HUMOUR
Learn a wide
variety of LFFs…
and laugh!!!
Comedians and composers use a variety of
Language Forms and Features to create
humour!




Why use humour/laughter?
How do composers use humour
effectively?
What are the benefits and hazards
of the use of humour?
How can humour make a serious
“point”?
LAUGHTER IS THE JEST MEDICINE
(pun)





Enhances respiration
Enhances circulation
Oxygenates the blood
Suppresses stress related hormones
in the brain
Activates the immune system
Source: www.humorproject.com
DID YOU KNOW THAT….




The average pre-schooler laughs or smiles
400 times a day and that number drops to
15 times a day by age 35
People smile only 35% as much as they
think they do
Laughter releases endorphins a chemical
more powerful than morphine
Every time you laugh you burn 3.5 calories
Source: www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm
NOT ALL HUMOUR WORKS

Sarcastic Humor

Ethnic Humor

Laughing at Others
Source:Making Humor Work, Terry L. Paulson, Ph.D.,1989



Through humor, you can soften some of
the worst blows that life delivers. And
once you find laughter, no matter how
painful your situation might be, you can
survive it. - Bill Cosby
Humor is tragedy plus time. - Mark Twain
Humor is a rubber sword - it allows you
to make a point without drawing blood. Mary Hirsch
WHAT IS HUMOUR ….
It be defined as that
which makes us
laugh, smile, or
amuses us.
Source:Making Humor Work, Terry L. Paulson, Ph.D.,1989
Elements of Humour


A sense of humour can be defined as
the ability to perceive one or more of
the universal characteristics.
Therefore, one’s sense of humor
involves the capacity to appreciate:






incongruity
wordplay
absurdity
what if..(future)
common experiences
cultural and historical contexts
Incongruity…
LFFs = contrast / juxtaposition /
oxymoron

Incongruity means: putting two opposite
ideas/things together that don’t belong
together.

“Don’t sweat the petty things, and don’t pet
the sweaty things.” - George Carlin

“Never take a sleeping pill and a laxative in
the same night.” - Dave Barry
Wordplay (double meanings)…
LFFs = pun / innuendo / homonyms

Toilet out of order. Please use floor below.

In case of fire do not use elevator, use water.

The farmer allows walkers to cross the field for
free, but the bull charges.

The skinny postman was asked why he was so
thin. “Because I only have one mail a day”
Wordplay (Double entendres)…
LFFs = sexual innuendo
A double entendre usually implies a subtext
(metaphoric meaning) beyond the real literal
meaning…phrases that can be understood in two
different ways:
“Gymnasts do it upside down.”
“Actors do it onstage.”
“If I told you you had a beautiful body, would you
hold it against me?”
“You know what they say about men with big
feet??? – big socks!!
Common Experiences… LFFs = rhetorical
questions / high modality / contrast
Truth in comedy is what makes people laugh and
relate to the humorist’s jokes or comments.

“Oh, you hate your job? Why didn't you say so? There's a
support group for that. It's called EVERYBODY, and they
meet at the bar.” - Drew Carey

“Have you ever noticed that anybody driving slower than
you is an idiot, and anyone going faster than you is a
maniac?”
- George Carlin
Wordplay (Rule of three)…
LFFs = cumulative imagery / repetition /
contrast / juxtaposition
This is often used by comedians, and requires that they list
two normal items in a sequence, followed by a third that is
nonsensical or absurd or wrong:



“Can I get you anything? Cup of coffee? Doughnut? Plastic
surgery?”
In The Addams Family, Morticia is clearing out a closet and finds
three bags. In bag #1, "Uncle Knick-knack's Winter Wardrobe". In
bag #2, "Uncle Knick-knack's Summer Wardrobe". In bag #3,
"Uncle Knick-knack.”
“For Halloween this year, my kid got 3 apples, 2 candy bars, and
the deed to one of McCain’s seven houses.”
Absurdity, ridiculousness
Something that makes no sense and
is just over-the-top-strange.


“Some people are like Slinkies - not really
good for anything, but you still can't help but
smile when you see one tumble down the
stairs.” LFFs = sibilance / allusion /
simile
“English - Who needs that? I'm never going
to England!” LFFs = repetition / pun /
high modality / rhetorical question
what if?… LFFs = rhetorical questions / repetition /
cumulative imagery
“The most unfair thing about life is the way it ends. I
mean, life is tough. It takes up a lot of your time. What
do you get at the end of it?
A Death! What's that, a bonus? I think the life cycle is all
backwards. You should die first, get it out of the way.
Then you live in an old age home. You get kicked out
when you're too young, you get a gold watch, you go to
work. You work forty years until you're young enough to
enjoy your retirement. You do drugs, alcohol, you party,
you get ready for high school. You go to grade school,
you become a kid, you play, you have no responsibilities,
you become a little baby, you go back into the womb, you
spend your last nine months floating…”
George Carlin
Cultural Context… LFFs = allusion /
vernacular / similes / hyperbole



Humor is funny because we can
relate to it. What people in America
find funny, people in Egypt might
not find funny.
Jokes about our culture work
because we recognize the truth in
them.
What’s funny in your culture?
Historical Context


Humor is a real snapshot of a
certain time. Things that were funny
in the ‘80s aren’t as funny today.
Mark Twain’s humor doesn’t make
us laugh as much as it made the
people of his own time laugh.
TYPES OF HUMOR





Satire - sarcasm (Daily Show)
Farce - broad, over-the-top humor
(Weekend at Bernie’s, Dr. Doolittle, Austin
Powers)
Slapstick - physical humor (Three Stooges)
Parody- copying the form of something
established, but tweaking it (Saturday
Night Live, Colbert Report)
Situational - personal life situations that are
funny. (Dane Cook, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris
Rock)
SIX REASONS THAT FUN CAN IMPROVE
YOUR LIFE…
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
Breaks up boredom and fatigue
Fulfills human social needs
It increases creativity and willingness to
help
Fun fulfills the need for mastery and
control
Fun improves communication
Fun breaks up conflict and tension
Source: www.workplaceissues.com/arhumor.htm