*** However, at least one study suggests that cognitive empathy – “the ability to consciously put oneself into the mind of another person to understand what she is thinking or feeling” – may be more important to the development of justice than affective sharing and empathetic concern. “Cognitive empathy and concern, but not emotional empathy, predict sensitivity to injustice for…
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Value for Tuesday of Week 42 in the season of Assessing
Appreciating Humor
Humor is a relief, a release from what is trapped within. Good humor frees us to Be more fully – to confront life’s harsh realities by stepping away from them for awhile.
- Where you going? I was gonna make espresso. [from the film “Young Frankenstein”]
People need to laugh. Humor is an antidote to an often cruel world. It can alleviate suffering of disaster victims, cancer patients, burn victims, HIV patients, victims of traumatic brain injury, patients undergoing palliative care, bipolar patients, family members of persons suffering from dementia, victims of intimate partner violence, and parents with unwell children. Great care is advisable in all of these situations: humor can easily be perceived as insensitivity.
Humor can be useful as a coping strategy. It facilitates maintaining a sense of self. It can help people age well, and gracefully. It can heal us, even in times of bereavement. In medicine generally: “Humor can soften the isolation experienced by both patients and staff. When used sensitively, respecting the gravity of the situation, humor can build the connection among the caregiver, patient, and family.”
Eight humor styles have been identified: “. . . fun, humor, nonsense, wit, irony, satire, sarcasm, and cynicism . . .” A “systematic review and meta-analysis suggests that (1) ‘simulated’ (non-humorous) laughter is more effective than ‘spontaneous’ (humorous) laughter, and (2) laughter-inducing therapies can improve depression.” Perhaps the researchers were good at telling jokes.
Humor is a component of wisdom. “. . . the special appeal of humor lies in its unalloyed pleasure.”
Real
True Narratives
General histories:
- Arthur Power Dudden, ed., American Humor (Oxford University Press, 1987).
- Constance Rourke, ed., American Humor: A Study of Our National Character (NYRB Classics, 2004).
- Nancy A. Walker, A Very Serious Thing: Women's Humor and American Culture (University of Minnesota Press, 1988).
- Edward J. Piacentino, The Enduring Legacy of Old Southwest Humor (Louisiana State University Press, 2006).
- Neil Schmitz, Of Huck and Alice: Humorous Writing in American Literature (University of Minnesota Press, 1983).
- Mel Watkins, On the Real Side: A History of African American Comedy (Lawrence Hill Books, 1999).
- Mel Watkins, African American Humor: The Beicst Black Comedy from Slavery to Today (Lawrence Hill Books, 2002).
- Paul Beatty, Hokum: An Anthology of African-American Humor (Bloomsbury USA, 2006).
- Paul Johnson, Humorists: From Hogarth to Noël Coward (Harper/HarperCollins, 2010).
- Klipf Nesteroff, The Comedians: Drunks, Thieves, Scoundrels, and the History of American Comedy (Grove Press, 2015).
- David Steinberg, Inside Comedy: The Soul, Wit, and Bite of Comedy and Comedians of the Last Five Decades (University Press of Kentucky, 2021).
- Shawn Levy, In On the Joke: The Original Queens of Standup Comedy (Random House, 2022).
Histories of the comic arts:
- William Knoedelseder, I’m Dying Up Here: Heartbreak and High Times in Stand-Up Comedy's Golden Era (Public Affairs, 2009).
- Steve Allen, The Funny Men (Simon & Schuster, 1956).
- Janet Coleman, The Compass: The Improvisational Theatre That Revolutionized American Comedy (University of Chicago Press, 1991).
- Jeffrey Sweet, Something Wonderful Right Away: An Oral History of The Second City & The Compass Players (Allworth Press, 2nd Edition, 2023).
- Mary Scruggs and Michael J. Gellman, Process: An Improviser's Journey (Northwestern University Press, 2007).
- Jesse David Fox, Comedy Book: How Comedy Conquered Culture — and the Magic That Makes It Work (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2023): “Comedy, Fox writes, is fundamentally play, and in his deft hands, the analysis of comedy can be playful, too.”
- Keegan-Michael Key & Elle Key, The History of Sketch Comedy: A Journey through the Art and Craft of Humor (Chronicle Books, 2023).
- Nick Marx, Sketch Comedy: Identity, Reflexivity, and American Television (Indiana University Press, 2019).
- Wayne Federman, The History of Stand-Up: From Mark Twain to Dave Chappelle (independently published, 2021).
- Michael Fontaine & Adele C. Scafuro, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy (Oxford University Press, 2014).
Personal histories:
- David Bianculli, Dangerously Funny: The Uncensored Story of the Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour (Touchstone, 2009).
- George Carlin, Last Words: A Memoir (Free Press, 2009).
- Randy Skretvelt and Jordan R. Young, Laurel and Hardy: The Magic Behind the Movies (Past Times Publishing, 1994).
- Simon Louvish, Stan and Ollie: The Roots of Comedy: The Double Life of Laurel and Hardy (Thomas Dunn Books, 2002).
- W.C. Fields and Ronald J. Fields, W.C. Fields by Himself: His Intended Autobiography (Prentice Hall, 1973).
- Charles Chaplin, My Autobiography (Simon & Schuster, 1978).
- Jeffrey Vance, Chaplin: Genius of the Cinema (Harry N. Abrams, 2003).
- Stephen Weissman, Chaplin: A Life (Arcade Publishing, 2008).
- Andy Dougan, Robin Williams (Thunder's Mouth Press, 1998).
- Steve Martin, Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life (Scribner, 2007).
- Richard Pryor, Pryor Convictions and Other Life Sentences (Pantheon, 1995).
- Bill Cosby, Time Flies (Doubleday, 1987).
- David Sedaris, Naked (Little, Brown and Company, 1997): “Every Funny Family Is Funny In Its Own Way”.
- Mel Brooks, All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business (Ballantine, 2021): “Brooks . . . reads as the opposite of acrophobic: scaling the icy pinnacles of Hollywood without anything more than a pang of self-doubt, using humor as his alpenstock.”
- Bruce Watson, Stephen Colbert: Beyond Truthiness (New World, 2014).
- Catherine M. Andronik, Stephen Colbert: A Biography (Greenwood, 2012).
Technical and Analytical Readings
General readings:
- Salvatore Attardo, The Routledge Handbook of Language and Humor (Routledge, 2017).
- Davis Robinson, The Physical Comedy Handbook (Heinemann Drama, 1999).
- Matt Fotis & Siobhan O'Hara, The Comedy Improv Handbook: A Comprehensive Guide to University Improvisational Comedy in Theatre and Performance (Routledge, 2015).
- Mike Sacks, And Here’s the Kicker: Conversations With 25 Top Humor Writers on Their Craft (Writer's Digest Books, 2009).
- Larry Wilde, Great Comedians Talk About Comedy (Executive Books, 2000).
- Franklyn Ajaye, Comic Insights: The Art of Stand-Up Comedy (Silman;James Press, 2002).
- Gene Perret, The New Comedy Writing Step By Step (Quill Driver Press, 2007).
Instruction manuals:
- Viola Spolin, Improvisation for the Theater: A Handbook of Teaching and Directing Techniques (Northwestern University Press, 1999).
- Keith Johnstone, Impro: Improvisation and the Theatre (Routledge, 1987).
Photographs
Documentary and Educational Films
Imaginary
Fictional Narratives
Here are a few children’s humorous books, reviewed.
Novels and stories:
- Jessica Anya Blau, Mary Jane: A Novel (Custom House, 2021): “The Babysitter Knows All”.
- Kevin Barry, That Old Country Music: Stories (Doubleday, 2021): “What connects the novels and the stories is Barry’s style, a nervy mix of high poetry and low comedy that he applies with unceasing vigor.”
Poetry
Books of poems:
- Mark Leidner, Returning the Sword to the Stone (Fonograf Editions, 2021): “Leidner is a comic genius, which is to say this book is both hilarious and profound.”
Music: Composers, artists, and major works
Several artists have thrived at the intersection of music and humor:
- Let us begin a journey from the ridiculously sublime to the sublimely ridiculous with Anna Russell, who masterfully lampooned the classics. Here is a link to her playlists, and a link to her classic spoofs on The Ring of the Nibelung.
- Drier in tone, Victor Borge accompanied his monologues on piano. Here is a link to his playlists.
- “Dry” might not best describe the humor of Fanfare Ciocarlia, a Balkan Brass Band from Romania; yet this sloppy-wet fun has a droll quality. Here is a link to its playlists.
- P.D.Q. Bach (Peter Schickele) employed an orchestra to poke fun at the classics. Here is a link to his playlists.
- Leo Eide billed himself as the “Whistling Virtuoso”. He may have been serious. Here is a link to his playlist.
- Decidedly not serious were Jo Stafford and her husband Paul Weston, who challenged the tin ears of would-be listeners with an act called Jonathan and Darlene Edwards. Stafford’s discipline in singing so precisely off-key is remarkable – a hoot. Here is a link to their playlists.
- During World War II, Spike Jones provided much-needed comic relief. “By late 1942 with the release of ‘Der Fuehrer’s Face,’ Spike Jones and his City Slickers were the most popular comedy band in the world.” “The very name of Spike Jones became synonymous with crazy music.” Here is a link to his and The City Slickers’ playlists.
- Bo Carter offered a steady diet of ribald musical humor. Here is a link to his playlists.
- A group called Pifferari di Santo Spirito has given us a rare gift of classy music with humor. Here they are live at Portscastho Village Hall.
Compositions:
- Antonio Salieri, Falstaff (1798) (approx. 136-145’) (libretto) is an opera buffa about an epically comic character; “a playful drama in two acts by Antonio Salieri, on a libretto by Carlo Prospero Defranceschi, inspired by The Merry Wives of Windsor of William Shakespeare.” Performances are conducted by Veronesi, Perugini and Malgoire.
- Jouni Kaipainen’s Bassoon Concerto, Op. 74 (2004) (approx. 23-28’) presents the composer’s view of the bassoon as “the clown of the orchestra.”
- Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart composed Divertimento for 2 horns, 2 violins, viola & bass, “A Musical Joke” (Ein musikalischer Spaß), K. 522 (1787) (approx. 20-21’), as a parody on musical conventions he found trite or distasteful. Perhaps humor was more subtle in those days, or maybe it was just that television had not been invented. “It’s almost as if ‘A Musical Joke’ is what a student would produce after completing ‘Middle-to-Late 18th-Century Composition 101.’ And let’s assume that student passed with a ‘D,’ because there is a lot going on that’s wrong here.” Listen for the obvious clunkers (skip to the end for the “grand” finale) amid the parody of trite conventions.
- Ludwig van Beethoven, Piano Sonata No. 22 in F major, Op. 54 (1804) (approx. 11-13’): “. . . famed musicologist Donald Tovey characterized Beethoven’s 22nd as childlike, or even-dog like. Tovey writes, 'those who best understand children and dogs have the best chance of enjoying an adequate reading of this music; laughing with, but not at its animal spirits; [enjoying] its indefatigable pursuit of its game whether that be its own tail or something more remote and elusive.'”
Albums:
- Swamp Dogg, “Blackgrass: From West Virginia to 125th Street” (2024) (42’)
Music: songs and other short pieces
- Clarice Assad & Third Coast Percussion, “The Jester”
- "Weird Al" Yankovic, "Eat It" (lyrics)
- Flight of the Conchords, "Business Time" (lyrics)
- George Formby, “When I’m Cleaning Windows” (lyrics)
Visual Arts
- Max Ernst, Sign for a School of Monsters (1968)
- Joan Miró, Ciphers and Constellations, in Love with a Woman (1941)
- Joan Miró, Self-Portrait (1917)
- Frans Hals, Jester with a Lute (ca. 1623-24)
- Jean Fouquet, Portrait of the Ferrera Court Jester Gonella (c. 1442)
Film and Stage
- Young Frankenstein: perhaps the funniest spoof ever made
- Airplane!: bad jokes at their best
- The Bank Dick
- Chicken Run
- Mister Roberts, a military service comedy
- Who Framed Roger Rabbit, on the connection between life and the cartoons
- Wallace and Gromit: The Wrong Trousers: “a hilarious parody on film noir”
- The Horse’s Mouth, a relentlessly funny spoof about an aging painter with absurdly grand opinions about his art
Laurel and Hardy:
- Way Out West: pure comedic brilliance by two masters
- Sons of the Desert: two knuckleheads who try to put one over on their wives
The Marx Brothers:
- A Day at the Races
- A Night at the Opera: Groucho and his brothers spoof a classic art form
- Duck Soup: having nothing to do with ducks
Peter Sellers and the Pink Panther series:
- A Shot in the Dark: the first film in the Pink Panther series
- The Pink Panther
- The Return of the Pink Panther
- The Pink Panther Strikes Again
- Revenge of the Pink Panther
A list of the 100 funniest comedies according to the American Film Institute
