Conclusion

After much confusion over the years about what humor is and what humor is not, you can see why we have a need for a Science of Humor or Humorology. As you know Religion (a long-held belief with rituals repeated over and over in the exact same way) is always trying to prove itself right, and science is always trying to prove itself wrong. Many people have a mysterious belief in what Humor is. They feel that Humor must be approached as a taboo, never to be fully understood. Their theories and ideas about Humor were discovered or written in stone before they had time for extensive research on them. Therefore they bolster the previous ideas up, looking for evidence to back up their original ideas. These people do this just as in religious beliefs people look for archaeological evidence that proves their original ideas correct.

Science on the other hand comes up with ideas and theories, then attacks them from all sides until they can no longer stand. Once the current ideas fall, then new ideas or directions are made. These new ideas or directions are attacked until they can no longer be supported. Once they fall into a more complex and better understanding of our world change happens. And the cycle goes on and on. In science, the process is to always change and improve. In the Science of Humor, we are attacking some long-held ideas and opinions to figure out which ones hold up, and which ones need to be replaced.

We are making Humor more of a Science, and less of a long-held belief.

Six Elements of Content

As we have learned in the Six Elements of Content we need to aim our Humor at someone or something. This is our Target. For the Humor to work, there must be Hostility or Conflict in how we attack our Target. This Hostility needs to be exaggerated beyond a normal level for it to create Humor. This is an Exaggeration. There needs to be Emotion involved in the Target that we are aiming at. This emotion can be love, hate, or compassion. When the ending is something unexpected (Surprise) is included, this will make the previous Elements more intense.

Elements of Emotion

Comedy, Humor, Mirth, Muse, and Witt create emotion in us. These Emotions create Humors in our bodies. These Humors then go on to be expressed as Emotions. These Emotions come out in cries and Laughter. The more we understand these Emotions, why we have them and how to create them in others, the better we are able to understand the Science of Humor.

Elements of Delivery

Unless we have a method of Delivering Comedy, it will lose its impact. Our ability to stop and allow anticipation from the audience is very important. Our ability to ask the audience questions, and to let the audience response will also enhance the delivery of our message. we can give information to people in a rapid-fire manner, this will reduce their ability to resist Humor. Delivering Humor joke after joke after joke becomes the method of rapid-fire delivery. The human brain is well adapted to take in information in groups of three. By looking at things in groups of three, other people are able to absorb and listen to messages. Too much information, no matter how valuable, causes your message to be diminished.

Rating Comedy

The same way that you would rate a piece of music by its rhythm, tone, and complexity, you can also rate Humor. Each piece of Humor will have a different intensity and a different pitch. As in a song, you do not have the same note constantly throughout the song, and each word doesn’t have the same timing to it. Once you understand Humor better, you can take a chart, and rate each joke or delivery, on the intensity that it has on the Humor Scale (THREES Formula). This will allow you to adjust and make information more Humorous or less intense depending on what you need. Any writing, song, or piece of art will need a variety of intensity and impact in order to keep the audience attentive. If this is done wrong, the audience will fall asleep, or get up and leave. Doing this will allow the author or creator to adjust their work to fit the audience.

Persona

A Persona is an unchanging point of view that we develop to communicate who we are to the audience. Just as Picasso had a Persona that people expected him to be, so did Salvador Dali, and so did George Carlin. When we see people in public that are famous that are wearing normal clothes, in normal situations, it makes us feel uneasy about who they are. By creating a Persona, we allow our tribe to become familiar with and recognize our art wherever it appears.

Laughter

All of these Humors or Comedies bring up Emotions that are created fast, strong, and short-lived. This is what is creating laughter. The Emotions that come on fast and quick are what create laughter. When we expect and anticipate emotions to be coming up, then there is no quick expression of these physically. Each Emotion that we feel will create a different sounding laugh.

Formulas for Humor

Content + Emotion + Delivery + Laughter = Humor

Personas + Shticks = Familiarity = Attention from Audience = Success

If you wish humor by yourself go to a Desert Island.