A guest post by Joe Toplyn Joe has written and produced television comedy for over twenty years. He won four Emmy Awards writing for Late Night with David Letterman, then went on to become co-head writer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, head writer of Late Show with David Letterman, head writer of The […]
By Hillary Anger Elfenbein; Washington University in St. Louis So your three-year-old comes home and tells you that he wants chocolate for dinner. Now what? If you’re anything like me, you start by trying to sell him on what else you’ve prepared. This approach doesn’t work very well, and then he throws himself on the […]
Why are these funny camera angles funny? A funny camera angle is funny when it creates a benign violation. The benign violation theory proposes that humor occurs when a situation is simultaneously seen as wrong, unsettling or threatening (i.e., a violation) and okay, acceptable or safe (i.e., benign). A survey of the photos above reveal […]
