Brian Galloway for redOrbit.com – @brigallo17
Here at redOrbit we pride ourselves on giving readers interesting content in an enjoyably funny way (hopefully). We love science, and we love humor, so it became apparent to us that we needed to do a series study of both–well, kinda. The Science of Humor. Not really the study of both, but…well…you get the picture.
So we started asking some questions and digging around. Why do we need humor? What makes something funny? Can you “learn” how to be funny? Why is farting so hilarious?
Then we found a bunch of theories, each one worthy of its own article, and knew where to begin.
So today, we begin with Superiority theory. This is the idea that people laugh at things because they perceive something as inadequate. We’ll laugh at others because they have some kind of deficiency or failing, and this makes us feel superior to them and/or better about ourselves.
This theory isn’t all-encompassing, though. It doesn’t take into account wordplay, incongruities, surprise, etc. This seems to be the case with a lot we found about humor- there is no all-encompassing theory that explains everything in comedy.
Where can we see this?
Superiority theory is everywhere in comedy, and it takes many forms. For example: There is a common (and, at this point, beaten to death) trope in cinema where a character walks out of the bathroom with a section of toilet paper stuck on their shoe. This seems comical because the goofy situation places character in a poor light, and we look down on them.
Furthermore, mistakes can be funny. Here at redOrbit we giggle whenever someone on the internet can’t control there grammar. (That’s the right one, isn’t it?) Mistakes can be funny because for a moment the viewer places themselves above whoever makes the mistake. For example, George W. Bush isn’t remembered for being an eloquent speaker.
Sometimes Bush blundered through speeches and made mistakes. These mistakes allowed us to look down on the freaking President of the United States of America. It was hilarious.
Many reality television shows wouldn’t be as interesting if they were about a bunch of rich, intelligent, and successful people. Viewers often say they watch reality TV because it makes them feel better about themselves. Let’s be honest- nobody watches Here Comes Honey Boo Boo for life lessons.
Stand-up comedians also use superiority theory to their advantage. Check out this clip from Mike Birbiglia’s standup:
Mike makes fun of himself by mentioning that no girl wanted to kiss him in the 7th grade. His audience eats it up. We love it when other people make fun of themselves and let us look down on them.
Larry David is also the king of superiority theory in his HBO series Curb Your Enthusiasm. While he often pokes fun at the minutia of society (trying too many flavors of froyo, for example), the person he mainly makes fun of is himself. Or…at least his character self.
Other big proponents of superiority theory are American authors Mark Twain and David Sedaris. Twain relied on this heavily in his first wildly successful short story “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.” And you can find Sedaris making fun of himself in almost every essay he writes. Listen to this first piece from his book Me Talk Pretty One Day.
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