Phebe, Like From Friends *clap clap clap clap*

I love to laugh at silly things like when Phebe introduces herself as "Phebe, like from Friends".  I think laughter is a great cure to many different illnesses.  There have been studies done that show how people who lead stressful lives live for a shorter time than those who have less stressful lives who lead happier, healthier, and longer lives.  However I will say that there is a difference between comedy and happiness and what people feel about the two day to day.
       When I am hanging out with friends and we are all talking and having fun I will tend to laugh for almost no reason at all because I am enjoying myself.  I wouldn't necessarily file this laughter under comedy, but rather happiness.  When I'm in a good or elated mood I find myself more giggly even at relatively unfunny things proving my outlook is more happy than comedic.  Like how beauty is in the eye of the beholder, so is comedy.  On any given day the same exact thing could be comedy gold or a dull travesty depending on the mood of the beholder.  So I say keep your spirits up and have a good and lighthearted outlook on things to live a longer, healthier life.  

Sketchy Peruvian Hospital- "Broken Bone Humor"

Kirby raises a good point on the "funny bone humor".  I have had plenty of moments with friends where someone gets hurt and it's funny to everyone.  I think personally that this type of comedy, although I hate to admit it, is mostly aligned with Hobbes Superiority theory.  The reason I laugh at my friend's pain is because I don't feel bad when I am outright acting like I am above them.  As friends, we cut each other down in a jesting way in order to keep ourselves from acting too serious all the time.  Laughing at a friend's short comings is a good reality check for them.
With family members it's even worse because they feel so comfortable with you that they don't mind knocking you down a few pegs to keep you in line.  For example when my family went on a trip to Peru two summers ago we went on an ATV tour through the mountains.  I, being the youngest and only girl, gave my brothers plenty of ammunition to make fun of me for not knowing how to work the gears or being able to control the machine very well.  As we set off I got a little more confident in my ATV skills and was more than keeping up with the rest of my family.  As soon as I though I had a handle on things, bang, I drove into a ditch with the huge ATV ending up on top of me.  It was the scariest moment of my life and for a minuet when I was pinned between the ground and the vehicle I though I was going to have to be air lifted to a sketchy Peruvian hospital.  I ended up only sustaining minor injuries, but my whole family was shell-shocked.  However, later that night at dinner after I had been bandaged up the status quo returned to normal my family was able to laugh at my inferiority.

Do or Do Not, There is No Try... Guys

When I am in bed at night trying to fall asleep I more often than not find myself sifting through Buzzfeed posts.  The try-guys in particular are one of my favorite types of Buzzfeed videos because they do ridiculous, out of the norm style things.  They align themselves very much so with Hutchinson's theory of incongruity mixed with Freudian style relief theory.  They try on dresses and act like fools and make stupid, yet funny grotesque jokes.  One thing I do find myself asking though is are they too PC?

The Buzzfeed company is an online content outlet with a combination of news, science, and entertainment videos and articles.  They are based out of Los Angeles and they have a liberal stance on many subjects. Much of what they put out is commentary on pubic perception of social opinions and what they think should or shouldn't be socially acceptable.  California as a state is left-leaning and even more so in LA and I think there, more than in other parts of the country, people have to dance around things that might be considered not PC, especially when dealing with comedy.  Like what Jerry Seinfeld was saying in an interview with Seth Myers a few weeks ago, he got booed for a relatively harmless joke at a college campus because the liberal crowd felt he was making fun of gay people and it was not politically correct of him.  

I love the goofiness of the four men who make up the try-guys, but they tend to have a lesson with most of their videos which I do find irritating.  I feel like they're trying to teach me that "it's ok to be yourself" and to "don't judge others" and it begins to become a little preachy.  I don't think there is anything inherently wrong with trying to teach people a lesson with your comedy, in fact that is what a lot of types of comedy styles, like satire, aims to achieve, but I draw my qualms with the fact that it seems like they are talking down to me like a child.  It's like I'm watching a family sit-com where we all learn together that you should always tell the truth.  Comedy is meant to break the rules and be edgy and so when it finds itself being confined by the edges of our increasingly PC world it becomes boring and unfunny.  

The Tonight Dough

Mary, I love the enthusiasm that you have for the comedy of Jimmy Fallon.  I too revel in his late night antics and have been a fan since his early years on Saturday Night Live.

     Early on, when the then green Fallon messed up a comedy bit by "breaking" it was probably frustrating to many pure comedy lovers who take the comedy of Saturday Night Live, at it's core, very seriously.  I understand how a rookie cast member, who seemingly adds nothing to the show (with a lack of real acting ability and a very short list of impressions) could be an annoyance; however, his goofy persona and young, bright energy is what made the show funny and relatable for many people of my generation.  People who don't take their comedy too seriously, which happens to usually be young or immature people, love it when something goes wrong on live television, like when an actor screws up a line or breaks character.  It's exciting and unexpected and when the actor begin to laugh, you can't help but laugh along side them.   It's comparable to why people watch NASCAR, some enjoy the sport purely for the nature of its being while others enjoy it because they might see crash.  Either way, Fallon provided this innocent, elementary comedy to the audience.

     My brother, like Fallon, is one of those people who has a contagious laugh.  Everyone has met somebody with this natural talent.  It doesn't matter if you've know them for 19 years or 19 minutes, if they begin laughing you will follow suit.  This is one form of comedy that cannot be taught to any stand up or actor.  The reason people all over the nation fell in love with Jimmy Fallon as the new host of the Tonight Show, is because they can laugh along side him, whether or not the jokes he is telling are really all that funny.  This does have its limits of course and Fallon knows how to play off a bad joke.  Sometimes he is self depreciating other times he will throw away a cue card, being comedic all the while through his facial expressions and mannerisms.

     I could go on for days why I think Jimmy Fallon is funny, but to wrap this up I'll end it by saying this: comedy is basic.  I can appreciate and sometimes even love a political cartoon or a good piece of satirical humor, but Fallon knows how to include and relate to everyone on some level and the easiest way of doing that is by keeping that level basic.  If something funny goes over your head, it obviously won't be funny to you; therefore, when Fallon writes a joke he writes it to where everyone will easily understand it and be able to enjoy it.  A majority of people do not like to have to think in order to laugh and frankly Fallon delivers a dull joke that likely won't offend, resulting in an easy laugh for most people, which is all most people really want from a late night host.  About two years ago Jimmy Fallon had the CEO of Olive Garden on Late Night and Jimmy bought the rights to the line "When You're Here, You're Family".  This perfectly sums up what Fallon is aiming to do when he puts out his show.  He is just trying to get people across the country to invite him into their living room for 44 minutes to share an easy, unwinding-after-a-long-day-at-work, laugh.

What a Relief

The type of comedy I find most persuasive is the relief theory.  Relief implies that something sad, heavy, or dark is happening prior to the comedy or perhaps during the unfunny situation, however the reflection back upon the situation is funny.  Anyone can find humor through relief because the sense of security helps a person be more willing to joyous or funny things.  The ease of tension changes a person's perspective and can elate laughter through a funny situation with some otherwise unfunny circumstances.  Like Professor Herron said in class when he was on a lake in the middle of a lightning storm, the life threatening situation with a storm looming over head may not lead to laughter in the moment, however once on safe, dry land with the knowledge of safety he is able to relax, reflect, and laugh at the inherently funny situation.  The same goes for why it is so easy to laugh after a good cry.  The pressure and tension that is built up for whatever reason is released after you cry making it easy for you to laugh because you are now relieved.  I also like relief theory because it isn't attacking anyone, it's lighthearted and jovial in nature and rarely in the relief theory is there a "victim".  Unlike ridicule and superiority, which can serve its intended purpose in the right setting, relief theory doesn't attack anyone.  All that said relief doesn't always result in laughter, sometimes the situation is so serious or threatening that you can only remember it in a bad connotation even if you are completely safe now.  My second favorite type of humor is superiority simply because the late night comedians have mastered it so well.  People like Jimmy Fallon and John Oliver expose others for their shortcomings and together we can laugh at someone or some institution.  I don't like superiority when it attacks someone without a purpose. Like when Hutchenson's "Thoughts on Laughter" talked about how ridicule can be useful and serve to make a point when a wise man who knows what he's doing uses it; however, when a green, unprofessional attempts to use ridicule it oftentimes is only mean and serves no purpose.