911爆料

To explore the many intersections between comedy and philosophy, let’s start with improv, a form of on-the-spot comedy that often involves competition. One such contest is The Hat Game, in which a maestro will set the scene鈥攑erhaps a train station waiting room鈥攁nd assign a character to each actor. The actors then face off, trying to remove each other’s hats while staying in character. Lose your hat, and you’re out. Sound simple? It鈥檚 anything but.

The Hat Game, in fact, is one helluva hat trick鈥攊n philosophical terms, it鈥檚 an act of metacognition, or thinking about thinking. The winner must be both in the moment, playing out the scene, and strategizing for the future: the taking of an opponent鈥檚 hat. All the while being funny, of course. And, remember, improv is an act of invention. There is no script. In essence, players must manage multiple trains of thought simultaneously.

Improv actor and philosophy major Charlie Santos 鈥�18 brings up The Hat Game as he considers the question of what connection there might be between comedy and philosophy. In classic improv fashion, his musings take the form of a story: A year ago, he found himself sitting in a darkened theater watching three fellow improv actors play The Hat Game. There were three finalists in the competition: two tallish local actors and an out-of-towner, a petite woman named Haniko. Her lack of height put her at a distinct disadvantage. Or so it would seem.

鈥淎nd she takes one of their hats and the crowd is like, 鈥榃hoa, the underdog!鈥� All of a sudden the audience is embracing the newcomer who has emasculated a seasoned performer,鈥� Santos recalls.

As the final showdown approached, the ousted actor unabashedly rallied support for his fellow local boy. The scene felt raucous, more boxing match than theatrical competition. Then the director upped the ante, placing Haniko and the remaining man in a hula-hoop.

鈥淭he scene begins, she takes the other guy鈥檚 hat, and the entire roomful of people stands and cheers!鈥� Santos says, grinning broadly at the memory.

To a philosopher and comedic actor, this is a superhero鈥檚 power. The difference between philosophy and comedy? Santos closes with a joke: 鈥淲ell, I definitely see the ways in which philosophy inhibits me.鈥�

Hannah Travaglini 鈥�13 believes great comedy comes of finding common ground with the audience. She performs her stand-up in Philadelphia under the stage name Hannah Trav. 鈥淚 write about my life鈥攚hat鈥檚 funny and relatable. I write about relationships. I鈥檝e done stand-up long enough that I have multiple ex-boyfriends that I can talk about. It鈥檚 鈥業 think; therefore, I am single.鈥� That type of thing,鈥� she says.

A recent bit recounted Trav being ghosted by a guy with whom she had a romantic fling. 鈥淐omedy, for me, feels like a new relationship,鈥� Travaglini quips. 鈥淏ecause I鈥檓 always killing it.鈥�

Her interest in comedy came before philosophy, Travaglini says; though to hear her tell it is to think it鈥檚 almost a chicken-or-the-egg type thing. She describes herself as an 鈥渙ld soul philosopher type of kid鈥� who studied improv. She gravitated to sad stories, in part because they led to wry observations. 鈥淒ark things led me to comedy,鈥� she observes.

Philosophy and comedy are alike in that they both involve premises, she posits. 鈥淧unch lines are like conclusions,鈥� she says, 鈥渁lthough, conclusions are not as satisfying as a big laugh.鈥� A double major in art and philosophy who graduated summa cum laude, she is considering offers of admission to Temple and Villanova universities鈥� law schools. Philosopher-turned-comic-turned-lawyer鈥攊t鈥檚 quite a path.

鈥淎ll three disciplines involve solving problems using logic,鈥� she says. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 a problem-solver; that鈥檚 my strength.鈥�

Bill Horrigan 鈥�08 left 911爆料 with a B.A. in philosophy and the title of America鈥檚 funniest college student. In his senior year, he鈥檇 won the American Eagle Campus Comedy Challenge, beating out aspiring comics from 12 other campuses across the Northeast. At the time of his coronation, the king of campus comedy had been on stage only twice: to audition and to win the competition. It would鈥檝e been a happy ending had it ended there.

Horrigan鈥檚 prize was to open for a professional stand-up comic at a spring break event in Mexico hosted by American Eagle. The problem was the comedy show followed a rowdy wet T-shirt contest. Horrigan鈥檚 jokes failed.

鈥淚 was thrown to the wolves! The pain of the situation: I carry that with me every day. Everything else in life is relative to that moment,鈥� Horrigan says. 鈥淚 can laugh about it now. I can look back and say, 鈥楪od, that was bad.鈥欌��

Horrigan鈥檚 story highlights another point at which philosophy and comedy converge: pain. Comedy delves into the uncomfortable; it tackles taboos, Horrigan points out. There鈥檚 a burden and a heaviness that can come of abstract thought, and comedy alleviates those feelings.

In other words, acute perception can hurt acutely鈥攁nd be funny.

A lawyer who works as a contract manager in federal acquisitions for the United States Air Force, Horrigan, too, sees the connections between disciplines. There鈥檚 a structure to a case, and there鈥檚 a structure to a joke, he says. The end game is the same: 鈥淚t鈥檚 knowing the reaction you鈥檙e supposed to get, and crafting your argument and answer to elicit it.鈥�

Just over a year ago, Horrigan returned to the stage, doing a bit of improv at a local bar. He plans to do it again. Like Travaglini, Horrigan draws upon general human experience鈥斺�渢he problems of being a person鈥濃�攖o connect with an audience, whether that audience is a living room full of friends or a bar full of strangers.

鈥淗umor and deep thinking are doing the same thing: observing, analyzing, and coming up with answers,鈥� he says. 鈥淢y best memories of law school are not about getting the answer right. My greatest accomplishment was making the entire lecture hall laugh for a minute.鈥�

Douglass Reed 鈥�04, assistant professor in the Department of Philosophy, studied humor and philosophy for his senior project. It was then, he says, that he realized that the skills honed in philosophy could be applied to humor. If psychology seeks to explain what makes people laugh, philosophy addresses a more fundamental question: What is humor?

While an undergraduate, Reed and a friend hosted a radio show on WRIU called 鈥淭he Saturday Morning Show.鈥� It started at noon and ran till 2 p.m. The format: skits, music, and humor. They were just doing what they鈥檇 be doing if they were hanging out, Reed says. At the time, he imagined being a television comedy writer. A year after leaving school, though, Reed missed doing philosophy and returned to earn a master鈥檚 and a Ph.D.

Now he teaches ethics and ancient philosophy and is partial to Aristotle鈥檚 theory of humor: 鈥淗umor is to be found in the unexpected comparison.鈥� In other words, Reed says, one way in which philosophically minded people explore the world is by bringing disparate things together鈥攁nd in these juxtapositions, humor often lies. To Aristotle鈥檚 way of thinking, 鈥淭he true test of intelligence was the ability to make people laugh.鈥�

What underlies all this, Reed says, 鈥渋s a deep curiosity about what it is to be human.鈥�

Rachel Walshe 鈥�00, a lecturer in honors and theater and member of the philosophy department, argues that stand-up鈥檚 qualities鈥攊t鈥檚 difficult, direct, subversive and truthful鈥攎ake it akin to the 鈥減article physics of performing.鈥� Those are qualities she wants to pass on to her students, so she uses stand-up in her ethics classes.

鈥淚t鈥檚 the most progressive art form of the 21st century,鈥� she says. 鈥淭he audience has the experience of wanting to be provoked, secretly loving that someone will do that. Oscar Wilde wrote dark, hysterical comedies that poked fun at the people watching his plays. And what does a Ricky Gervais do? He dresses down and eviscerates the celebrity class as he鈥檚 performing for them. With a great stand-up comedian, you鈥檙e under fire.鈥�

This winter, Walshe directed the theatre department鈥檚 production of William Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淢easure For Measure,鈥� alternatively called a comedy, a tragedy, a tragicomedy, a satire, and an allegory by critics. Like the 2017 Oscar Award-winning movie 鈥淕et Out,鈥� it defies easy categorization as it simultaneously exposes hypocrisy and raises questions about morality鈥攚hile being darkly funny.

And in a culture held hostage to political correctness and fake news, comedy that provokes is essential, Walshe says. It removes the gauzy-lensed filter through which we would prefer to view life and forces us to confront truth.

鈥淐omedy cracks open鈥攚ith a sledgehammer鈥攐ur pearl-clutching response to the world,鈥� Walshe says.

Mic drop.