http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5950828.ece
HAVE you ever been asked to recount your favourite joke and then been able to recall only the most corny, unfunny one in your repertoire?
Scientists have found that the most successful gags work by subverting the listener’s usual thought patterns, making them inherently less memorable. By contrast, clichéd jokes are easier to remember because their structure and punch line are so predictable.
“What makes a joke successful is also what makes it difficult to remember. The punch line involves an unexpected turn,” said Robert Provine, professor of psychology at Maryland University, who is investigating the phenomenon in a book he is writing about laughter.
Provine gave a simple illustration. “Someone tells you a list of flowers, like roses, daffodils, petunias and brick. That was unexpected and funny. You remember ‘brick’, but not probably the correct list of flowers.”
Ricky Gervais, star of The Office, agreed that good jokes were hard to remember: “Jokes work like a magician’s tricks. When the punch line comes, you just gasp at that and you forget where the magician put his hand before or what he did before.”
He said that although jokes often worked by directing the audience away from the punch line, sometimes remembering the denouement could act as a reminder of the rest of the gag.
Some scientists contrast the unpredictable structure of a good joke with the way that a piece of dialogue, music or a poem can be remembered more easily because they work in harmony with human memory patterns.
“The brain has a strong propensity to organise information, and perception in patterns and music plays into that inclination,” said Michael Thaut, professor of music and neuroscience at Colorado State University.
He argues that this is why children usually find it easier to memorise the sequence of the 26 letters in the alphabet if it is set to a tune.
Provine added: “It’s easier to follow a song because it has rhyme and rhythm. I hear a good joke but usually I can’t remember all of it.”
Daniel Schacter, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of The Seven Sins of Memory, has another theory: “We humans are better at remembering the general meaning or gist of things; this is why we can remember anecdotes. With jokes we have to remember details like nuance and timing.”
Gervais said that the ability to remember jokes varied from person to person: “Some people are bad at remembering jokes — but they could just be stupid.”
... now test your memory
Bad jokes, easy to remember
My dog’s got no nose. Oh dear, how does he smell? Terrible.
Why do cows have bells? Because their horns don’t work.
What do you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft? A flat miner.
What do you call two raincoats in a cemetery? Max Bygraves.
What do you call a sandwich box swinging from a bell rope? The lunchpack of Notre Dame
Better jokes, hard to remember
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are camping at night when Holmes nudges his colleague and says: “Tell me what you see."
Watson ponders: I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" says Holmes.
“That there are billions of galaxies and planets; that God is all powerful and that we are insignificant. Why, what does it tell you?”
"Watson, you idiot. Our tent has been stolen."
-
Two men are in the woods when one collapses. He’s not breathing, his eyes are blank, so his friend calls 999. “My friend is dead. What should I do?”
“Stay calm,” says the operator. “First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is silence, then a shot.
“OK,” says the caller. “What now?”
HAVE you ever been asked to recount your favourite joke and then been able to recall only the most corny, unfunny one in your repertoire?
Scientists have found that the most successful gags work by subverting the listener’s usual thought patterns, making them inherently less memorable. By contrast, clichéd jokes are easier to remember because their structure and punch line are so predictable.
“What makes a joke successful is also what makes it difficult to remember. The punch line involves an unexpected turn,” said Robert Provine, professor of psychology at Maryland University, who is investigating the phenomenon in a book he is writing about laughter.
Provine gave a simple illustration. “Someone tells you a list of flowers, like roses, daffodils, petunias and brick. That was unexpected and funny. You remember ‘brick’, but not probably the correct list of flowers.”
Ricky Gervais, star of The Office, agreed that good jokes were hard to remember: “Jokes work like a magician’s tricks. When the punch line comes, you just gasp at that and you forget where the magician put his hand before or what he did before.”
He said that although jokes often worked by directing the audience away from the punch line, sometimes remembering the denouement could act as a reminder of the rest of the gag.
Some scientists contrast the unpredictable structure of a good joke with the way that a piece of dialogue, music or a poem can be remembered more easily because they work in harmony with human memory patterns.
“The brain has a strong propensity to organise information, and perception in patterns and music plays into that inclination,” said Michael Thaut, professor of music and neuroscience at Colorado State University.
He argues that this is why children usually find it easier to memorise the sequence of the 26 letters in the alphabet if it is set to a tune.
Provine added: “It’s easier to follow a song because it has rhyme and rhythm. I hear a good joke but usually I can’t remember all of it.”
Daniel Schacter, professor of psychology at Harvard University and author of The Seven Sins of Memory, has another theory: “We humans are better at remembering the general meaning or gist of things; this is why we can remember anecdotes. With jokes we have to remember details like nuance and timing.”
Gervais said that the ability to remember jokes varied from person to person: “Some people are bad at remembering jokes — but they could just be stupid.”
... now test your memory
Bad jokes, easy to remember
My dog’s got no nose. Oh dear, how does he smell? Terrible.
Why do cows have bells? Because their horns don’t work.
What do you get when you drop a piano down a mineshaft? A flat miner.
What do you call two raincoats in a cemetery? Max Bygraves.
What do you call a sandwich box swinging from a bell rope? The lunchpack of Notre Dame
Better jokes, hard to remember
Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson are camping at night when Holmes nudges his colleague and says: “Tell me what you see."
Watson ponders: I see millions of stars."
"What does that tell you?" says Holmes.
“That there are billions of galaxies and planets; that God is all powerful and that we are insignificant. Why, what does it tell you?”
"Watson, you idiot. Our tent has been stolen."
-
Two men are in the woods when one collapses. He’s not breathing, his eyes are blank, so his friend calls 999. “My friend is dead. What should I do?”
“Stay calm,” says the operator. “First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is silence, then a shot.
“OK,” says the caller. “What now?”
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