Grace's Lead Blog Post Response

In this week's lead blog post, Grace used an article talking about millennial humor being weird and a video of a man taste testing liquids in various cups. I didn't find this video funny while watching it. However, I think I would have found this video to be humorous if I was watching it with a group of friends. I think it would be more humorous with a group because we all would be laughing at how awkward the video is making us feeling which can go along with the relief theory. The more odd-looking samples he tried lead to more tension being built up to his reaction to each drink. In a group, I think we would laugh at the guy's reactions to the drink because it's odd that he keeps trying the drinks and his reactions show pure disgust. I also think this video would have been more humorous if someone was trying the liquids with him. This also would have helped with the awkwardness of the video in the first place. The camera angle also makes this video more awkward because it's shaky and we never see whos actually behind the camera. If we saw the face of the person's reactions that could have maybe made the video more humorous. In general, I'm confused about the point of this video. Like Grace said the room is white and appears to be clean but when you look more closely, the table is dirty and has four cups of some types of liquids, there is also money on the floor. He then proceeds to try each substance and takes a wild guess at what they are. Is the point of this video to get people's attention or to be humorous by trying odd liquid samples and speaking in a different voice than normal. If so this can be an example of weird millennial humor.

Walker's Lead Blog Post Response

In this week's blog, Walker used a compilation video of Anthony Jeselnik's jokes. Walker talked about how the incongruity theory fits into the types of jokes Anthony makes. I think his jokes could also fit into the relief theory because his jokes build up tensions and then released through nervous laughter from the audience. In general, I think the relief theory can be applied to dark humor because it makes people uncomfortable and builds up tensions wich are released through laughter. It is also hard to tell when someone is "just joking" too so instead we laugh in these situations to make them less uncomfortable because humor is meant to be funny and not to be taken as seriously. The most humorous part of the video was when Anthony made the joke about "my thoughts and prayers to the families in Boston," or wherever an event had occurred. He made a point to say this was meaningless to say because posting that on Instagram or social media does nothing for the families and people who are affected by the event but instead it's just attention-seeking. This part of the clip was the most humorous to me because I've experienced it. For example, when a sad event occurs like the bombing Boston marathon, everyone posted the same thing on their story and seeing the same post over and over again became annoying because these posts do nothing to help the people affected. I also agree that Anothony uses the superiority theory in this clip. His facial expressions and the way he words his jokes makes the audience feel inferior in the situation. Overall Anthony comes off as humorous to use because his jokes can be applied to numerous theories of humor we have discussed in class.

Rebecca's Lead Blog Post Response

In this week's blog, Rebecca analyzed a clip from Brooklyn Nine-Nine. She introduced a new theory called the pattern recognition theory which states that "humor occurs when the brain is surprised by the recognition of a pattern." It also states that the humor response encourages the brain to look for more patterns in the future. In my opinion, this theory can be applied to any type of humor. For example, the surprise came when the suspects start singing "I Want It That Way" by the Backstreet Boys. Another surprise is the behavior of the detective. He's not taking his job seriously like the girl whos looking for the man that murdered her brother. This can also be applied to the eight patterns of from the pattern recognition theory. The eight patterns are about the causes of all humor. The one that applied the most was opposition, which can be applied when a unit is shown in contrasting contexts. The detective had a lack of seriousness when trying to discover who was the possible murderer compared to a typical detective that wouldn't be joking around and making the suspects sing a song by the Backstreet Boys. This is why the scene is humorous to us. Going back to the theory, I think it covers the missing aspect that the other theories of humor we have discussed in class. Like the article said, all these theories talk about the cause of humor and not the why. The pattern recognition theory covers the why aspect of why we find things humorous and also covers the cause of this laughter. Rebecca also pointed out that this clip can be applied to the incongruity theory because of the manners of the detective. The pattern recognition theory can also be applied to the "why" in the incongruity theory because the action or situation is unexpectedness which may come as a surprise.

Mallory's Lead Blog Post Response

In this week's lead blog post, Mallory used Limmy's Show which is a Scottish show that went over the idea of water. It starts off with Limmy going to the store and pointing out the water bottles on the shelves, he then proceeds to leave the store and goes to turn on a sink and fill up a glass with water. After he fills up the glass with water, he presents it and the scene cuts. I thought the scene was over but the people behind the scenes came onto the scene and started asking about the glass of water. The incongruity theory can be applied to this scene. When the scene says cut you expect the cameras to stop rolling and the scene to be over. Instead, the cameras continue to roll and the people from behind the scenes come into the scene asking about the water and desperately try to get there own cups and bowls of water. The superiority theory can also be applied to this clip. Limmy gives facial expressions to the camera that says, isn't this obvious that we can access water for free through sinks and it tastes the exact same as a bottle of water? These facial expressions can be applied to the superiority theory because in this case, Limmys expressions are expressing that he feels superior to everyone else because he "discovered" that we can access water for free. Like Mallory said, the accents make this video more humorous because it's not normally what we hear every day unless we lived in another country. Another thing that Mallory points out is the angles of the camera. Without the camera following around Limmy like we are there in person would have made this video less humorous.

Elizabeth's Lead Blog Post Response

In this week's lead blog post, Elizabeth used the video "Company is Coming". I thought she did a great job of explaining and applying some of the theories we have learned in class. First off, she applied the incongruity theory to a male playing the mom role in this clip. The unexpectedness of the male playing the mom role made this video more humorous than it would be with a female playing the mom role. Elizabeth also brought up stereotypes. In this video, it's using the mom stereotype by her cleaning the house but more exaggerated than mom's would usually be. I thought it was hilarious that none of the family was around to help the mom clean the house. This was relatable to me because my siblings and I would always try to avoid my mom when she was cleaning before a big event. If we tried to help her it would just stress her out more because we wouldn't be putting stuff in the right spots or we weren't cleaning the dishes good enough. When Gayle says "we can't let them know we sit" and "there cant be any sign of living in this house", I thought this was funny because normally this is what I'm thinking when my mom is going on a cleaning frenzy but if I were to say something out loud to her she would freak out. Also, I think it's funny that moms go crazy and go on a cleaning frenzy when guests are coming over. It's weird that we make our houses look so clean and organized just for the house to get messy all over again when the guests come over. In a way, this video was mocking this idea of cleaning the house just for it to get messy again. Overall I liked this video because it was different from other videos in class and Elizabeth did a great job of applying the theories to the clip.

Mckenna's Lead Blog Post Response

In this blog post, I'm going to argue that this video wasn't as amusing to me as it might be to others. Mckenna talked about how this video used exaggeration. I agree with her but in my opinion, I think it uses too much exaggeration to the point where it's not funny. For example, whenever she talks to her peers you know she is going to try to say something depressing while trying to be funny and it doesn't work. She is trying too hard and using extreme exaggeration.  Also, there is a lot of laughter in the video and if it was taken out of the video, it wouldn't be funny and probably more awkward than it already is. Another thing Mckenna brought up is that the actors cant hold it together. This makes the video less awkward and more amusing to watch. It's funny that the other actors cant hold in their laughter because it makes the audience laugh. She also mentioned how this video uses the incongruity theory. I think in this example its almost expected of Debbie to say something negative while Pluto is around. But if we didn't know that Debbie was trying to purposely be a downer than this would be an incongruity because its unexpected. I like how this video was a different type of comedy that we watched. She brought up pessimistic views on various topics and didn't just say them straight to the camera but instead made a little scene about it instead. I liked how this was different from political humor where most of them that I've seen are talk shows. Overall I thought this clip was interesting to watch even though I didn't find it as funny as I thought I would.

Lead Blog Post

When Bae Wants More Romance in Your Relationship

copy link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PEVhHtexS7w&feature=youtu.be


Hey everyone! For my lead blog post I'm going to be discussing gender norms and how they connect to humor and the theories.

To start off the scene begins with the barbie doll complaining about how the guy doll isn't dressed up for the date. The guy doll says he's fine and begins to complain about how women always want to look special for everything. Barbie doll replies with more complaining about how average their date night is going to be and the guy doll is fine with that. She continues to talk about how she is special and won't settle for anything less and that she wants more romance in their relationship. The clip continues to a couple of flashbacks where there was "romance" but instead it was the guy doll making cheesy romantic jokes to her.  She wants a love story like Romeo and Juliet but he thinks that its fantasy and not realistic. Instead he says that romance is about being together all the time and not killing each other and it's about loving each other despite the flaws. Barbie doll begins listing all of his flaws. The clip continues to her finally understanding that he is right but she won't admit it so instead she holds up a sign saying "you're right." The clip ends with them about to get along but he says another cheesy pick up line and she just sighs in defeat.

The first thing I wanted to point out in this video is this can be applied to the relief theory. This video is a way of releasing tensions through tendentious jokes on a topic like gender. This video dives into the gender norms of men and women. The video is mocking relationships in a harmless way which is the point of relief theory.  This clip is saying that women always complain about what men do, from the way that they dress to the things that they do. For example, the barbie doll was complaining about how he never dresses up for anything, especially date night. Another thing this clip is saying is that what he does in the relationship is never enough for her. For example, he tries to defend himself when she says that he does nothing romantic for her and she just fires back with more things he does wrong. Also, this clip is showing that flirting between males and females is by being funny and teasing each other. The barbie doll complains about him always being funny and teasing her and that she wants something more romantic. His way of being romantic is through cheesy pickup lines which is not enough for her.

This video wouldn't nearly be as funny without the use of the dolls and the cheesy voices. If this video was with real people using normal voices this scene wouldn't be funny and probably would come off as more aggressive. In my opinion, this video overexaggerates how women are in relationships. The video makes the idea of women come off as really needy and controlling about a relationship. This exaggeration is an important part of humor. Without exaggeration humor and comedy wouldn't be as funny. You need exaggeration to make jokes about a topic that is sensitive to other people. Without exaggeration people wouldn't understand jokes as much and might get more offended.  To summarize, this clip was an example of the relief theory and gender norms in today's society. The video used exaggeration to make the gender norms topic more humorous to the viewer.

Anna-Kathleen's Lead Blog Post Response

I liked how Anna Kathleen used a different form of comedy this week. Jeanna Robertson was funny by relating to the audience with real stories from her life compared to other clips we have been watching where they are fiction like the Office. Jeanna was funny by emphasizing important parts of her story and pausing which left room for the audience to laugh. She would also wave her hands around when she wanted to emphasize something more. Without this, she wouldn't nearly be as funny as she was. She made a big emphasis on following things to literally. Her husband got her the supplies she needed but in too big of quantities because he followed the numbers on her list. When the husband shows up with more baking supplies than she needed this could be an example of the incongruity theory. She was expecting the trip to the store to be quick and get exactly what she asked for on her list but instead, the trip took way longer than expected and she got way more than what she asked for. I thought it was interesting that she referred to her husband as the left brain, this added humor to her performance. Anna Kathleen made a good point about there is a difference between something that is funny and something that is comedy. I agree with her point! The biggest thing from this difference between the two was that retelling a situation in a story format is comedy. I also thought her example that all squares are rectangles was a good way to emphasize the difference between something being funny and something being comedy. Overall I liked how her example was different from all the clips we have been watching and this clip was a great way to explore different types of comedy.

Alex's Lead Blog Post Response

In Alex's blog I liked how he introduced a new theory called Absurdist humor. Both videos were examples of this theory, especially the second video. The second video is a great example of absurdist humor. It is hard to fit the Sims video into any of the other theories we have talked about. Like Alex said, the only theory it would fit into besides absurdist humor would be benign violation.  In my opinion, the first video could be an example of incongruity theory because we can compare the spelling of the word pregnant to the incorrect spellings of the word in the video. The unexpectedness of how the word is spelled could be the incongruity along with the way the word is used in the sentence. For example, there were some weird questions in the first video such as "if a women has starch masks on her body does that mean she has been pargnet before.?" This is an unexpected question and its even more shocking to find the words and punctuation aren't used correctly. I think the first video could also be an example of the superiority theory because we can compare how we spell things to how the other people spelled things. We know that we wouldn't spell things the way it was put in the video and if we did we would go back and double check our spelling before posting a question on the internet. I agree with Alex that the superiority theory would not apply to the second video. Overall I thought Alex did a great job of covering all the theories and explaining why they would or woylndt work for each video.

Jack's Lead Blog Post Response

In this blog post, I'm going to argue that the students in Jacks's clip could also be an example of the superiority theory. The clip starts with the substitute teacher walking in and saying "don't mess with him." The students give each other weird looks and seemed confused at first. Eventually, the substitute teacher starts to go through attendance. He pronounces the first girl's name wrong, and she tries to correct him but he just yells at her. This continues as he continues to call out people's names. Eventually, the students give in and just let him pronounce their names wrong. In my opinion, the students aren't scared of the substitute teacher. Instead, they realize that their names are going to be pronounced wrong so there is no point in arguing. In this case, they are superior to the teacher because they know that the teacher isn't going to change the way he says their names and they might even find this amusing. They all keep giving each other looks like what the heck is happening and sometimes are even smiling. For example, when Aaron doesn't respond right away the teacher gets up in his face and Aaron is smiling as he finally tells the teacher why he didn't respond was because the substitute teacher was pronouncing his name wrong. This could be an example that Aaron felt superior to the teacher because he thought he had finally corrected the teacher but instead that moment of superiority is quickly released when the teacher goes up to the desk and swipes everything off of it. This video also reminded me of someone's paper I read on Friday for peer editing. They came up with their own theory called "exaggeration theory." This video reminded me of this theory because the teacher is purposely pronouncing their names wrong and is getting mad when the students try to correct him. This video is mocking and exaggerating how substitute teachers come into a classroom not knowing anything and try to go through attendance without messing up. We find this video amusing because most of us can relate to it in some way even though it is greatly exaggerated. Overall this video was fun to watch and was a good example of the superiority theory and the exaggeration theory.

John's Lead Blog Post Response

First off I thought the video John used was pretty funny and he did a great job of tying incongruity and a new concept called ''Feeling Tone Interpretation." To start off I never knew what to expect what was going to happen next while watching this clip. One moment the chef was saying not directly that he liked the dish and then the next moment he would make a comment saying how bad it was. Like John said this is an example of incongruity because we expect the dish to be either good or bad, not both. It was hard to tell when the chef was being nice or being mean and this is where the "Feeling Tone Interpretation" comes in for me because the chief never changes his tone but the music changes from very dramatic to uplifting and happy. With the changing music this helped me understand when the chef was being nice or rude. If the music wasn't there, I think it would be hard to apply the idea of "Feeling Tone Interpretation." I think relief theory could also be an example in this clip. The dramatic music builds up tension on what the chef is going to say. That tension is released when the chef says something nice about the dish and the music changes to more uplifting. The moment of released tension is quickly gone when we realize the chef is now saying something mean about the dish. This moment is where incongruity plays into this clip because I did not expect a rude comment after the chef just gave a nice one. Since the tone was constantly changing throughout the video I'm still unsure if the chef liked the other chef's food or not. Overall I thought this was a funny clip to watch and was a good example of the incongruity theory and possibly the relief theory.

Kimberly's Lead Blog Post Response

I have tried numerous times to watch The Office but I just can't seem to get into the show. However the fire drill scene I found hilarious. To start off there are numerous examples of all the theories we have covered so far. I think the most interesting theory in this episode was the incongruity theory and Dwight. Kimberly said that he normally follows the rules and is normally tame but in this scene, he breaks a couple of rules by starting a fire. I think this is odd and interesting that he started a fire at work because his coworkers weren't listening to his lecture on fires and procedures the week before. I'm curious if there was more to why he started a fire, again it seems pretty extreme. Maybe Dwight got fed up with people not listening to him at work so he showed them that he is still there and doesn't want to be ignored anymore. Could Dwight also be an example of the superiority theory? He doesn't laugh throughout the scene but maybe internally he finds their panic amusing because he knows what to do in a situation with a fire but his coworkers don't because they didn't listen to him. I thought it was also funny how people coped with the fire in the office. Kimberly gave a couple of examples of the relief theory and how the people coped with the fire. I think another example would be Micheal. When he first sees the fire he begins to yell at everyone to stay calm but he's not even taking his own advice and proceeds to yell even louder for people to stay calm. Overall I thought this was a great example of all three theories and this example makes me want to give The Office another shot!

Lippitt Response

In my opinion the incongruity theory is easily the most understood and most accurate theory out of three theories. The incongruity theory I find is accurate because I'm always laughing when I predict whats going to happen in a movie or show and something completely unexpected happens. An example would be the movie Deadpool. Throughout the movie you would expect a superhero to act mature but instead Deadpool is the complete opposite. In one scene his hand gets cut off but it slowly starts to grow back. I find this funny because it is completely unexpected that his hand will grow back and when it does he makes inappropriate jokes about it. Also another reason is the incongruity theory is a more positive idea of humor than the superiority theory. In my opinion the superiority theory doesn't do a great job of explaining laughter and seems to put the concept of humor in a more negative view. The superiority theory says we laugh because we feel we are superior to the other person when they are struggling. An example would be laughing at someone for spilling hot coffee on themselves before leaving for work. Sometimes we do laugh at our friends when they mess up or do something just plain stupid like falling down the stairs. In my opinion this is okay to laugh at because you know the person and they mostly likely will be laughing too. The relief theory is also accurate but I think is too focused on just one idea which is laughing to relieve tension. An example would be laughing at a jump scene in a horror movie because the tension was building up for awhile before hand and when it finally happened you weren't ready. In response you maybe laugh to relieve the tension that the horror movie had created. In my opinion there is more to humor than just laughing to relieve tension. The theories do describe different types of comedy. The superiority and the incongruity theory do overlap slightly. They both describe humor as laughing at something that could be unexpected. For the superiority theory someones misfortune could be unexpected in the moment causing laughter just like the incongruity theory where we laugh at something that was not the expected outcome. Besides that they both give off completely different tones and describe different types of comedy. The relief theory is also different because it is a build up to the moment of laughter or humor compared to the superiority or incongruity theory where it is more sudden. When I think of humor, I think the incongruity theory does the best at getting close to the essence of laughter. The incongruity theory is easily understood and explains more common reasons why people laugh compared to the other theories.

First Blog Post: Jane The Virgin

 Jane the Virgin is a Netflix show that I have recently finished watching. In the first episode Jane, the main character, finds out she is pregnant after passing out on a bus. This is surprising to Jane because she is religious and has chose to be abstinence from sex. She went into a Gynecologist appointment and was accidentally inseminated by a doctor who was distracted by her own drama from the night before. The show follows the superiority theory because the show makes us laugh at the misfortune of Jane becoming pregnant even though she is a virgin. What makes the viewer laugh even more is when she finds out that the sperm donor is a guy she was very into a couple years back. Her misfortunes continue to add up throughout the first episode when she finds out that the doctor who inseminated Jane is the donors sister. Jane choosing to keep the child will cause her more problems throughout the series such as getting an internship and eventually getting into graduate school. Jane also has to figure out if she wants a family to raise her child or if she should raise the child without a father. Around this time as she is trying to figure out what she wants her boyfriend proposes to her. She says no because she is scared and can't figure out what she wants in her life. Rafael, the sperm donor, is interested in Jane which is also why Jane said no to her boyfriends proposal. The constant misfortune of Jane continually make the viewer laugh throughout the show because her misfortunes won't stop adding up. Eventually Jane chooses to pursue a relationship with Rafael. At first they get along very well but eventually their relationship gets rocky the further along she gets in her pregnancy because they don't see eye to eye on things for the baby. The show emphasizes the importance of relationships and family while connecting to the audience with everyday situations. Jane lives with her mother and grandmother and they support her throughout her pregnancy and care deeply about Jane as a person. Eventually Jane meets her dad and slowly begins to develop a relationship with him. Her Dad, Rogelio, is a famous actor that has a goofy personality. He brings an interesting twist to the show with his personality that makes the viewer laugh. He cares a lot about his appearance and his skin care routine. This is relatable to the viewer because we all care about our appearances and skin care. Rogelio acts like a teenager and begins a "bromance" with Janes boyfriend Micheal. Rogelio plans ridiculous big parties and events for Jane and Micheal which annoys them but makes me laugh because it shows how much he cares about his friends and family. I think the funniest part of the show is when people find out she is pregnant and hear the story behind her situation they also find it odd and funny that she is a virgin and pregnant. Eventually Jane gives birth to a baby boy and decides to raise the boy with her mother and grandmother. The baby cry's a lot and has a hard time going to bed. The baby cries at the worst times making the viewer laugh because it just keeps adding to Janes misfortune. Overall the show is able to relate to the viewers through the relationship and family problems that happen throughout the show which always end with the viewer laughing.