Response to grace's blog 11/29

I think you made some good points examining the humor behind this video and the possible reasons Millenials find this humor so appealing as opposed to other generations. I personally did not laugh that much at this video. I found it more cringe-worthy than humorous, but I can see the comedic appeal, like when something is so stupid it just makes you laugh.

I think making light of situations like these make it easier for our generation to grasp the harder things that we go through in life, such as school continually getting more competitive and increasing in difficulty as well as the increased pressure put on our generation to create positive change in the world.

I also think that the stupid decisions he makes to drink the different colored drinks relate him back to a child which is incongruous since he obviously is an adult as we can tell from his voice, which adds to the overall comedic effect since it disrupts our normal mental expectations for this set of behaviors. Overall, I think the appeal of this video is the lack of sincerity in the situation that allows a sense of relief among the audience, and especially millennials who tend to shoulder a lot of weight when it comes to current world dilemmas.

Response to walker's blog 11/17

I think this clip definitely mainly uses the superiority theory. I also want to add to Walker's interpretation of how the comedian uses the superiority theory and say that I think the members of the audience who laughed at his jokes also found themselves superior to the situations he was describing. I think a lot of the comedy that comes from his jokes as they relate to the audience is the fact that they relate over common beliefs regarding gun laws, abortion, or maybe even parenting styles. People in the audience who really found these jokes funny could have laughed because they agree with his stance, or they could have laughed because they find it absurd and they believe that he is making fun of the stance they disagree with, similar to late-night political comedy shows.

I also agree that the incongruity theory is a good theory to back up the humor in this clip. Not only are the punch lines of his jokes a little more obscene or out of the norm that maybe what we would normally expect, but also the topics that he chooses to make his jokes about are usually considered taboo to joke about. This makes these jokes a violation of our normal mental patterns since our brains to not usually associate comedy with these normally serious matters. This makes his comedy all the more effective since it adds a bit of unexpected humor and a lack of predictability to his shows. People who regularly watch him may expect the type of humor that he usually employs, but even then, his punchlines seem to always bring something new to the table.

Response to rebecca's blog 11/12

Oh. My. Gosh. I love this show so much. It is one of my all-time favorites. This scene is the funniest, and it is a perfect indicator of Jake's character as a whole. I agree that this best fits the incongruity theory due to the contrast between the levity of the singing and the sincerity of the case of trying to find who her brother's murderer is.

An interesting point to think about is how this video could be described by the benign-violation. I think most of us could agree that either we found this video funny or could see what makes this video funny. However, in my opinion, Jake made an obvious violation of social norms by laughing in this serious situation, but this violation was not benign since it was an incredibly serious situation that had to do with putting someone in jail for potentially the rest of his life, due to murder.

Overall, this video is a good one to discuss the different theories and how they work because of the fact that not all the theories can fully explain what makes this video funny when it is undoubtedly funny. I think it is a good start for conversations to follow regarding how different social norms can be attributed to different comedy theories.

Response to mallory's blog 11/4

I found this video pretty funny. I think the fact that the actor had an accent definitely increased the humor of the clip, as you mentioned. I definitely agree that incongruity theory can primarily be used to explain the comedy behind this video. I also think that the use of the camera angles, facial expressions, and the way that Limmy talks to the audience as if he is with them in person really adds to the effect of the clip.

Incongruity theory can be used to describe the humor behind this video from many different angles. First of all, it is a bit unexpected how he takes such a common topic and applies it to this video as if it is super secretive, and nobody knows about this huge secret. Furthermore, it is unexpected to see how the cast reacts after the filmer says "cut," when they all run up and want a taste of the water for themselves.

Incongruity theory can also be used to describe the humor behind the video through a violation of our normal mental patterns. Usually, people do not think of this argument as so obvious; it is simply a matter of personal preference. Having to take in this argument as something so obvious, so secretive, and the exaggeration behind it which implies that you are stupid if you do not know this obvious fact, makes it seem as if drinking out of a water bottle is stupid, and it is so obvious that you should not do it since there is a much better solution, at least according to Limmy. However, so many people drink water bottles daily. AND they pay money for them! This makes the argument a bit of a violation of our mental patterns since it is not as obvious as Limmy would make it seem, so it causes the audience to rethink whether buying water bottles is stupid or not.

Response to elizabeth's blog 10/27

I have mixed feelings about this clip overall. When I first started watching this video, it actually kind of scared me because the guy cleaning the house is pretty aggressive. He just went around yelling and screaming at people, which I did not find funny because I am generally pretty sensitive to people yelling. I can see the comedic appeal to the video, and it definitely can be explored through the different theories, but it also kind of freaked me out. 

I think the lack of comedic appeal for me could be described through the benign-violation theory. When people are yelling, raising their voices, or screaming at others, it is considered a violation. However, we the yelling is not resolved or it does not feel safe, the violation is not benign, and therefore, it will not be considered funny. I usually get freaked out by people yelling, so this did not feel benign to me.

I could also see the way that gender roles and stereotypes played into the comedic elements of the video. The way that the main character was portrayed as a woman, but with opposite qualities of a stereotypical woman such as a lower voice definitely added to the comedic effect. 

I appreciated the exploration that Elizabeth gave into the incongruity theory as well. I thought it was really accurate, and if the yelling was not so intense for me, I think the incongruities throughout the video would have been humorous. I am interested to see how other people interpreted the video in this way and who found it comedically appealing. 

Response to mckenna's blog 10/21

I actually did not find this video funny until close to the very end. I noticed what you said about the actors and actresses trying to keep it together when they wanted to laugh but had to keep a serious face. I thought this was really funny, especially since it is super relatable for almost everybody. Everyone has to have been in a serious situation before where something funny happened, and they wanted to laugh, but they could not because of the atmosphere around them. In this instance, the fact that they were performing is what made it inappropriate for them to laugh in this serious situation, which made it all the funnier.

Additionally, I think the clip was a lot funnier since the laugh track was included in the background. I think without the laugh track, I would have felt super uncomfortable watching the video, and I would not have known when I was supposed to laugh or when something was supposed to be funny or not since the funny part of the clip was the sincerity of it in the comedic situation. The laugh track helped to break the awkward silences and make the awkward instances comedic rather than uncomfortable for the audience.

Overall, I think the incongruity theory is a great theory to describe this clip, as Mckenna mentioned. It does a great job explaining why the situation is funny. Incongruity theory posits that this clip is funny due to a violation of our normal mental patterns. This is due to the fact that the audience expected this situation to not be funny, and furthermore, the audience continually expected another sentence to come out of Debbie's mouth instead of the one that always did. Also, the things she said and the way she kept bringing the group down was pretty unexpected at first.

Response to lauren's blog 10/14

I agree with a lot of what you said analyzing this video. I definitely think the high-pitched, unrealistic voices made the video funny, and it would have just been annoying or kind of creepy if there were real voices with real people. I think it was a bit of an exaggeration picking at gender roles and gender norms, and I am honestly not quite sure how I feel about it. I did not think it was all that hilarious. I thought it definitely had some funny parts, but overall, I thought it was a little boring to be honest.

I agree with the different theories you brought up in your analysis of it. I think the incongruity theory also has a big part to play in this clip because the ending and the conversation as a whole is a little unexpected and out of the ordinary. I am not quite sure what I was expecting from the video, but it was definitely not an argument between Barbie and her boyfriend with an ending of her holding up a chalkboard saying "you're right."

I think the fact that it was picking at Barbie who is supposed to be the "perfect human"... a literal doll... is kind of ironic and adds to the funniness of the video especially as random things like the toilet note and the walk to the fridge are mentioned. I think the comedy of the clip is increased by the perception of Barbie and the fact that it is also a movie and not real life makes it funny when she compares their relationship to Romeo and Juliet.

Overall, it was an interesting clip, and I see how comedy theory can be applied to it, but it does not necessarily fit my taste in comedy.