Laughing Experience #1

            After we discussed the blogging topics for the upcoming school year, my attention was initially drawn to the two blogs about our laughing experiences. I tried to think about the times that I laughed the hardest, and I couldn't think of any specific examples. Some experiences of uncontrollable laughter came to mind, but I couldn't recreate the source of the laughter. Ever since that day, I have tried to analyze each time that I find myself laughing "uncontrollably." I try to think of the source of the experience, while keeping in mind the different types of humor theories that we discussed in class. This analysis garnered some relatively interesting internal thoughts and sparked some productive conversation with whomever I shared the laugh with. From these thoughts and discussions, I determined two things:

            After a lot of consideration, most of the things that I find humorous relate to the theories we discussed in class. When we first discussed these theories, I didn't find them to be believable because I did not think they were applicable to my personal experiences that I found to be funny. I didn't think that my roommate doing something stupid fell into the superiority theory-I simply thought that whatever he was doing was funny. I wasn't laughing at him because I felt superior to him, I was just laughing. Whenever I watched Dumb and Dumber, I didn't understand I felt superior to two imaginary characters that I was laughing at. But, after listening to our discussions in class and reconsidering each theory, I realized that most situations where I found myself laughing fit into those theories in some way, even if it was in the slightest. Although I may not be laughing at my roommate or an imaginary character, I am laughing at something they are doing that I am perceiving to be dumb, and in some way inferior. This took some time to realize, but I came to the conclusion that these theories are applicable.

            The next thing that I discovered was during one of the experiences where I found myself laughing uncontrollably. It happened on my recent trip home with some of my friends from childhood. We met up after the TCU-OU football game, and decided to smoke cigars, which wasn't an abnormal thing for us to do. The conversation that followed was what spurred the laughter. Considering that we have been friends for such a long time, we know a lot about each other and a lot of common memories from our childhoods. While we were talking, we were recollecting memories of the days on the playground and all the comical things that happened during our recess football games. Before long we found ourselves in fits of laughter, and one of my first thoughts was our assigned blogs. I started to think about the source of our laughter, and it didn't take long to realize that we were laughing at our old selves. What heightened the laughter was the position that we were currently in, all of us being in college and far from our elementary school selves. The setting also contributed to the humor, because we were performing an adult activity, while talking about our childhood activities. The laughter brought back even more memories, and the evening was spent reminiscing.

            From this experience, I realized how much laughter can bring a group together. We were all close friends already, but the experience of laughing uncontrollably brought back memories of when we were kids and how, although we are much older, the laughter still occurred. It made me realize that laughter is truly a timeless experience.