Episode 50 - Mark Twain & Humor

Humor

Dec 11

Studies consistently list humor as the number one trait for desirability and attractiveness, regardless of gender. So...how do we get funny?

Mark Twain is widely considered one of America’s greatest humorists. And comedy itself as a traveling act originated, in-part, from Twain traveling across Europe and America, taking his humor articles on the road. But as historians seem to enjoy pointing out: Twain didn't set out to invent comedy as a stand-up act. In fact, Twain went on tour because he was flat broke, and public speaking was surprisingly lucrative for the time.

On this episode of The Re-Engineered You we’re looking at humor in general. We want to know why humor seems to be a hack to attractiveness. Why being funny seems to make you more money in life, and if that continues as we age (and so do our jokes). How do we get funny if we’re born with a sense of humor that inspires more groans than guffaws? And we want to break down joke structure as a written art, that way we can discover how naturally funny folks might up their game going forward.

History:

https://blog.bookstellyouwhy.com/mark-twains-legendary-humor

https://twainstudios.com/2013/09/27/mark-twains-style-of-humor-lives-on-in-todays-comedy/

https://www.history.com/news/8-things-you-may-not-know-about-mark-twain

https://freebeacon.com/culture/comedy-tour-saved-mark-twain/

https://twain.lib.virginia.edu/projects/price/frog.htm

https://www.gutenberg.org/files/3177/3177-h/3177-h.htm

https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/the-mark-twain-burglary-goes-comically-awry/

Science:

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2004/jun/27/gender1

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/whats-so-funny-the-science-of-why-we-laugh/

https://www.sjsm.org/2017/03/the-neuroscience-of-humor-why-some-people-are-funny-and-others-arent/