The Top 5 Things I’ve Learned This Semester

I’ve learned so much during the course of this semester. I’ve learned various important things about humor, comedy, and laughter from Morreall, Vorhaus, Sacks, Provine, and others. I enjoyed The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus the most, and it was the book that sustained my attention the most, as it was the most relevant to me. Although this class has impacted me in many ways, here are the top five things I’ve learned from this class.

1.     There are four elements that go into creating a comic character: comic perspective, exaggeration, humanity, and flaws. But, the most important is the comic perspective. Every comic character begins and ends with a strong comic perspective. The comic perspective is a character’s unique way of looking at his/her world, which differs in a substantial way from the “normal” world view. A character’s strong comic perspective is what gives the comedy its spark, which flows from the character’s quirky and unorthodox way of looking at life.

2.     There are many different theories surrounding humor (e.g., the superiority theory, the incongruity theory, the relief theory, and the relaxation theory). However, I think the most relevant theory I learned about is the superiority theory. I know that I’ve laughed at someone else’s misfortunes too many times to count. It’s what makes fail videos so amusing. However, this is also what makes laughter so destructive—laughing and joking at other people’s pain can be used to express ridicule, creating an anti-social atmosphere.

3.     It may sound like a cliché, but laughter really is the best medicine. In a time where there’s so much uncertainty and doubt, turning to laughter and comedy helps to relieve some of the burdens. We can’t get through the tough times without some form of humor because what would be keeping us sane? Whether it’s finding my cat in weird places or watching The Emperor’s New Groove and Good Boys with my brother, I’ve learned how to appreciate the true power of comedy. I’ve learned how to find the humor in the little things, and this class has helped me to do so.

4.     “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” taught me about the power of our imaginations and how our fantasies can be humorous. He’s the exact opposite of his fantasies in real life, which relates to the idea of inversion. Not only does this short story exemplify mock-heroic humor through the main character, it also highlights the complete contrast between who Walter Mitty think he is (i.e., who he imagines and wants himself to be) and who he actually is, which is what gives him depth. One of the most striking characteristics of Walter Mitty’s fantasies is their silliness, which may be heroic but only melodramatically. It appears as though Walter Mitty has a mundane and boring life, but he’s transported by his larger than life imagination, making him seem more interesting and sensational than he really is. From the fountain pen Mitty uses to replace a piston during his surgery to the beautiful woman who appears in his arms, his fantasies contain events and elements that couldn’t possibly happen in reality.

5.     One concept I found to be particularly interesting and relevant is the rule of nine, which states that for every ten jokes you tell, nine will be trash. Depressing? Well, not really. In fact, Vorhaus teaches us that the rule of nine turns out to be highly liberating because once you embrace it, you instantly and permanently lose the toxic expectation of succeeding every time. The expectations are already so low when you start that there’s really nothing to lose. In all, the rule of nine is a tool for lowering expectations. For me, I know that I want to succeed every time I try something, but this concept reminds me that sometimes we first have to fail a lot before we can succeed. I can’t just expect to write a perfect joke right off the bat—it takes a lot of trying before one golden joke is produced.

Comedy and humor come in all shapes and sizes. This class has taught me so much about what it means to be humorous and how to carefully craft comedy. There are so many theories and constructs surrounding comedy, as well as ways to go about creating a comedic body of work. Laughter brings people together, but it can also tear people apart. At the end of the day, laughter is contagious.

MAJOR Nerd Moment: Harry Potter Life Lessons

Harry Potter has a great storyline, there’s no doubt about that. But there’s a lot more to the series than just a young wizard and his friends fighting off evil. At the beginning of quarantine, I decided to read the entire Harry Potter series for the 10 millionth time, just to read between the lines and see if I can learn anything else from the books that have impacted my life in so many ways. Yes, my mom and I have attended two LeakyCons in a row, which are Harry Potter fan conventions by the way (don’t judge us). That’s beside the point. I’ve noticed that a lot of the lessons that are embedded within the series can be applied during this time of uncertainty and doubt. Here are my top six life lessons that the series teaches us, which can also apply during our time in quarantine.

1.         Talk about things: Voldemort is referred to as “he who shall not be named” throughout the entire series. He serves as a metaphor for those things in life that we’re too afraid to speak and/or talk about. In Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone, Dumbledore and Harry have a conversation about Harry’s dream about Voldemort and Quirrell. When Harry starts to say Voldemort’s name and winds up saying “You Know Who” instead, Dumbledore says, “Fear of a name increases fear of the thing itself.” It’s important to talk about the things that scare us, especially seen during this time. It’s never good to just keep everything bottled in.

2.         Friendship is essential: Harry had Hermione and Ron to help him face many of life’s challenges. Without them, he arguably wouldn’t have made it to where he ended up. He needed his friends to help him hunt down Horcruxes and fight off Voldemort—he especially needed them for emotional support throughout his time at Hogwarts. Friends give you a support network that you can lean on during the hard times. It’s important to tell your friends what’s going on in your life, and ask them for help when you need it. That’s what friends are for, as Ron, Hermione, and Harry show us so well.

  

3.         Community is important: As a whole, Hogwarts teaches us that our communities are so important to our everyday lives. I’d argue that Hogwarts would’ve fallen to the Dark Arts amid Professor Umbridge’s reign in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix if it hadn’t have been for Dumbledore’s Army (led by Harry himself). Even in the last chapter of the series, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, the entire Hogwarts community bands together to defeat Voldemort. If the whole school wasn’t there to protect each other, the battle would’ve been lost. Let’s face it: we don’t have a group of wizards to turn to for support, you know, because we’re all Muggles. But we can all reach out to our TCU community, as well as our community of friends and family if we need help.

4.         Face your fears: This lesson is especially shown through Ron. In Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Ron and Harry venture into the Forbidden Forest when they see a trail of spiders going in the same direction. Ron was petrified because spiders are his biggest fear. But, he went into the Forbidden Forest with Harry anyway. In life, we’re going to have to travel into our own Forbidden Forests even when the idea scares us half to death. This series teaches us that facing our fears is a great way, maybe even the only way, to overcome them.

5.         Never give up and believe in yourself: If there’s one thing that this series (and Harry) have taught me, it's to never give up. Harry endured so much pain and suffering during the series, and he persevered through it all, even when things seemed too daunting. Harry showed me that I can push through even the darkest and hardest of times, and in the end, I will bounce back and achieve greatness. Ron also shows me that believing in yourself is a key to success. In Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince, Ron believes that Harry uses the Liquid Luck potion on him, and he ends up having a perfect Quidditch match, as he blocked every single shot as goal keeper. However, he didn’t have the potion in him—he was successful all on his own and by his own power. Everything has a way of working itself out in the end, maybe in ways we don’t expect. It's also as Dumbledore said in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, "Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light."

6.         You’re strong: Yes, it’s true that Harry couldn’t have fought off Voldemort and his evil without all the help he received along the way. He ESPECIALLY couldn’t have done it without Neville’s help in destroying the last Horcrux: Voldemort’s snake, Nagini. However, in the final moments of the Battle of Hogwarts, it was just Harry and Voldemort. He stood alone during these moments, with just his wand in hand. Even with the Elder Wand, Voldemort found himself fighting a losing battle. Harry came out on top. It’s important that we realize that we need to channel our inner Harry Potter—we are all strong, and we can get through anything if we set our minds to it!

I know that quarantine is a difficult time for us all. But, just like Harry teaches us: we’ve got this! J

It’s Time to Savor the Little Things: The Power of Being Present

It’s officially a week until classes end for the Spring 2020 semester. As a senior, it’s hard to imagine that my time at TCU is coming to an abrupt end. As I’m sitting here writing this blog post, I’m also thinking about all the other assignments that are due within the next few days. I find myself thinking, “Oh thank God it’s ending soon because I can’t do this anymore.” However, when I think back and reflect, I can’t hold this mindset because I know that once finals end and once I receive my diploma, it’s all over. I need to be present in the moments I have left instead of always thinking about the past and the future. In a way, I keep thinking that the end can’t be real because of the times we’re currently living in. This gives me a sense of denial in a way because I’m not physically on campus. But, I know that I won’t get the chance to sit in another classroom at TCU as a student, and that’s something I’m truly going to miss. After graduation, it will probably be awhile before all my friends and I are in the same place again. I need to hold on to the memories that I do have and not worry so much about the future. It’s so hard for me NOT to worry about what’s in store for me after COVID-19 starts to wind down, but I think it’s important to not reflect on the things that we’re missing out on or don’t get the opportunity to experience. Instead, it’s important to think about what I'm gaining. For me, I’ve gained a newfound appreciation for joy in simplicity and the little things, such as the way my cat smells (I know that makes me sound weird but don’t judge), the way the breeze feels when I run outside, and the laughs my family and I get to share while watching TV. I know things will change when we get back to the real world, and I know everything will start to hit me all at once…but I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. Quarantine is a challenge, that’s for sure, and it will change us. But, if it doesn’t challenge you, it doesn’t change you…think about that.

“Do not ruin today with mourning tomorrow.”

Lessons about Our Callings in Good Will Hunting

In my “Callings” class last week, we had the opportunity to watch the film Good Will Hunting, which chronicles the journey of a young, highly gifted South Boston man’s troubled life and his opening up and moving on into the world. Because of his troubled upbringing, he’s become jaded and self-defeating in many, if not all, of his endeavors. He’s the only one in his way, as he continuously shoves all the positive forces of his life out. His best friend, Chuckie, desperately wants Will to leave everything behind and go do something with his life (e.g., accept one of the big job offers he received) because he has the opportunities and abilities to do so—he says, “…You don’t owe it to yourself man, you owe it to me…It would be an insult to us if you’re still here in 20 years… hanging around here is a f***ing waste of your time.” There’s no doubt that Good Will Hunting follows Will in his journey to greater meaning in life. To me, it beautifully describes his story of discovery, one where he finally realizes that he deserves a better life and realizes his potential.

This movie gets to the core of the question: what should we do with our lives and who should we be? As Will repeatedly tried to run away from the path opened to him by his extraordinary mathematical ability, his friend and his therapist argued and pushed back, refusing to let him say no. Sometimes our callings choose us more than we choose them—some may know this more than we do, leading us down the right path (even if we don’t recognize it yet), as was seen in Will’s case. I’d argue that Will was living an emotionally safe existence until Sean got him to find the courage to abandon that identity to achieve real fulfillment. He was a master at avoiding any real connection or vulnerability, as can be seen when he told Skylar that he didn’t love her as an excuse for him to reject his real feelings and be alone. Sean says many beautiful things during this film, but one really captures this journey: “…You wouldn’t know about real loss, because that only occurs when you lose something you love more than yourself , and you’ve never dared to love anything that much. I look at you, and I don’t see an intelligent, confident man…I see a boy…there’s nothing you can tell me that I can’t read somewhere else. Unless we talk about your life. But you won’t do that. Maybe you’re afraid of what you might say…it’s up to you.” Skylar, Sean, and Chuckie keep hammering Will with the same message/ultimatum: stop hiding your real feelings and who you truly are and live your truth. 

I think there’s something to say about how after years of working in construction, Will thought he knew who he was. This speaks to how our callings can change…or can remain undiscovered and unrecognized. Will doesn’t think he deserves a greater life than the one he’s living, which dominates how he responds to, thinks about, and acts toward any given situation. Trust plays an important part in this film as well: trust in others and trust in oneself. After Will let Skylar into his vulnerable, emotional side, he pushed her away—then, he gave in and found everything he had been searching for. The answers to his problems couldn’t be found in books, but they could most definitely be found in love. To me, that’s what makes this film so special. 

I keep reflecting on the film, and I keep thinking: if one were to live in a world filled with nothing but education, the education would mean nothing in the end. We all need more that makes us feel something. Also, sometimes it takes shuffling back from one identity to the next in order to reach the conclusion you’ve always known but could never truly face. But, I would argue that we have more than one identity, which can apply to different domains of our lives. We can't truly be defined by one thing. We must do what gives us the most joy and meaning in life. In the end, the meaning of life is to give life a meaning, right?

Uncontrollable Laughter: The Emperor’s New Groove Humor With the Twin

My twin brother, Clay, recently came home from Nashville, where he goes to school at Vanderbilt University, to stay the remainder of the “self-quarantine” time at home. He was actually exposed to coronavirus around 4 weeks ago from one of his friends who traveled to Barcelona for spring break. He self-quarantined for 2 weeks, and thank God he’s okay and doing well. Anyways, getting to the main point now…on his first night back last Sunday, we decided to watch one of our favorite childhood movies, The Emperor’s New Groove. We were reminded of how good the film is and how funny it is! I mean, Kronk is one of the most underrated comic characters of all time in my opinion. Okay, I’m getting off track again. There’s this one scene where Kronk and Yzma are talking about poisoning Kuzco before inviting him to dinner—Kronk says, “Oh right. The poison…the poison for Kuzco, the poison chosen specifically to kill Kuzco, Kuzco’s poison. Right?” and Yzma says, “Yes! That poison” to which Kronk says, “Gotcha covered.” My brother and I looked at each other and just died laughing. We had to pause the movie because we couldn’t stop laughing. Sometimes, you forget things from your past that used to give you so much joy, and I forgot about this movie. We just sat there laughing for what seemed like forever, and we finally got ourselves together and finished the movie. It’s no wonder Kronk got his own movie, Kronk’s New Groove, because his character is just full of comedy, humor, and love. After laughing and finishing the movie, it felt as though all my cares and anxieties about everything just floated away. It’s amazing how a good movie can do that. It was nice to just be with my brother and laugh after so many months of being apart. We have a very strong bond, and it’s hard to be away from him during the year. It made me reflect on how this whole situation brought my family together again since both me and my brother are in separate cities during the school year. It’s nice to have time with my family during this time, something that I probably wouldn’t have had if coronavirus hadn’t struck the world. During this time, I’m reminded of how precious time is with family, and I’m blessed that I get to laugh and relax with the three people I love most in the world…and I can’t forget about the cats, of course!

P.S. My brother came upon this Tweet the other day and sent it to me, and it also made me die hard laugh. If you've seen The Emperor's New Groove, then you'll (probably) understand the Tweet. I thought I would bestow this gift to everyone ;-) 

My Favorite Childhood Cartoon Character

Growing up, I absolutely LOVED SpongeBob, and when I say loved, I mean I was obsessed. There’s just something about the dynamic between SpongeBob and Patrick that just can’t be described or matched. I’d argue that “SpongeBob SquarePants” is the greatest cartoon ever. If you tell me that you don’t crack up every time the “Sweet Victory” episode comes on the screen, then you’re lying. It might be embarrassing to say, but I admit that even as a 22-year-old, I still love watching the series. However, even though I love SpongeBob dearly, my favorite cartoon character has to be Patrick Star. Yes, he may be intellectually limited, but he has a heart of gold, and I love how he adds humor to every situation. One of my favorite lines comes from Patrick during a scene in the Krusty Krab when he works the phone lines—“Hi, is this the Krusty Krab? No, this is Patrick.” It makes me belly laugh EVERY SINGLE TIME. How about his iconic line, “Is mayonnaise an instrument?” Where does he get this stuff? It’s just genius! You KNOW I can’t forget about ‘Sexy Patrick’ in fishnets and thigh-high black boots—I mean that’s just iconic. 

Even though the show is named after his BFF SpongeBob, let’s be real: Patrick is the real “star” both figuratively and literally. He’s goofy, loyal, good-natured, bumbling, and he steals the show and my heart along with it. Agree with me or don’t, but there will always be a starfish-shaped stamp on my heart.

Jobs, Graduate School...Too Many Choices

Life is chaotic right now. Coronavirus is shutting everything down. With everything that’s going on, I’m finding it hard to decide what to do with my life. Last semester, one of my honors professors told me that I should go to graduate school. I thought, “Me? Graduate school? Absolutely not!” However, with everything going on right now, I’m finding myself thinking about it more and more. The more I reflect, the more I keep thinking that this is what I’m supposed to do. I keep thinking about the “everything happens for a reason” mindset, and I can’t help but think that it applies here. If this pandemic never happened, I don't think I'd be having this conversation with myself. Learning is something that I think I’ve taken for granted every now and then. I don’t want to let this opportunity pass me by. It’s safe to say that the job market isn’t exactly at its best at the moment, and who knows when things will start to get back to normal.

To be quite honest, I’ve never really considered going to graduate school—when people would bring it up to me, I never actually gave it a thought. It’s not that it was never an option for me, I guess I just thought that I didn’t need to go because it wasn’t essential for what I want to do as a career. However, I’m realizing that I can’t just skip out on something because it’s not required for my career. I need to go with my gut feeling and do what’s right for me. I’ve always been a people pleaser, and it’s been this way since elementary school. I remember one teacher telling my mom that my twin brother was a prodigy and was the most gifted student she’d ever seen. However, she also told my mom that I was dumb and never going anywhere in life. That stuck with me. Since then, I’ve felt this need to prove myself and be the best. I think that’s why I’ve always wanted to dive into the job market right after college. Learning is something so near to my heart, something that I think I’ve always been drawn to. It makes sense for me to continue on in my education so that I can be best prepared in the long run for my career. I guess what I’m trying to say is that there are going to be times when we think we’re on the right road, but it takes a big obstacle to make us realize that we’re not.

Uncontrollable Laughter – Nutmeg’s Shenanigans

If anyone else has a cat, then they know that cats LOVE to get into boxes, vases, baskets, really anything they think they can fit themselves into. My cat, Nutmeg, is no different. She’s constantly getting into trouble and finding things she can get into. It’s quite amusing. Downstairs in our living room, we have a fruit bowl that, surprisingly, doesn’t have any fruit it in. Weird. Anyways, yesterday, while my mom and I were walking around the house watering the plants, we came across Nutmeg literally squished on top of the clearly smaller than her body fruit bowl. We both immediately busted out laughing. Here was this cat trying to fit her body somewhere that clearly wasn’t meant for her! I don’t know if anyone in this class has seen the film, The Secret Life of Pets. But, the main cat character in the film, Chloe, accurately depicts the common cat. If you haven’t seen the film, I highly recommend you give it a view—it’s so great and so funny! Anyway, Nutmeg always finds herself getting into trouble, and when we stumbled upon her yesterday, we couldn’t help but laugh at what she was doing. I think the reason why it’s so funny is because it’s something unexpected that goes beyond the ordinary. During these times of uncertainty, we have to find the humor in the little things. Nutmeg has been that source for me. She always keeps me on my toes, and I love her for that! I had to take a photo of it, so if anyone’s interested, here it is!

5 Tips on How to be Funny

Anyone can be funny! Sometimes, it’s just about following steps to try and improve your humor. Here are five tips on how to be funny and improve your humor:

1.         Give the opposite answer to yes/no questions: I read that one of the easiest ways to be funny, even if you’re not, is to give the opposite answer to yes/no questions. If people are expecting you to say yes, you say no; if people are expecting you to say no, you say yes. This is Jennifer Lawrence’s go-to strategy for her own humor. The magic here is that the moment you give the opposite answer, you have surprised the audience, so they naturally laugh in response—after this, you can move on to the real story.

2.         Play with numbers: One way to be surprising is to play with numbers. Why? Because numbers are specific. When something is small, numbers tell. The same can be said when something is big. To be surprising, all you have to do is build up people’s expectation to be the opposite of what the number suggests. For example, when you’re about to say a very big number, add “only” before it; when you’re about to say a very small number, say something along the lines of “it’s a huge amount” beforehand.

3.         Use the Rule of 3: The Rule of 3 establishes a pattern, then ends with something unexpected. For example, “red, white, and barf” is something unexpected as a spin-off of “red, white, and blue.” This breakaway from the pattern created by the first two items builds tension and creates surprise, usually resulting in laughter. This example is also quite effective: “I love hot dogs, hamburgers, and handsome men.”

4.         Use real-life stories, not jokes: The beauty of using personal experiences as fodder for humor is that your life experience is unique, and, therefore, stories based on it are guaranteed to be original. The easiest way to be funny is highlighting actual funny things that happen in your everyday life. Jokes are harder to tell in real life than stories. Rather than tell jokes, exceptionally funny people tell relevant stories that have humorous elements. If people don’t find a story funny, no big deal, because the story has a point beyond just being funny—if people laugh, then all the better in the end!

5.         Delay the funny: The best-placed pun is actually at the end. Put the funny part at the end of the sentence. For example, if the fact it’s a cat is the surprise or twist, say, “In that box was a cat” instead of “there was a cat in the box.” An easy way to delay and replay the funny is to use callbacks. Callbacks bring together everything in the end—this is where you go back and reference items that just got a laugh or create something from items mentioned earlier in the conversation.

Reactions to Arbuckle, Lloyd, Chaplin, and Keaton Silent Comedy Compilations

I think it’s so fascinating that people can create comedy without having to say anything—when I think about the word “comedy,” I always imagine people getting in front of an audience and doing stand-up. That’s why these four videos struck me so much: being funny or providing some sort of comedic relief doesn’t merely have to be with words, it can be through stunts and silence.

One of Arbuckle’s stunts in particular ties back to what we’ve learned in class. He gets hit by a large gavel and falls down, and others around him (including himself) start to laugh. This links back to the superiority theory, which basically says that we laugh in situations where we feel ‘higher’ than others, especially during moments when the object of the laughter is caught in a misfortune. Arbuckle experienced an embarrassing moment, thereby exemplifying the Superiority theory. A lot of what Arbuckle was doing in the video was sort of emasculating in a way, especially when he was shown wearing a wig and a dress and dancing with girls or running away from another man, or even when he’s shown with two pots over his chest area. With that being said, I wasn’t blown away by these scenes and didn’t find any of them to be particularly funny. He didn’t depict himself in a strong way, but rather in an inferior way (from what I saw). His stunts weren’t physical or eye-catching as the other videos/characters.

I was pleasantly surprised by Harold Lloyd’s compilation of stunts. I enjoyed how he portrayed himself in these videos. In one scene, he quickly runs through what seems like a Ferris wheel seat right before people who were chasing him get trapped—genius! I thought the scene where him and another man hang themselves on a wall by the tops of their jackets was so ingenuous and something that I’ve never seen before, something that truly made me laugh. I was drawn to his more dangerous stunts, like scaling a building, hanging from a building (while a bucket falls on his head), or dangling from a clock over a street. I think these scenes get the attention of an audience more than what Arbuckle was doing in his scenes. From what I gathered through the videos, he created a screen character as much like the average man as possible: no outsize costume or face makeup—just a pair of horn-rimmed glasses and the occasional straw hat. His comedy came from taking this man who might pass us on the street and walking him one plausible step at a time into a world of outrageous misfortune.

Out of the four comedians, I recognized Chaplin’s name the most because he’s referenced a lot in popular culture. Just from what I watched, I can tell that he represented the destitute everyman. He turned laziness and the feeling of being unwanted into comedy. I was drawn into everything he did, and I couldn’t deny the way he could indirectly interact with the camera and audience. I really enjoyed the scene from The Gold Rush where he made wooden “feet” dance—I thought its humor was subtle but very effective. I think his characterization and the way he’s portrayed is quite memorable. The physical attributes of the "Tramp" include a pair of baggy pants, a tight coat, a small bowler hat, a large pair of shoes, a springy and flexible cane and a mustache. I think I connected with this character because of how seemingly well-meaning he is. Unlike the daredevil that’s associated with Lloyd, I see more subtleties with Chaplin—I think that’s what makes him so great.

The thing I noticed with Keaton is that he seemed to maneuver through surreal and complex situations. I liked how there was one scene that showed him getting into a car tire connected to the back of the car, but the car drives away without the tire…and without Keaton. There are a lot of stunts where Keaton falls down a lot, which I think shows his style of comedy. I also noticed his facial expressions—he can be seen with a constant deadpan facial expression. His style was quite similar to Lloyd’s, as both showed a lot of dangerous stunts and emphasized the act of danger. A lot of comedy today focuses on crude humor, and I think there’s a lost art in the silent comedy film. It adds a visual style and an element that just can’t be found in today’s comedy.

Greatest Comedy Films List

Here's my list for my top five greatest comedy films of all time! *in no particular order*

1. Bridesmaids

2. National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation

3. Step Brothers

4. Superbad

5. National Lampoon's Animal House