What Makes Something Funny?

April 3, 2014

Does humor have logic? Can it be reduced to a formula? Is it possible to analyze a joke without killing what makes it funny? Dr. Peter McGraw, the founder of the Humor Research Lab at the University of Colorado and writer, Joel Warner went on a 91,000 mile road-trip through five continents to test jokes on the unwitting. Traveling from New York, to Japan, to Palestine and to the Amazon, the co-authors set out to investigate humor in all its forms in different cultures to find commonalities. It turns out physical comedy and mother-in-law jokes are the most universal. Even the world’s most unusual humor, the Japanese game show, contains universal elements of humor. Their book The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny is an exploration of humor, society, and an unusual friendship.

BACK TO BLOG