(This blog was originally posted on Pete’s blog.) Below, Pete talks about the benign violation theory and discusses a paper, Benign violations: Making immoral behavior funny, that was published (with Caleb Warren) in the August 2010 volume of Psychological Science. The benign violation theory builds on work by Tom Veatch and integrates existing humor theories [...]
As part of our global expedition exploring what makes things funny, we’re grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. Doug Stanhope is a mess. A thrilling and beautiful mess, that is, a maelstrom of vitriol, fury and alcohol that represents, depending on your perspective, either the high- or low-point of standup’s grimy and dangerous [...]
(This post was previously published at Wired.com). However you slice and dice the presidential candidates’ performances at the three debates, there’s little question that Barack Obama won on the comedy front. Before the second debate was even over, an internet meme had sprung up around challenger Mitt Romney’s clumsy claim that he’d sought out “binders [...]
The Danish Cartoon Crisis of 2005 and 2006: 10 Things You Didn’t Know About the Original Mohammad Controversy (This post was previously published at Wired.com.).. With thousands taking to the streets in protest after a YouTube video mocked Muhammad, many pundits are comparing the situation to the mother of all Muslim controversies: the so-called Muhammad [...]
The Just For Laughs festival in Montrealisn’t just the world’s biggest comedy festival; in the freewheeling world of stand-up, it’s one of the few proven methods left for up-and-comers to really make it big. That’s why it’s a big deal to be among the handful chosen each year to be one of Just For Laughs’ [...]
As part of our global expedition exploring what makes things funny, we’re grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. Film has Cannes. Athletics have the Olympics. Music has South by Southwest. Comedy? It has Just for Laughs. The Just for Laughs Festival in Montreal, currently celebrating its 30th anniversary with a month-long party ending [...]
As part of our global expedition exploring what makes things funny, we are grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. Folks are a-twitter over all the ladies taking over comedy these days. Chelsea Hander. Amy Sedaris. Kristin Wiig. Lena Dunham. Does this mean the women of comedy are finally getting their due? Probably not, [...]
For a long, long time, Portland’s comedy scene was anemic. No “A-room” comedy clubs, no big comedy bookers, no national buzz. That changed in 2008, however, with the launch of the city’s Bridgetown Comedy Festival, which featured 50 comedians and headliner Patton Oswalt. The following year, the festival was considerably bigger, and a year after [...]
As part of our global expedition exploring what makes things funny, we’re grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. You’ve likely spotted Jordan Brady in small roles on television shows like Baywatch, Dream On, Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Who’s the Boss? Or maybe, years ago, you caught him hosting the MTV game show [...]
Neal Brennan (Image credit: Luke Reznor) As part of our global expedition exploring what makes things funny, we’re grilling humorists about the science behind scoring laughs. “Co-creator of Chappelle’s Show.” With a credit like that, it would’ve been easy for Neal Brennan to quietly retire among the comedy gods once the celebrated sketch-comedy show (not [...]
