Humour

Humour

Have you ever finished someone else’s sentence? We predict what people are going to say well before they finish a sentence. If they say something that you do not expect, something we did not anticipate, it can be humorous. As a comedian knows all too well, timing is everything. The unexpected part has to arrive in people’s mind at the exact same time as they arrive at a prediction of what they expected you to say. You have to pause to allow them to work out what you might say, then say the unexpected thing. Hence why jokes you have heard before don’t create much laughter, as you know what is coming and can foresee it. Jokes that work best are unpredictable. Some of the most comical jokes come when you are not expecting them, out of the blue.

You can be aroused and more receptive to humour in larger audiences by the contagious nature of comedy. Priming, building an atmosphere, lifting the mood with tomfoolery aids the bonding process between people. A good sense of humour is not so much that someone is making others laugh as such, but that they are radiating confidence and holding people’s attention. Those that become the focus of attention are more highly regarded. Humour is a tool to get people to listen. We are competitive animals. Competing for respect, for adoration, for a mating advantage, to improve our social status. Laughing at someone when they fall or spill something on themselves brings people down to earth. Making fun of your date helps not hinders the bonding process, if done right.

It has been suggested that the tickle reflex is a mechanism to aid parents to bond with their children, even though extensive tickling is known to be torturous. People were paid handsomely to take part in a tickle torture challenge to see who could endure the most. It turned out that the challenge was orchestrated by someone that found it sexually arousing.

If you whisper on purpose people will notice and want to know what the secrecy is all about. Fake laughter has a similar effect. It draws attention. You can bug people by laughing to yourself. People care about themselves as always, and fear that you are mocking them. They are relived to find out that our mind has wandered, falling upon an amusing event in the past unrelated to what is going on around us at the time.

Laughter is therapeutic. People warm to those that smile and make them laugh. We may laugh even when we don’t get the joke so that we do not feel left out. It is an inclusive mechanism. Having a nonplussed face soon after someone has reached the punchline sours the occasion, so many will laugh anyway as it improves friendships significantly. Having a nonplussed face after someone has reached the punchline is a way for others to try and demote them. Dissent.

Farting might be seen as disgusting by some, but it can cross boundaries in its ability to make people smirk. Jokes do not always translate very well into other languages. There is not always the same ambiguity and potential to play on words. Nevertheless, there can be a lot of reliance upon unexpected ways of saying things. That person with the floral dress and long wavy hair is pretty…..ugly.