Basic types of humor

There are three basic types of humor: verbal, visual and physical. Verbal humor involves the use of words and it can be found in such things as puns, jokes and witticisms. Visual humor involves the use of images as seen in cartoons and in the physical appearance of some comedians. Physical humor relates to the use of actions. Perhaps the best example of physical humor is "slapstick" comedy which includes such wild actions as pie fights or chase scenes. There are verbal, visual, and physical forms of humor; however, it is obvious that verbal, visual or physical things alone are not funny. There are other conditions added to the verbal, visual or physical stimuli which contribute to their being humorous. In order to determine what is involved in humor and why some things are funny and others are not, it is necessary to turn to the theories of humor which have been developed by psychologists and sociologists.

There are three basic theories in explaining humor. Some theorists believe that things are humorous when they make a person feel superior. Others believe that humor involves incongruity, or the juxtaposition of things that aren't normally associated with one another. The third theory is that humor occurs when there is a release of tension. These three theories help to explain various facets of humor; however, they are inadequate in and of themselves to explain the existence of humor.

The theory that humor relates to feelings of superiority has existed since

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mor as well. For example, the comedy team of Laurel and Hardy make people laugh simply because one of them is very fat and the other is very skinny. It is funny for people to think that two people who are so completely different from one another would ever become friends. Marsh believes that visual forms of incongruity are among the most humorous things to be found. Thus, "cartoons without any caption are often the funniest of all, relying on visual puns or unusual juxtapositions to achieve their effect" (p. 114). An example of incongruity in physical humor can be seen in the famous play and TV series known as The Odd Couple. People automatically laugh at this situation which shows two men forced to live as roommates with one another - one of them being chronically neat and the other being a total slob. In addition, people laugh at the physical actions and reactions which come from these two characters with their opposing personalities. As in the case of Laurel and Hardy, one of the keys to incongruous humor in The Odd Couple is the fact that the two characters are completely opposite from one another as possible. It seems that the more extreme the incongruity is, the more funny it is. Like Marsh and Frijda, Chapman agr

Category: Psychology - B