Why We Laugh at Late-Night TV
Joe Toplyn writes a guest post for the Humor Code project: Joe has written and produced television comedy for over twenty years. He won four Emmy Awards writing for Late Night with David Letterman, then went on to become co-head writer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, head writer of Late Show with David… Keep Reading »
Robin Williams, comedy, pain, and healing
When news broke last week that comic actor Robin Williams had taken his own life, a variety of news outlets reached out to ask us to ask about the subject of troubled comedians. There are no easy answers, we told them. Every tragedy is a personal tragedy. There is no way to simplify someone’s life choices… Keep Reading »
The Humor Code on WTF with Marc Maron
Wow! The Humor Code makes it onto Marc Maron’s WTF Podcast. Authors of The Humor Code, psychologist Peter McGraw and journalist Joel Warner, traveled around the world to find out what makes things are funny. They stop by the garage to share their findings and conclusions with Marc, including a scientific theory of humor. Plus, Eddie… Keep Reading »
Just wait one (academic) minute
Pete was recently invited to talk about what makes things funny for the WAMCs Academic Minute. (He also did one in 2013.) The Academic Minute features researchers from colleges and universities around the world, keeping listeners abreast of what’s new and exciting in the academy. Hosted by Dr. Lynn Pasquerella, President of Mount Holyoke College,… Keep Reading »
Being funny is difficult.
This post was originally published on our Huffington Post platform The studies run in the Humor Research Lab often require subjects to create something funny, like a write a joke or come up with an amusing caption. But when other folks are asked to rate what they’ve come up with, we run smack into an… Keep Reading »
