45. Humor and Communication

Summary:
The way a person apparently gives their comedy act, it must be done in a way that communicates it's a joke. it cannot simply be a way for a small group to understand the joke, the joke must be a widely known topic that all can laugh about.

term:
meta-communication: communication about communication; when we express how a form of communication should be (i.e. humor)

Questions:
1. What does Fry mean by "play frames" and what role do they have in humor?
Play frames are what define the punchlines.

2. What does Fry say about different kinds of punch lines?
Punchlines are essential to humor and define that the joke is a joke vs. a short story.

3. What is "meta-communication?"? What role does Fray say it plays in humor?
meta communication is the way we communicate how ewe communicate. it gives us experience for how we are supposed know something is a joke, which keeps our superegos from believing it's serious.

4. How does humor "trick" the superego? Why does this give us pleasure?
Humor gives a sense of superiority, it makes us pick on those lower than us.

5. Explain the incongruity, masked aggression, and superiority theories of humor.
the humor can be very insulting and but sometimes hold a hint of negativity in it, however our sense of superiority will make us laugh at people we believe beneath us.

6. Use the forty-five techniques of humor to reveal the techniques at work in some jokes.