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Key points
- Theories to explain laughter must not only account for typical forms of humor, but also atypical forms.
- One example of the latter involves comedians doing impressions of familiar as well as famous individuals.
- Placing words in the mouths of others increases audience empathy as it highlights vulnerabilities.
This blog series takes a particular view of laughter, one that I believe helps explain why, among other things, it’s expressed in amazingly diverse circumstances. In advancing the Mutual Vulnerability Theory of Laughter, I’ve argued that highlighting perceived status shifts prompts us to send a signal that affirms our shared limitations or shortcomings since status can be understood as a measure of vulnerability.
This theory easily explains a huge percentage of laughter stimuli. We might want to remind a colleague of our shared vulnerabilities if he or she fails to succeed at some assigned task, for example. Our sympathetic lifting laughter would make them feel better about their situation and bolster the friendship. Or if our own status were lowered due to some highlighted shortcoming, we would express laughter to remind others nearby that they’ve experienced similar failings—a sort of self-lifting laughter. The same could be the case if our vulnerability were made obvious by someone else relating an embarrassing anecdote or mild, good-natured insult, for example; or if a friend’s status was bolstered in some way and we wanted to raise our own to reestablish parity.
A similar dynamic occurs when another person believes their status is higher than we think it is—when he reveals a weakness, our lowering laughter sends the message they are just as prone to failure as we are. Should we flatter someone to a degree that suggests their standing is significantly higher than it is, we can see how her self-lowering laughter might reduce expectations and reaffirm the original status relationship. These are the foundations of most common forms of humor, from slapstick to wordplay, cartoons, pranks, and many everyday jokes.
That said, the same affirmation of shared vulnerability can also be prompted by other, less conventional means. These too reflect perceptible changes in various status relationships, exemplified by the subject of this post.
How Impressions Inspire Laughter
Anyone with the slightest interest in humor has undoubtedly seen countless examples of comedians doing impressions. We might split these efforts into two broad camps. The first might be thought of as involving familiars and the second as concerning the famous.
The Familiars: Virtually every comedian I’ve seen does at least some familiar impressions. They adopt the mannerisms, voice, and or dialog (either real or purely fabricated for comedic effect) of people who, while not famous, are at least familiar to them and their audience. They channel family members, friends, work colleagues, and the various acquaintances they interact with regularly. Audience members won’t know these individuals personally but identify people who might share similar personality traits or viewpoints, or play similar roles in their lives—teachers, store clerks, bosses, employees, restaurant servers, hairdressers, salespersons, and so on. Such impersonations help to bring those characters to life and allow us to identify with both the comic and those with whom they interact.
This approach provides the comedian with a great deal of license. She can, and often does, exaggerate the behaviors, physical characteristics, and motivations of those she is imitating to the point of absurdity. Their regional accents are inflated. Their arrogance is magnified. Their mental acuity is more suspect. Their anti-social tendencies are amplified. In almost every conceivable way, vulnerabilities are elaborated as they are brought to the audience’s attention. And not only the failings of the ones being impersonated, but those of the comedian as well, for that role too is often assigned to the real or imagined antagonist.
And the Famous: A more specialized form of impersonation involves people who are well-known, as individuals, to the audience. They are actors, singers, political leaders, business moguls, sports figures, criminals, and just about anyone in the news, both famous and infamous. If the impression is poor, well that gets chalked up as just one more of the comedian’s shortcomings and, as such, can inspire laughter in its own right. If the impression is performed well, then additional dynamics come into play.
First, the comedian’s expertise in performing a feat that most others cannot raises their status, and with it the potential to inspire self-lifting laughter from his or her audience. Second, the comedian uses a form of deception, considered anti-social behavior in most societies. Because most audiences are sympathetic to those performing for them, this would likely engender lifting laughter. Third, the individuals being impersonated can effectively have words placed in their mouths, or behaviors or other traits highlighted, in such a way as to be rather embarrassing. If they are well-liked by the audience members, the subsequent loss of status would prompt lifting laughter. Or, if disliked, then lowering laughter. And fourth, if the “target” is a person of wealth or influence, the audience may anticipate a real possibility of retaliation against the impressionist, itself highlighting the comedian’s vulnerability.
These factors combine to make impressions a potent weapon in any comedian’s arsenal. The audience is drawn into the dialog with greater empathy, with multiple characters experiencing multiple status shifts taking place simultaneously. It is a method used liberally by many solo standup performers, as well as in almost every sketch comedy ensemble.
Countless examples illustrate this form of humor. This performance by standup comic Anjelah Johnson stands out as an example of a familiar impression. For a wonderful impression of a famous individual, this interview with actor-comedian Bill Hader was equally well-received.
© John Charles Simon
