The Humor Code (40 page)

See also
specific person

comedy

“bibles” about creating,
48

and comedy writing as orgasm,
48

commonalities among types of,
29
–30

comparison of American and Japanese,
117
–18

compartmentalization of,
102

context of,
30
–32,
103
–4,
128

creation of,
41
–66

diversity in,
93

emotions as key in,
60

and exceptionally difficult circumstances,
169
–72

experience and experimentation as key to,
25
,
40

failures of,
128
–30,
200

formal instruction about,
25

humor differentiated from,
117
–18

Koestler's views about creating,
48
–50,
51

performing environment for,
31
–32

truth and,
28
,
30

unexpectedness in,
7

worldwide popularity of,
113
–15

See also
humor; joke(s); laughter;
type of comedy

“Comedy Bang Bang” (UCB stand-up show),
39
–40

Comedy Central,
35
,
105

comedy club

what is a,
31
–32

See also
specific club

Comedy at the Edge
(Zoglin),
34

Comedy Nest (Montreal): McGraw's stand-up comedy routine at,
197
–202,
206
–10

Comedy Store (Los Angeles),
19
–21,
107

Comedy Store (Tokyo),
107

complaining, humorous,
190
–91

computers: creativity and,
50
–51

condom jokes,
53
–54

conflict situations

improvisation and,
28

successful comedians and,
38

conservatives: sense of humor of,
112

context

for cartoons,
56
,
128

of comedy,
30
–32,
103
–4,
128

of humor,
200

Cook, Dane,
104

Copenhagen

See
Denmark

coping/relief, humor/jokes for,
7
,
8
,
12
,
134
,
163
–64,
167
,
173
,
189
–91,
200
,
206

Cosby, Bill,
7

Coser, Rose,
85
–86

Cousins, Norman,
122
,
177
,
179
,
196

creativity

in advertising,
43
,
51
–54

benign violation theory and,
49
,
52

“bibles” about,
48

as “clash of two mutually incompatible codes,”
49
–50

cleverness and,
50

communal/team-based,
57
,
199

complexity of,
128

computers and,
50
–51

humor as help to,
50

Koestler's views about,
48
–50,
51

and mass-produced comedy,
41
–62

and McGraw and Warner's lessons learned from travels,
199

New Yorker
cartoons and,
41
–46,
54
–58

risk and,
144
,
147

as solitary,
57

in stand-up comedy,
57

terrorism and,
60
–61

cruel joke cycle,
135

culture

influence on humor of,
93
–118

joking relationships and,
95

sense of humor and,
95

and worldwide popularity of comedy,
113
–14

Cycowycz, Gizelle,
162
,
163
,
164
,
170

Daiku, Tomiaki,
104
–5,
106

The Daily Show
(TV program),
54
,
60
,
62

dark humor,
119
–48,
200

dating profiles: humor and,
109

David, Larry,
35

Davies, Christie,
95
–99,
167

Davila-Ross, Marina,
79
–80

Davis, Susan,
121
,
122

“Day of Rage,”
126
–27

Day, Spring,
107
–8

dead-baby joke cycle,
135

dead-monkey joke,
8
–9

Dean, Greg,
23
–25,
26
,
49

Debatable Humor: Laughing Matters on the 2008 Presidential Primary Campaign
(Stewart),
111

DeLuca, Rudy,
19

Democrats: comedy and,
111
–12

Denmark

charging woman in,
119

and “Day of Rage” activities,
126
–27

derogatory jokes in,
169

McGraw and Warner's trip to,
119
–21,
124
–25,
130
–42

Mohammad cartoons and,
124
–30,
131
–32,
133
–37,
138
–39,
140
,
141
,
142
,
145

Muslims in,
125
–26,
131
–32,
138
–40,
145
,
148

Warner/McGraw–police exchanges in,
130
,
132
,
133

See also
specific person

Denver Art Museum: as comedy club,
32

Denver, Colorado: Squire Lounge in,
1
–2,
5
–6,
13
–15,
202
,
209
,
211

Denver Laughter Club,
178

derogatory jokes,
142
,
169
,
205

DEviaNT (Double Entendre via Noun Transfer) program,
50

Dice Clay, Andrew,
20

Dick, Andy,
35

dick jokes,
117
,
118

DiGiovanni, Debra,
198
–99,
206

“digit affair”

See
Hawaiian good luck sign

Diller, Phyllis,
7

dirty jokes,
7
,
11
,
29
,
121
–22,
163

disparaging jokes,
142

doctor-wife joke,
24

Dotombori district (Osaka, Japan),
102
–3

Downtown (Japanese comedy act),
106
–7

Drescher, Fran,
33

Du Bois, W.E.B.,
30

Duchenne, Guillaume,
77
–78

dumb-blonde jokes,
96
–97

Dundes, Alan,
134
–36

Dunham, Jeff,
104

earnings: of comedians,
35
,
106

Ebert, Roger,
45

Edwards, John: Huckabee comment about,
112

Ellen DeGeneres Show
(TV show),
32

Ellner, Jordy,
201

emotions: as key in comedy,
8
,
60

“encrypted humor,”
111

Encyclopedia of 20th-Century American Humor
,
13

Encyclopedia of Humor Studies
,
6

everyday life

benign violation theory and,
212

how humor is used in,
29

laughter of,
72
,
92

in Palestine,
173

evolution: of laughter,
76
–79

“F” parking lot cartoon,
45

fact-checkers: for cartoons,
56
,
58

failures, comedy,
128
–30,
200

Fallon, Jimmy,
27

Farajin, Imad,
160

Farashat, Bashar,
171
,
172
–73

Feingold, Alan,
22

Fernbach, Phil,
35
,
45
,
53

Ferrell, Will,
27

Ferri, Sam,
55

Fey, Tina,
27

Fiqh Council of North America,
127

fireworks show gone wrong,
204

The Flamingo Resort and Casino (Las Vegas),
35

fly-down experiment: benign violation theory and,
128

football: Dundes's views about,
134
–35

Ford, Thomas,
142

Foxworthy, Jeff,
104

France

and French folklore,
135

and French love of Jerry Lewis,
97
–98

and randy-Frenchmen bon mots,
96

free speech: Mohammad cartoons and,
130
,
144
–45

Freedom Theatre (West Bank),
165
–66,
167
,
169
,
171

Freud, Sigmund,
6
–7,
134
,
164

Frevert, Louise,
136

Friedman, Josh,
20
–21,
23
,
40

Fry, William,
48

Gacy, John Wayne,
187

Galifianakis, Zach,
41
–42

game: humor as a,
123
–24,
141

game shows, Japanese,
116
–17

Gaza Strip,
149
–50

restrictions in,
157

“gelotophobia,”
124

gender

as bias in comedy,
108
–10

and humor in dating/mating,
109

Japanese humor and,
107

joke-writing competition and,
110

and jokes about women,
108

laughter and,
89
–91,
92

Martin's studies of humor and,
108
–9

political jokes and,
112

sense of humor and,
95

and what makes a successful comedian,
35

Gervais, Matthew,
76
–79

Gesundheit Global Outreach,
181
–82,
183
–89,
191

See also
Amazon, trip to: clown brigade and

Gesundheit! Hospital (West Virginia),
181

“Giggleometer,”
114

Glick, John,
181
–82,
183
,
187
,
191
–92

Goldstein, Dan,
37

The Goodies
(sketch-comedy show),
129

Gordon, Rae Beth,
97

Gotham Comedy Club (New York City),
38

Gottfried, Gilbert,
61

Gough, Jacob,
166
,
169
,
171

Great American Lawyer Joke Cycle,
97

Greengross, Gil,
37
,
38

Greeves, Lucy,
36

Grey New York (advertising company),
63
–66,
208
–9

grief: humor and,
194
–96

Groupon (website),
58

Gruner, Charles,
123
–24,
141

HAHAcronym Generator,
50

“Haiti” text experiment,
60
–61

“Hakuna matata” (“no worries”),
70
,
73
,
92

Hall, Arsenio,
20

Hall, Edward,
104

Halpern, Charna,
28

Hammerschlag, Carl,
192
–94

Handey, Jack,
112

Handler, Chelsea,
104

Hanson, Todd,
59
–60,
61
–62,
205

Harlan, Patrick,
110

Harman, Jennifer,
38

“Harold” technique,
28

Harris, Sidney,
55

Harvard Lampoon
magazine,
47

Hawaiian good luck sign,
154
,
155
,
190

health: humor and,
175
–96,
200

Heaven Spa (Osaka, Japan),
102

Hebron (West Bank): McGraw and Warner's trip to,
171
–73

Hempelmann, Christian,
89

Hicks, Bill,
112

Hitchens, Christopher,
108

Hodzic, Nihad,
139
,
140
,
141
,
148

Holocaust,
162
,
163
–64,
170
,
173

homophobic jokes,
141

Hook, Theodore,
140
–41

Hotz, Kenny,
203
–5

Huckabee, Mike,
111
–12

Huh, Ben,
13

human rights,
124
,
204

humor

Adams's views about,
186
–87

as balance of pleasure and pain,
210

cause of,
52
,
154

comedy differentiated from,
117
–18

comparison of American and Japanese,
117
–18

complexity of,
210
–11

as coping/relief tool,
134
,
163
–64,
167
,
173
,
189
–91,
200

creation of,
41
–66

dark side of,
119
–48,
200

enjoying your own,
189
,
193
–94,
200

evolutionary origins of,
109

as a game,
123
–24,
141