Joking Matter: Philosophical Thoughts On Joking Matters

THE ONLY SUBJECTS worth joking about, said G. K. Chesterton, are serious subjects--like being married. On that score, religion should be a rich source of jokes--provided you take it seriously. Chesterton's theory helps explain why so many of the jokes and cartoons that cross our desks at the CENTURY are not amusing: they don't take religion seriously enough. Most seem to regard the church as the venue of juvenile cuteness and the home of long-winded, money-hungry buffoons. If that's the assumption, then there's nothing to joke about. Humor arises only in the tension between the sublime and the ridiculous, the serious and the profane.

Shared assumptions are crucial to all jokes. As Ted Cohen points out in his "philosophical thoughts on joking matters," jokes begin "with an implicit acknowledgment of a shared background," and this commonality sets up the satisfactions of a shared response.

Consider the assumption in this old minister-goes-golfing joke:

A minister woke up on a beautiful Sunday morning and decided to squeeze in a round of golf before services. St. Peter observed the man headed for the golf course and gave God a nudge. "He should be punished for this." God said, "OK, just watch."

The minister proceeded to play the best golf of his life. His club selection was precise, and he hit every shot perfectly. He was shooting par for the first time. "I thought you were going to punish him," said St. Peter. "Just watch," said God.

The minister continued to play flawless golf, and on the 18th hole he shot a hole-in-one. "What kind of punishment is this?" complained St. Peter. "Just think about it," said God. "Whom can he tell?"The minister continued to play flawless golf, and on the 18th hole he shot a hole-in-one. "What kind of punishment is this?" complained St. Peter. "Just think about it," said God. "Whom can he tell?"

I recall this joke as very successful, but I suspect it no longer works as well as it did because the assumptions don't hold. The joke assumes that it is scandalous for a minister to play golf on Sunday morning, and that he would naturally want to conceal his activity. But reverence for the Sabbath and expectations of pastoral piety have waned. Now the minister's pre-service outing is rather unremarkable, and might be regarded as a healthy bit of stress management. Whom couldn't he tell?

When we laugh at the same thing, Cohen says, it confirms that we share not only the same assumptions but the same feelings about the world. Laughing together satisfies a deep human longing for intimacy.

The intimacy-fostering element of jokes explains why many public speakers, including preachers, like to begin with a few jokes. Their aim is not so much to loosen up the crowd as to establish a connection with the audience. The tactic can backfire, however, if the jokes are so bad or so generic as to reveal that the speaker and listener do not share a particular set of assumptions. - Adapted from Christian Century