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The Leonard Lopate Show
Please Explain: Laughter
Friday, November 16, 2007
Research shows that the average adult laughs six to eight times a day... whereas the average child laughs around four hundred times each day. Today’s Please Explain is all about laughter. Dr. Robert Provine of the Neuroscience Program at the University of Maryland Baltimore County is author of the book Laughter: A Scientific Investigation.
Weigh in: What always makes you laugh...without fail? A person, a joke, a situation? Tell us by leaving a comment below.
Laughter is available for purchase at amazon.com
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Comments
Jack Benny. I can be passing a television and see a sketch from one of his "programs" from the 50's that I've seen 50 times, and chances are quite good it will make me laugh again.
my husband...very witty and quick w/ a joke
this always makes me laugh:
http://youtube.com/watch?v=RTs5eKZ0i1E
Blooper reels almost always make me laugh. There's something about watching an actor flub a line or cope with something unexpected that I find really entertaining and funny.
MPFC Live at the Hollywood Bowl featured a skit I had never seen before. It is a "lecture" given by Graham Chapman in the history of the jape. I have since watched it many times, but it never ceases its ability to make me laugh out loud. It can be viewed here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5Op2HmlBNk
And the antics of Rowan Atkinson as The Blackadder (particularly the first 2 seasons) have never lost their edge either.
Old British sitcoms-Are you being served?
Faulty Towers.
Their timing and wording is so spot on, every time!
I'll tell you what doesn't make me laugh.
Weird names.
When I was directing plays, I would always try to include a piece of slapstick, just for those people--my current girlfriend is one--who lose it when someone gets humorously hurt. There was always at least one person in the audience who would loudly respond in childlike glee.
Some people watch an entire Seinfeld going dryly, "hm, very funny; oh, that's humorous, very clever, yes." Then burst out in uncontrollable gales of laughter when Cramer does one of his falls.
There's an entire decades-long TV program based on slapstick, of course--America's Funniest Home Videos. Their musical compilations can make my girlfriend positively incontinent.
My dog . . . and other dogs. He is especially funny when he lurches uncontrollably at skate-boarders. They are safe--he is on a leash.
First, I strongly dislike profanity or mean-spirited humor.
I love Carol Burnett's old variety show- except the mean spirited "Eunice" character and her family.
Mel Brooks' 2000 year old man is still very funny- even after 40 years.
Mel Brooks said "Ad-libbing is a lot more fun than remembering."
Ms. Burnett and Mr. Brooks were both masters of ad-libbing.
Liz
My daughter.
She is autistic and finds common sayings very funny. LIke "it's raining cats and dogs." She looks out the window and seeing only rain points at me while laughing, "that's a joke, right?" She cracks me up on a daily basis.
STacie
ps, she's only 4 years old.
Why is is that when I am with certain friends they bring out the "funny side" of my personality and others do not. For example, a good friend of mine Paul, every time we get together we both feed off eachothers humor and for hours we are laughing at eachothers comments and so are the people around us. But, I am not nearly as funy in most other situations or with other friends. Why is it that certain people bring out the comedian in me while others do not? Please explain.
Whenever I watch the movie, Mrs. Doubtfire, I roar with laughter, especially the "Drive-by fruiting" scene. My wife will begin to laugh just watching me crack up over that silly movie.
But more recently, and I mean this respectfully, your program with the three comedy writers talking about the "writer's strike" made me laugh. It made me think, since when in America has anyone cared about, wrote about, or broadcast anything meaningful about the beating all of organized labor has taken over the past twenty-five years. Where have our comedy writers been?
I so enjoy watching the tv sitcom, "Two and a Half Men." Its risque humor is consistently sharp, fresh and brilliantly acted by an ensemble featuring Charlie Sheen, Jon Cryer and young Angus T. Jones. I smile and laugh throughout the entire half-hour.
When my niece, Marguerite, would bounce in one of those baby bungee seats that hang from a door frame. I could watch her for an hour straight.
Something about her facial expression-it was like a scientist learning about movement, very serious/inquisitive between bounces as she observed the mystery of the mechanism from on tip-toe doing a half-pirouette.
And then a full-on ear-to-ear grin when she made herself bounce full tilt via deep knee bends: that triumph of control that someone with little control delights in.
Then back to the contemplative, langourous non-bounce.
Just about any Marx Brothers film. Gets me laughing every time.
My boyfriend knows how to make me laugh. His humor is off-the-cuff and he says a lot of hilarious stuff in jest. When he does this my laughter becomes contagious, and soon he's laughing too. Thing is, I'm laughing and peeved at the same time.
The Chris Rock Show makes me LOL.
Almost any writing by Stephen Leacock or Robert Benchley makes me laugh. In a good way.
Dick Cheney and George W. Bush make me laugh, too ... but NOT in a good way.
30 Rock, in a number of ways.
It's words, character, it's society, it's attitudes. Plus, of course, just a bit of slapstick.
Also, Fay is not given her due as a comic actress. She's really quite brilliant in the role.
Monty Python...the skits, the movies, Spamalot...just listening to the opening music of the old BBC show starts me giggling with anticipation!
AFTER-LAUGHTER
Jokes that last and linger,
Told in bar or spa,
Cap a laugh with insight--
HA-ha becomes a-HA.
According to Mel Brooks, comedy is all about, "Juxtaposition, juxtaposition, juxtaposition!" He may have been talking about his particular approach, but it's true of most great comedy.
What a non-funny guest! no joke.
What about people who laugh like donkeys? It seems to be almost an inverse laugh....and it always stops me in my tracks. Do people do this on purpose? Is it contrived?
***** Make Em Laugh from Singing in the Rain is sung by Danny Kaye - not Gene Kelly.
Amy, I think you're fabulous, but one note: Donald O'Connor sang Make Em Laugh in Singin In the Rain, not Gene Kelly.
There was an article in New Life magazine by Dr. Michelle Alpert, D.O. where he states that one minute of laughter is worthed $10,000 in biochemicals, had you buy them from a lab.
Reactions! People's faces reacting to a situation. Or even a reaction to a punchline gets me more than the punchline itself.
straight men. humor that isn't spoon fed to you. Not a fan of slapstick at all.
and this persons comment:
"Posted by: Mortimer Owakahui November 15, 2007 - 03:16PM
I'll tell you what doesn't make me laugh.
Weird names."
The reason women don't laugh at the Three Stooges is because they are not funny. Except, maybe, for that woo-woo-woo sound that Curley makes.
Lou
I was surprised by Dr. Provine's saying that he didn't know of any studies on laughter and neurotransmitters. A quick Google search came up with many references. I recently attended a workshop where the leader encouraged hearty laughter at the end of an affirmation.
Al
Dr. Robert Provine always makes me laugh!
Great article!Thank you!
tiffany necklaces
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