A Humorist on Humor
By Bob Mankoff, The New Yorker Magazine
Bob Mankoff laughs while Kevin Bleyer ponders a question.
Photo by: Philip Datillo
As cartoon editor of The New Yorker, cartoonist for the magazine and president of its Cartoon Bank (www.cartoonbank.com), I create, select and sell New Yorker cartoons. Fortunately, for me, I’m a licensed humorist and not a licensed ethicist or I’d be all over myself for conflict of interest issues. I really thought Eliot Spitzer, the former governor of New York, would be all over me for this stuff but it turns out he was all over someone else instead.
That said (I learned that phrase from politicians), and moving right along (Johnny Carson), I’ve been dealing with the phenomenon of humor most of my life. Like most who in this field, I started off being scolded for it in school.
Teacher (catching me drawing a cartoon): Robert! If you think that’s so funny maybe you’d like to share it with the rest of the class.
Me: Sure! (Off to the principal’s office!)
Eventually, if you’re lucky, you break into the field. You start off being under-compensated and then, if you’re luckier, over-compensated. I’ve been both and, hey, over is better.
But semi-seriously folks (Semi Youngman), the reason for me writing this little article is not to make you laugh, but to make you think about laughter and humor. To draw your attention to the fact that this ubiquitous and universal human phenomenon— which exists in all cultures and all times and upon which all societies expend a great deal of time, money and energy—is worth the University of Michigan’s time, money and energy in the form of an expanded humor studies program.
Most of us think we already know all we need to know about humor because the media inundates us with an endless stream of jokes, cartoons, advertisements, sitcoms, movies and innumerable cats flushing toilets on YouTube—and because we each experience it in our own lives many, many times a day. Well, most of us thought we knew all we needed to know about sub-prime mortgages.
Patrick Oliphant draws cartoons live on stage during the Humor conference.
Photo by: 2008, The Ann Arbor News. All rights reserved. Reprinted with permission
But if you think you know all you need to know about humor, see if you can come up with satisfactory answers to the following questions. (Unsatisfactory ones will receive partial credit.)
Why do we laugh in response to something we find funny? It’s a strong reaction that causes us to almost completely empty our lungs of oxygen and expends a lot of energy. Wouldn’t a hip snapping of the fingers do just as well?
What word would you choose to characterize the essential attribute of humor? A) aggression, B) incongruity or C) relief?
Is humor an emotion like fear and anger? If those help us do something (flee or fight), then what does humor do?
What makes apes laugh? Hint: It’s not New Yorker cartoons.
If you just listened for an hour to a group speaking in a language you didn’t understand, how would the phenomenon of humor help you know the group’s hierarchy?
Does research show that you prefer a person who laughs at your jokes but disagrees with your views or vice-versa?
Would you say that someone who enjoys Gary Larson cartoons is more likely to be a liberal or conservative?
There are three components to the concept of a “sense of humor.” The first two are creation and appreciation. What’s the last one, and what’s its importance for mental health?
Are comedians born or made?
If you had a choice between never having sex again and never laughing again which would you opt for? What would Eliot Spitzer opt for?
A moment’s reflection on questions like these (okay, stop thinking about the Spitzer thing) would show that the topic of humor relates to all branches of psychology. Cognitive psychologists are interested in the mental process that enables us to create and appreciate humor. Social psychologists study how humor works in groups either to build cohesion or to promote exclusion. Evolutionary psychologists are interested in how it has helped us survive and adapt. Developmental psychologists study its course over a lifespan. Clinical psychologists research its role in mental health. Personality researchers want to know how one’s sense of humor relates to other personality variables.
Another moment’s reflection shows that anthropology, history, medicine and philosophy have important contributions to make as well.
For the last three year I’ve been privileged to be part of a program called Humor at Michigan, which uses the 70,000 cartoons published in The New Yorker to investigate the cognitive processes involved in the comprehension of humor. Some amazing research has been done and now we’re hoping to expand the program well beyond cartoons and cognitive psychology into a full-fledged inter-disciplinary program.
The author E. B. White famously said that analyzing humor is like dissecting a frog—nobody is much interested and the frog dies. Lighten up, E.B. The frog lives!
