Robert Mankoff: Making Sense of Humor

[almostlastplace]

Portal 2 made the first paradox funny.

[research1982]

I like this guy. Very entertaining

[dannycalypse]

The pig says "My wife is a slut".

[spartonne]

I think the thats a good joke: 'whats grey and comes in a jar?....... Mayonaise!'

[JubalDiGriz]

The irony, of course, is that New Yorker cartoons are rarely funny.

[truvak]

IT IS GREAT that someone talks seriously about humor, is serious and very hard to be funny, but just like csqw says, this feels over analyzed, why don´t you put Eddie Izzard if front of the camera with the same questions, you will see a more human and down to earth response. I think cake or death works better than the door and the jar.

[Morahman7vnNo2]

It's not that this isn't funny...it's just that this isn't funny.

[fdvalkfok9sdf8gs8df]

Bob Mankoff is a brilliant practitioner of cartooning and humor, but obviously, explaining humor is by definition not funny. But take a look at his work and you'll see it's terrific and hilarious.

[aloysiusbeaky]

He's naked from the waist down.

[csqw]

You can't over-analyze humor...

[walkertongdee]

when you have to explain humor it isnt funny just like this video.

[johnpotter26]

I thought "I don't want to see you" was way funnier

[popoufo]

Wow... I never thought humor could be so un-funny

[stueyewy]

@popoufo Yeah, I know right? I'm totally "incongruent" to the idea of understanding things, that are most likely funny, because people do not understand them.

[greenheadjoe]

Good video.

[burnmaker01]

good explanation

[moniker127]

I dont think this guy is qualified to explain humor given that he and his comics are about as boring as it gets.

[irabat]

hes not polite he's sarcastic

[norskfylleangst]

yeah, but the form is polite ;)

[Chuichupachichi]

"How does humor work"?

It doesn't

Comics get paid for simply clowning around like a bunch of overgrown kids. Who ever said it's work when it's socially acceptable to say to everybody in the room "suck my dick"! when nobody else can without getting their asses kicked

Even your daytime boss & sister can be in the front row & it's cool

[Burnzy8418]

@Chuichupachichi All humour is that is it?

[Ele3tricEye]

@Chuichupachichi well...its ok for ME to say 'suck my dick' to everyone in the room...and i dare to follow suit, just so i can see how fast you can run

[SUPERMANfromMETROPOL]

absolutely brilliant explained

and absolutely brilliant examples

[creten69]

snense of humor is actually a sense.

The effiel tower swallows its young,chuck chuckle.Heres a follow-up ,why isn'nt there two twin towers,hahahahahah

I was putting that day, hoping i would see a nuke retalliation over my head,hahahahahah

[creten69]

when is a jar not a jar?when its a door,hahahaha thursdays not good for me, but its good for the islam boys! hahahahah

[langengro]

This incongruity explanation of the comic seems to be congenial with the explanation of humor that Kant gave in his "Critique of Judgment". Kant says that what is funny "resolves an expectation into nothing". For instance, in the joke given at 1:10 the normal proposal (the one that we'd expect) would be to give another day than Thursday. Our expectation is frustrated. But it is frustrated in a peculiar way: A way that still "fits" our expectation. Maybe this is where Grice should come in.

[blackberryjuice1]

God, this man loves to hear himself talk. He just rambles on and on and on to no end. Hey Robbie dear, be concise.

[dogmashine]

i agree, but he still had some stuff to say i guess