Notes on Comedy: William Miller's Screenwriting for Film and Television

Miller explores comedy by referring to a number of comedy theories.

1. Disparagement or Aggression Theories. In these theories, humor is a substitute for violence and is seen as something cruel. The most common form of cruel comedy is derision, in which we enjoy the misfortunes of others.

2. Superiority Theories. These theories view laughter as a form of triumph that increases our self-esteem at someone else's expense. In The Jerk, Steve Martin asks the waiter to remove the disgusting snails that are all over his plate. Unfortunately, this form of comedy is also a staple of ethnic, racial, national, and gender jokes.

3. Tension Release Theories. These theories suggest that we laugh as a release for excess nervous energy, as an outlet for forbidden sexual and aggressive impulses.

4. Social Function Theories. These theories see laughter as a socially corrective process that restrains unwanted behavior. These theories depend upon codes of civility and propriety. We laugh at people who sneeze at the wrong moment, walk funny, or wear ridiculous codes. We compare their behavior to the codes of "proper" behavior.

5. Incongruity-Resolution Theories. These theories concern the form of jokes. They assert that a joke contains two scenarios. It begins in one direction, then at the resolution it switches direction to the other scenario. We are surprised by the new line of meaning. The two scenarios seem incongruous at first, but we find the ways in which they are linked and make sense together. In Sleeper, Woody Allen's character says, "As a kid I was neaten up by Quakers." Quakers don't beat people up, yet they are connected with violence by being the opposite-non-violent.

Miller also lists some comedy attributes. These include:

1. Detachment, also known as comic distance. We accept that what we are seeing is "not for real."

2. Suspense and surprise. In surprise, our expectations are ambushed and things don't turn out the way we assumed they would. In suspense, we know something the character doesn't know and we wait for their response to the inevitable discovery.

3. Destructiveness. We can enjoy seeing things get trashed.