When a Sitcom laughs and expects us to laugh too
Reading the readings this week, I couldn’t help but think about the laugh tracks that we are forced to hear when we’re watching a sitcom,… Read More »When a Sitcom laughs and expects us to laugh too
Blog Post 5 (due 5 PM Wednesday 26th February)
Week 5 The Psychology, Phenomenology and Politics of Laughter
Required reading:
Norbert Elias, “Essay on Laughter” [1956], Critical Inquiry 43 (Winter 2017), 281-304.
Anca Parvulescu, “Cinema, or the Laughing Gas Party,” Laughter: Notes on a Passion (Cambridge: MIT, 2010), 119-155.
Julian Hanich, “Chuckle, Chortle, Cackle: A Phenomenology of Cinematic Laughter,” The Audience Effect: On the Collective Cinema Experience (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press, 2017), 189-216.
I’m so emotional, I could laugh!
One of laughter’s many powers, according to Julian Hanich, is its capability to be a therapeutic form of relief. Much like crying, it can help… Read More »I’m so emotional, I could laugh!
So Bad That It’s Good: How To Enjoy The Next Step
In “Chuckle, Chortle, Cackle: A Phenomenology of Cinematic Laughter” Julian Hanich discusses all of the different causes and types of laughter an audience can experience.… Read More »So Bad That It’s Good: How To Enjoy The Next Step
‘laughing down’ from his high hill (of toxic sludge)
This blog post is going to attempt to explore the types of laughter Julian Hanich explains about the cinema audience found within the context of… Read More »‘laughing down’ from his high hill (of toxic sludge)
Agent Smith & The Joker face off against Julian Hanich
In ‘Chuckle, Chortle, Cackle: A Phenomenology of Cinematic Laughter’, Julian Hanich describes both ‘contagion laughter’ and ‘laughter-laughter’, both the reaction of one person’s laughter in… Read More »Agent Smith & The Joker face off against Julian Hanich
Hanich’s “conversion laughter” and Emilia Pérez
Julian Hanich lists ten types of laughter, and the one I found most compelling to write about in this blog post is “conversion laughter: laughing… Read More »Hanich’s “conversion laughter” and Emilia Pérez
8 out of 10 comedians are laughing (Alex Gold)
In the format of a panel show, laughter is the real object of competition despite the background pretenses of playing a game show. However, it… Read More »8 out of 10 comedians are laughing (Alex Gold)
Archie Andrews Could Write Chuckle Chortle Cackle but Julian Hanich Could Never Create the Red Circle: Riverdale and Types of Laughter (Caroline Scott)
In Chuckle, Chortle, Cackle: A Phenomology of Cinematic Laughter, Julian Hanich identifies several types of cinematic laughter. One, “conversion laughter”, involves laughing at something that’s… Read More »Archie Andrews Could Write Chuckle Chortle Cackle but Julian Hanich Could Never Create the Red Circle: Riverdale and Types of Laughter (Caroline Scott)
Try not to laugh…at laughing: Reaction Videos and Laughing Collectives
The arrival of Web 2.0 has seen the proliferation of ‘reaction’ style videos on sites such as Youtube, whereby one or more people watch a… Read More »Try not to laugh…at laughing: Reaction Videos and Laughing Collectives
Canned Laughter: Shall we keep it or can it ?
In “Cinema, or the Laughing Gas Party,” Laughter: Notes on a Passion, Parvulescu discusses the history of laughter and cinema, breaking down the physicality of… Read More »Canned Laughter: Shall we keep it or can it ?