What Are You Laughing At?: A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event

The other core trigger is the cognitive/social trigger. This may be the recognition of play or humorous intent.

In order to experience comedic information as “funny,” the receiver first needs to recognize that the information has (or has had) the potential to be funny. In other words, the brain needs to know that it can file the data under comedy. This is not a labored process; it may take microseconds. Whether or not it is then enjoyed is a different matter

Thus we alter the question. Instead of asking what makes some information funny, we ask: What is it that determines whether or not a receiver experiences information as funny? And here’s where it gets fun: the experience of information as “funny” is a choice made by the receiver.

All comedic information has two core variables: 1 The amount of cognitive work it takes to assemble the incongruous concept. 2 The level of incongruity contained in the completed image.

For centuries, theorists have argued over comedy’s unifying link. Incongruity, superiority, aggression, surprise, and relief keep popping up, either singly or in combinations.

the way in which comedic material is constructed and presented will influence the shape of the laugh.

Our ability to safely create the rush has evolved with our cognitive development. Now we employ complex linguistic and dramatic structures to create and sustain safe incongruity. Jokes are like puzzles, and the reward for solving them is the present-day recognition of incongruity. We feel a similar celebratory high.

This breaks down into three parts: 1 Reception factors. We will list and discuss elements of context and how they influence the receiver. 2 Comedic information (the incongruous picture). This is hardcore stuff: how jokes work. These are the elements of structure and content. We’ll also discuss comedic entropy. 3 Enhancers/inhibitors. This covers th