Calling it “meanness” is perhaps a tad bit extreme. What I mean is simply this: I am finding it very difficult to think of anything that a large percentage of English-speaking people between the ages of, say, 16 an 65 would find significantly funny that does not involve some element of meanness, judgment, mockery or other kinds of victimization in it. We are laughing at someone being foolish, making a mistake, getting kicked in the nuts…whatever, it involves shame, pain, stupidity of someone or something.
Don’t misunderstand, I am not complaining, just observing, just studying the nature of humor itself.
The only type of humor/comedy that comes to mind as escaping this are things which are funny purely on the basis of their extreme absurdity, no examples of which are coming to mind just now, unfortunately… Actually, one comes to mind as funny for its absurdity, but it also has elemnets of meanness and conflict, so it doesn’t count.
So am I forgetting something? (The meanness isn’t always directed outward, either.but its always an element. Or so it seems.)
Here is Bill Cosby --alone on stage for almost 2 hours, talking about weekends, drugs, drunks, religion, babies, and families.
And all with a sense of love…No meanness at all, while the audience laughs with him.
(on edit–it’s interesting that this simul-post–me and FairyChatMom are-both about the same guy.
I think a lot of observational humor, in which the audience and the comedian are observing shared experiences (like parenthood), can be very funny without being mean.
I don’t think Jeff Foxworthy is necessarily mean either - I always felt like his “You might be a redneck” bits were actually affectionate on some level.
Thanks for reminding me of good examples of absurdist humor, which is, as I said, the only kind that does not include some element of meanness. Steven Wright my other fave…the young comic who overdosed? “Rice is good if youre hungry and want 2,000 of something”?
At some level of meanness, not very high, humor becomes second rate, and it reflects on those who use such humor, and those who laugh at it. This is distinct from intentional meanness directed at willing participants in a humorous duel, and in many cases self-deprecation as well.
You misunderstand me: I’m not saying that all comedy is in itself mean or angry, just that there is some element of laughing at somebody being stupid or foolish or something along those lines and Bill Cosby’s humor is very much about that.
Other than puns, most humor depends on pain and suffering. Even a comedian like Bill Cosby is making fun of the people involved*; it’s more gentle than Don Rickles, but at heart there’s little difference.
For instance, offhand I remember the “talk to your son” story where his son has gotten a “reverse Mohawk.” He’s making us laugh at his son’s appearance, at how he explains it, and at what Cosby says when confronted with it.
Jack Benny was another comedian who rarely said anything bad about others – but others always said bad things about him, and he played into the stereotypes about his flaws. For example, his most famous example (“Your money or your life.” . . . . “I’m still thinking.”) is based on the concept that Jack was a cheapskate.
Only two types of humor are free of this: absurdist humor like Stephen Wright and certain types of thrill comedy where people do the impossible with seeming ease. Buster Keaton was the master of this.
*including himself, which is why it seems less cruel.
Stoid is correct, IMHO. All humor has its basis in some sort of pain or discomfort. That doesn’t mean it has to be from cruelty or sadism, but can be recognizing ‘oops’ moments together and laughing about them.
And latest research indicates that menstrual cycles don’t synchronize.
And I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I do recall some research regarding the nature of laughter that it evolved as a way of defusing tension, Which makes sense if most humor is about pain or discomfort in some respect. The research had something to do with babies… If anyone knows what it was I’d love a share.
Holy shit… Google must live here. Immediately after I made that post I made a Google search for the words babies diffuse tension evolve and the first hit was that post. Seriously one minute had passed, or less! Wow.
