The Many Faces of Humor

Abstract

Taped in-concert recordings of Bill Cosby and Don Rickles were played for Ss in which one element of audience composition, friends or strangers, was varied. In addition to the humor-related responses of laughing and smiling, behavioral categories included general activity and social interactions. Differences across social groupings in response to Cosby were negligible; whereas strangers listening to Rickles laughed, smiled, and generally behaved far less than any of the other three groups. The data suggest that humor must be considered a social phenomenon in which the perception of funniness often depends upon the comedian, his relationship to the audience, his material, and the social relationships existing among audience members. Results were also discussed in terms of their implications for a theory of humorists, as well as for a theory of gesture interpretation.