A Formal Approach to Comedy: How Bo Burnham Makes Jokes Funny Through Math
Author
Bech, Christian Suhr
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2020
Submitted on
2020-01-02
Pages
63
Abstract
Specialet undersøger en formel, kvalitativ måde at forklare, hvor og hvordan komik opstår. Det kombinerer idéer fra matematik (mængde- og funktionsteori), formel semantik (modelteori), Grices Cooperative Principle og samtalemaksimer samt Austins teori om performativer (ytringer der udfører en handling). Tilgangen afprøves på jokes fra Bo Burnhams komikshows "what" (2013) og "Make Happy" (2016) med fire jokes som data. Metoden har fire trin: (1) tildel én eller flere komiske kategorier til hver joke; (2) opbyg en ontologi—en organiseret liste over de personer, objekter og handlinger der indgår—i overensstemmelse med den modelteori, der beskrives i den formelle semantik; (3) identificér og klassificér performativer, dvs. ytringer der gør noget; og (4) analysér udtalers intention og betydning med Grices princip og maksimer. Resultaterne viser, at tilgangen hjælper med at kortlægge de centrale elementer i en joke—fra komikerens ord og bevægelser til skift i lys og musik—og hvordan Burnham kombinerer dem for at skabe humor. Formel semantik beskriver, hvem der optræder i joken, og hvad de gør; Grices ramme hjælper med at udlede den tilsigtede betydning af det, der sker på scenen; og Austins performativer supplerer analysen. Tilgangen har begrænsninger. Den vil have gavn af klarere kriterier for, hvad der tæller som en vellykket performativ, og en mere præcis modelteori, især funktionen der forbinder udtryk i objektsproget med betydninger i metasproget. Fordi studiet er kvalitativt og bygger på kun fire jokes fra en begrænset del af Burnhams arbejde, kan det ikke endeligt fastslå hans komiske type (hvilke slags jokes han laver) eller komiske kraft (indholdet i jokes). En bredere, kvantitativ analyse af hele Burnhams produktion anbefales for at nå mere sikre konklusioner.
This thesis proposes a formal, qualitative way to explain where and how comedy arises. It combines ideas from mathematics (set and function theory), formal semantics (model theory), Grice’s Cooperative Principle and conversational maxims, and Austin’s theory of performatives (speech acts that perform an action). The approach is tested on jokes from Bo Burnham’s comedy shows "what" (2013) and "Make Happy" (2016), using four jokes as data. The method has four steps: (1) assign one or more comedic categories to each joke; (2) build an ontology—an organized list of the people, objects, and actions involved—following the model theory described in formal semantics; (3) identify and classify performatives, i.e., utterances that do something; and (4) analyze the utterer’s intention and meaning using Grice’s principle and maxims. Findings show that the approach helps map the key elements of a joke—from the comedian’s words and movements to changes in lights and music—and how Burnham combines them to create humor. Formal semantics describes who appears in the joke and what they do; Grice’s framework helps infer the intended meaning of what happens on stage; and Austin’s performatives complement the analysis. The approach has limits. It would benefit from clearer criteria for what counts as a successful performative and a more precise model theory, especially the function that links expressions in the object language to meanings in the meta-language. Because the study is qualitative and draws on only four jokes from a limited part of Burnham’s work, it cannot definitively state his comedic type (the kinds of jokes he makes) or comedic force (the substance of the jokes). A broader, quantitative analysis of all of Burnham’s work is recommended to reach firmer conclusions.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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