how many people think I can fly - if I jump off a building, I will fall screaming towards the ground.  Our subjective reality, then, consists in large part of the values and significance we collectively choose to assign to our objective reality (one example: deciding that certain little green pieces of paper should be “money”).

The reason then that contemplating the meaning of neckties is so confusing is because there is nothing objectively masculine or formal about neckties - being masculine and formal are subjective associations we arbitrarily decided upon at some point in time.  This is not to say that these associations should be taken lightly - they are what culture and civilization are made of.

So what does all this have to do with comedy?

The key here is that people often confuse the subjective for the objective.  When I say someone is “beautiful,” I’m not making an objective statement - that person is not inherently beautiful, as beauty is defined by a set of arbitrary and culturally-determined set of standards.  But it is this confusion - believing that someone is beautiful objectively - that leads to conflict.  For example, imagine a beautiful supermodel from America visiting a remote African tribe.  If she forgets that she is only “beautiful” in the subjective, arbitrarily-defined sense, she will be extremely shocked when she is shunned by the tribe as a horrifically ugly monster.

This is the root of all comedy.  We so often take the subjective reality for granted that we begin to believe that it is objective.  It is the comedian’s job to remind us about how much our perceived reality is subjective.  He or she reminds us that we as people make completely arbitrary rules that shape this subjective reality.  It is when we forget this fact that we forget that it is entirely within our power to change those subjective rules and create a better reality.

For example, racism is the result of a subjective belief - that members of certain races were inferior to members of other races - being held by someone as objectively true.  Changing these kind of negative views requires the recognition that these views are subjective - that is, not based on objective (unchangeable) reality.

Now that we’ve established the “Necktie Theory of Comedy” (that is, that all jokes are based on the confusion of the subjective and objective), we can use this theory as a lens through which to examine humor and find the core or crux of any good joke.  Here’s a quick example:

“My mom said she learned how to swim when someone took her out in the lake and threw her off the boat.  I said, ‘Mom, they weren’t trying to teach you how to swim.’” - Paula Poundstone

The crux of this joke is the conflict between the mother’s subjective view of reality (“They’re trying to help me swim!”) and the objective reality (someone was trying to kill her).

See?  It’s so simple to find a joke’s foundation once you’ve recognized its “necktie.”  In writing new jokes, we should always seek to discover the “necktie” and to emphasize those elements of the joke that make clear how subjectivity and objectivity are being confused.  Once found, the task of clarifying and strengthening the funny parts of a joke becomes that much easier.  Writing humor is a difficult task (the reason succeeding at it is so rewarding!), but the Necktie Theory of Comedy can help as a useful and trusty tool in the comedy writer’s toolbox.