Joke synonymy sensitivity among working comedians and the General Theory of Verbal Humor

Kathleen Cain; Steven Gimbel; Lindsay Howard; Brittany Maronna; Sean Beirne

doi:10.1515/humor-2023-0157

Article

Joke synonymy sensitivity among working comedians and the General Theory of Verbal Humor

Kathleen Cain
Kathleen Cain is Professor of Psychology at Gettysburg College. Her research focuses on the development of children’s and adolescents’ beliefs about themselves and other people.
, Steven Gimbel
Steven Gimbel is the William Bittinger Professor of Philosophy of Gettysburg College. He is author of Isn’t that Clever: A Philosophy of Humor and Comedy (Routledge) and In on the Joke: The Ethics of Humor and Comedy (de Gruyter) with Thomas Wilk.
, Lindsay Howard
Lindsay Howard is a Research Program Coordinator in the Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.
, Brittany Maronna
Brittany Maronna is the social work heart of spinal cord injury research with the Kessler Foundation.
and Sean Beirne
Sean Beirne graduated from Gettysburg College in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

Published/Copyright: September 13, 2024

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From the journal HUMOR Volume 37 Issue 4

Abstract

Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.) found that ordinary college students perceived joke similarity in a pattern that largely but not completely matched the pattern predicted by the General Theory of Verbal Humor (GTVH, Attardo and Raskin. 1991. Script theory revis(it)ed: joke similarity and joke representation model. Humor 4(3–4). 293–47.). Stand-up comedians must not only perform jokes in front of audiences, but must write the jokes they deliver. Joke theft, the telling of a joke written and performed by another comedian without express permission, is a serious violation of community norms. A stolen joke need not have the same precise wording, hence it may be hypothesized that stand-up comedians would develop an increased sensitivity to joke synonymy. In the present study, working comedians rated joke similarity using a similar procedure to that of Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.). While the comedians’ responses did not differ dramatically from those of non-comedians in Ruch et al. (1993. Toward an empirical verification of the general theory of verbal humor. Humor 6(2). 123–36.), their perceived similarity followed the pattern predicted in the GTVH more closely. These findings suggest slightly but not markedly greater sensitivity to joke synonymy among working comedians and offer further empirical support for the GTVH.

Keywords: joke synonymy; General Theory of Verbal Humor; joke theft

Corresponding author: Steven Gimbel, Department of Philosophy, Gettysburg College, Gettysburg, USA, E-mail: sgimbel@gettysburg.edu

About the authors

Kathleen Cain

Kathleen Cain is Professor of Psychology at Gettysburg College. Her research focuses on the development of children’s and adolescents’ beliefs about themselves and other people.

Steven Gimbel

Steven Gimbel is the William Bittinger Professor of Philosophy of Gettysburg College. He is author of Isn’t that Clever: A Philosophy of Humor and Comedy (Routledge) and In on the Joke: The Ethics of Humor and Comedy (de Gruyter) with Thomas Wilk.

Lindsay Howard

Lindsay Howard is a Research Program Coordinator in the Division of Psychiatric Neuroimaging at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Brittany Maronna

Brittany Maronna is the social work heart of spinal cord injury research with the Kessler Foundation.

Sean Beirne

Sean Beirne graduated from Gettysburg College in 2016 with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology.

Appendix

Please answer the following questions:

How long have you been performing comedy (amateur and professionally)?

Less than 1 year 1–2 years 3–5 years more than 5 years

How long have you been performing comedy professionally?

Not at all Less than 1 year 1–2 years 3–5 years more than 5 years

Is performing comedy now or has it ever been your primary means of financial support?

Yes No

Have you ever had a joke stolen?

Yes No

Instructions: In the following, you will read three sets of jokes. Each set includes one anchor joke and 6 comparison jokes. Please rate how similar each of the comparison joke is to the anchor joke. [A 1–7 Likert scale ranging from “Not at all similar” for 1 through “Neutral” for 4 to “Extremely similar” for 7 appears beneath each comparison joke.]

Anchor Joke A :

What do you call it when a blonde dyes her hair brown? Artificial intelligence

Joke A1: What’s the result of a blonde dyeing her hair brown? Artificial Intelligence.

Joke A2: When a blonde dyes her hair brown, it’s called Artificial Intelligence.

Joke A3: What do you call it when a fair-haired sorority girl dyes her hair brown? Artificial Intelligence.

Joke A4: What do you call it when a blonde “lipsyncs” Einstein on the screen? Artificial Intelligence.

Joke A5: What do you call it when a blonde dyes her hair brown? Illiteracy: she could not read the label on the bottle.

Joke A6: What do you call it when a blonde dyes her hair brown? Serial murder: her five boyfriends hang themselves.

Anchor Joke B :

Why did the chicken cross the road? It wanted to get to the other side.

Joke B1: Do you know the reason why the chicken decided to cross the road? Because it wanted to get to the other side.

Joke B2: The reason the chicken crossed the road is that it wanted to get to the other side.

Joke B3: Why did the turtle cross the road? It wanted to get to the other side.

Joke B4: Why did the chicken eat an octagonal-headed worm? Because it was hungry.

Joke B5: Why did the chicken cross the road? Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Joke B6: Why did the chicken cross the road? He saw a blonde hen on the other side.

Anchor Joke C :

How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to hold the light bulb and four to turn the table he’s standing on.

Joke C1: The number of Polacks needed to screw in a light bulb? Five – one holds the bulb and four turn the table.

Joke C2: It takes five Poles to screw in a light bulb: one to hold the light bulb and four to turn the table he’s standing on.

Joke C3: How many Irishmen does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to hold the light bulb and four to turn the table he’s standing on.

Joke C4: How many Poles does it take to wash a car? Two. One to hold the sponge and one to move the car back and forth.

Joke C5: How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to hold the light bulb and four to look for the right screwdriver.

Joke C6: How many Poles does it take to screw in a light bulb? Five. One to take his shoes off, get on the table, and screw in the light bulb and four to wave the air deodorants to kill his foot odor.

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Received: 2023-12-07

Accepted: 2024-07-29

Published Online: 2024-09-13

Published in Print: 2024-10-28

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Articles in the same Issue

https://doi.org/10.1515/humor-2023-0157

Keywords for this article

joke synonymy; General Theory of Verbal Humor; joke theft