Incongruity? Or something more?

In essence, the incongruity theory seems to be a pretty good explanation of why many things are found funny.  It has many definitions and applies to many situations; it covers a lot of ground.  This classic comedy clip gives a great representation of just what great humor incongruity can create.

Ah yes, Andy Griffith's "What it was was Football".  

It is, in my opinion, one of the most prime examples of simple, clean, classic, and quality humor.  This is humor that doesn't rely on politics to make it funny.  It doesn't rely on innuendos or foul language.  So, in the absence of all those things on which so many of our comedy sources today rely on, just what does Griffith use to make "What it was was Football" so funny?  Simple.  He uses incongruity.

You see, it doesn't take long at all for the listener to discover just what Griffith is talking about in this piece.

And I mean what he is really talking about.  Obviously, the graphics in the video clip above aid the viewer in deducing that "What it was was Football".  But, even if you first heard this piece on vinyl, like I originally did, with nothing but your mental pictures to aid you, it wouldn't take you long to put two and two together.  Certainly not as long as it took Andy Griffith, anyway.  And that's the humor of it!

As Arthur Schopenhauer, the German philosopher said, "The cause of laughter is simply the sudden perception of the incongruity between a concept and the real project."  In the case of "What it was was Football", the "real project" Schopenhauer refers to could be identified as football itself.  The concept, Griffith's description of it.  So, with that in mind, it is easy to see incongruity theory at work here.  We, the listeners, laugh as soon as we perceive the clear incongruity between the actuality of the situation, football, and all the humorous ways in which Griffith describes the situation.  Easy!

Does incongruity theory explain everything?

Of course not!  But does it do a pretty good job trying?  Yeah, it does.  I would say that it is a pretty adequate explanation of most humor.  Not all, but most.  No theory is ever going to be perfect.  No theory is going to account for every little situation in which humor could be found.  But, as a generalization, incongruity theory works well.

To sum it up,

Is every type of incongruity funny?  No.  Sometimes the joke falls flat.  Sometimes it hits a little too close to home for humor to be found.  Sometimes the joke just simply goes over our heads.

Is everything funny incongruity?  No, but most are.  Sure, there are the outliers here and there.  But incongruity theory covers more ground than any other theory presented thus far.

Until next time,

Always Laugh Lots!!!

- Anna Kathleen Spitler <3

Sources:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2fisRw4KmE8YVBoMU1WVW1CZ3c/view
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oNxLxTZHKM8
https://www.azquotes.com/picture-quotes/quote-the-cause-of-laughter-is-simply-the-sudden-perception-of-the-incongruity-between-a-concept-arthur-schopenhauer-103-93-46.jpg
https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS8lhfprd-uNHovgMhs2Wvcp4h48OXvoxscWi1Nr_ZMpuQd85qG
http://img.picturequotes.com/2/17/16268/incongruity-is-the-mainspring-of-laughter-quote-1.jpg