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Linh Giang Hoang

Prof. Scott Kapuscinski

Fundamentals of Writing

18 February 2020

The Incongruity Theory

We have watched a lot of comedy videos and live performances. Of course, most of

them, we really enjoy and get a lot of fun from. However, have we ever noticed how similar the

ways they act, they perform are? There is a surprising secret of comedy, a theory that they all

know, but do not say out. The Incongruity Theory is one of the three traditional theories of

laughter and humor. This theory has been bringing a large amount of laughter which comes from

humans’ sudden perception of the incongruity to audiences. According to various funny videos

we watched in class, there are three examples: Mr. Bean, Britain’s Got Talent and Sarcasm 101

which are definitely exclusive symbols of the Incongruity Theory.

What is the Incongruity Theory? Well, according to Morreall - Taking Laughter

Seriously, it is said that the Incongruity Theory happens when people laugh at something that

does not suit a certain situation (page 16). For example, a witticism becomes hilarious when we

foretell an outcome and another takes place. When we are taking jokes from others, our minds

and bodies are already looking forward to what is going to occur and how it is going to finish off.

The first joke related to the Incongruity Theory is Mr. Bean having fine dinner alone in a

restaurant. During the meal, he took the knife then tap on the empty wine glasses on the table

(3:12-3:28). He created the melody of the song “Happy Birthday” and got the attention of a

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woman next table. This is funny because Mr. Bean makes a song in a creative way. Of course,

we are totally aware that those acts are what we are supposed not to do in places like restaurants.

Moreover, he expresses a variety of emotions through his face in the video. His mannerism in

Mr. Bean is like a fool although he is expected to be a polite gentleman in this situation in real

life. Therefore, Rowan Atkinson who plays the role of Mr. Bean has to try his best to show the

personal traits of this character who not only is immature and self-interested but also conveys a

number of uncommon plots. In the video, it is very obvious that Mr. Bean does not speak much.

In general, when he acts, it is only a few muttered terms which are in a comically low-pitched

voice. If there is a real Mr.Bean in life, it is undeniable that people would consider him an idiot

because everything Mr.Bean does in the video is totally out of the norms of society. This is what

makes his humorous movies become very attractive and unique, especially emphasizing the

Incongruity Theory.

In addition, jokes are usually made verbally. The man, Gatis Kandis, in Britain’s Got

Talent video only used his words to make audiences laugh. At the beginning, he said: “After a

few cold days, it’s getting warm outside. And I love the warm weather because it makes me

warmer.” This is what everyone knows. No one needs to say it out loud as important

information. However, as he said, this is just a warm-up joke. The second joke is more

impressive. “When my chicken has a birthday, I don’t tell him because he will not understand”

(00:01-00:22). He was talking like a little kid while having an adult’s appearance. It became a

joke because he was very spontaneous with a silly expression on his face. He acted like nothing

went wrong while everything he said was incongruous on the stage. Luckily, he is a comedian.

Let’s imagine when

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we are talking to someone and that person says something like this! What will be in our mind?

Of course, “You are so stupid.” Unless he performs as a comedian to make audiences burst with

laughter, it is really inappropriate and ridiculous if this happens on certain formal occasions in

our real life. That is why Gatis Kandis’s performance in Britain’s Got Talent video has become

one of the most typical instances of the Incongruity Theory. However, audiences still paid their

full attention to his jokes because what he said is actually right and the way he talked was

absolutely interesting in general.

Last but not least, Sarcasm 101 is the third funny video in which the Incongruity Theory

was applied perfectly. This video shows what happened in the class “Sarcasm 101.” During class

time, there was a black man speaking to a woman : “Marrissa, I wanna have sex with you even

less” (2:05-2:10). He said it loudly in the classroom so that everyone there could hear that. Yes,

in a classroom. No one judges men for the reason that they want to have intimate connections

with women but he was saying it in a formal educational environment . Also, men do not have to

keep secret about that because it is nature. However, it was not appropriate under this

circumstance. Moreover, the content of what he said was definitely not related to what the

professor in the video was talking about. Like Gatis in Britain’s Got Talent I mentioned above,

this black man also acted very spontaneously and not suitably . That is the reason why he made

audiences laugh. Moreover, he made Marrissa have a strong reaction to his words. This made

people laugh one more time since Marrissa’s reaction was very embarrassing and awkward while

he still acted like it was very normal to say that outloud in the classroom. In Morreall - Taking

Laughter Seriously, Aristotle supposes that “one way for a speaker to get a laugh is to set up a

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certain expectation in his listeners and then to hit them with something they did not expect”

(page 16). Actually, this case can perfectly apply to the Incongruity Theory through Aristotle’s

recognition of incongruity since it happens very unexpectedly and unfitting in class in real life.

Compared with the others which are the Superiority Theory and the Relief Theory, it is

obvious that the Incongruity Theory can be applied into almost common humorous cases. To be

more specific, the situations related to the Superiority Theory and the Relief Theory are limited.

First, the Superiority Theory only happens when someone laughs at others’ weaknesses or faults.

While the Superiority Theory emphasizes emotions involved in laughter, the Relief Theory

describes a special reason that people laugh. According to Morreall - Taking Laughter Seriously,

it is said that “There are two ways in which relief might fit into laughter situations. The person

may have come into the situation with the nervous energy that is to be released, or the laughter

situation itself may cause the build-up of the nervous energy, as well as its release” (page 21).

Generally, these two theories might be less common to be applied to real-life cases than the

Incongruity Theory since their traits are not really popular reasons for laughter. In my opinion,

the Incongruity Theory is always the most common theory of laughter because it focuses on

objects or ideas leading to laughter as described above.

To sum up, the Incongruity Theory describes the causes of laughter which are

inappropriate and unexpected cases in real life. Those examples mentioned above are three

impressive jokes applied to the Incongruity Theory. The presence of this theory not only explains

why humans laugh in most humorous situations but also supports comedians to have more

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perfect and amazing plots for their sitcoms or movies. As a result, the Incongruity Theory has

become one of the most important traditional theories of laughter nowadays.

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Works Cited
 Morreall, John. “Taking Laughter Seriously”. SUNY Press. Jan 1, 1983.

Mr Bean. “The Restaurant | Funny Clip | Mr. Bean Official.” Youtube. Sep 4, 2009.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=2&v=veZOrXVHf7U&feature=emb_title.

Britain’s Got Talent. “Comedian Gatis Kandis - Britain's Got Talent 2012 audition -

International version.” Youtube. May 5, 2012. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=a75Vbb8hsKw.

Saturday Night Life. “Sarcasm 101 - SNL.” Youtube. Aug 24, 2019.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZW-AZ2mNeA.