Max D.: The Neuroscience of Humor

 

Recently returned from viewing The Illusionists (@Illusionists7) on Broadway, Max D. is inspired to hone his routine further by exploring one key trait of magic:  humor.  I (Jonathan Bisson) write that humor is key because this argument comes directly from Max himself.  Every single trick, he emphatically emphasizes, consists of comedy; there are merely tricks that overtly use humor and those that do not.  

I was a little confused about what he meant, so I decided to delve further into the neuroscience of humor; this search seemed prudent, for Max was already exploring this subject himself.  

For anyone interested in conducting a similar search, I would immediately recommend Peter McGraw (@PeterMcGraw)'s "What Makes Things Funny?" at TEDxBoulder (@TEDxBoulder) (shown below).  In his talk, McGraw emphasizes that humor primarily operates in a situation characterized as a "benign violation."  Such a situation, he goes on, consists of an idea or perspective that threatens the way that you believe the world should be ("violation") made less threatening by distance ("benign").  He goes on to discuss stairs as a way of demonstrating his theory:  

Walking down a flight of stairs =​ No Violation =​ Not Funny.  Falling down a flight of stairs, but being unhurt =​ Benign Violation =​ Funny.  Falling down that flight of stairs and being badly hurt =​ Malign Violation =​ Not Funny.

But perhaps the greatest crux of McGraw's talk (for myself, at least) was when, only a minute in, he states that "humor influences your choices," that it fundamentally impacts the way that we conceive of the world and those elements to which we pay attention.  This seems to relate EXACTLY to the sleight of hand with which magicians divert an audience's attention.  Perhaps, then, for some magicians - like Max - humor becomes the greatest "trick."

For another TED Talk on neuroscience and humor, please click here.