On Monday I mentioned my habit of deconstructing humor. In the current issue of Psychology Today there's an interview with Bob Mankoff, The New Yorker's cartoon editor, where I ask him "Are there formulas for funny?" He says:
It's an interesting cognitive process because the more you try to do a joke, the more you can't do it. You choke. For instance, you can use "clash of context"--make children sound like adults, or imagine hell is good--but you have to put that algorithm out of your consciousness to make it really work.
In his office he went on to say: "If I were to write a computer program for really mediocre jokes, this is what it would be like. But [you need] that little extra spark, where all of a sudden your mind skips past the first thing."
Tuesday I interviewed comedian Chelsea Peretti for the June issue of PT and asked her if a sense of humor could be cultivated. She said:
