Posted on 01/15/2014 11:32:55 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Having an unusual personality structure could be the secret to making other people laugh, scientists said on Thursday after research showed that comedians have high levels of psychotic personality traits.
In a study in the British Journal of Psychiatry, researchers analyzed comedians from Australia, Britain and the United States and found they scored significantly higher on four types of psychotic characteristics compared to a control group of people who had non-creative jobs.
The traits included a tendency towards impulsive or anti-social behavior, and a tendency to avoid intimacy.
"The creative elements needed to produce humor are strikingly similar to those characterizing the cognitive style of people with psychosis - both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder," said Gordon Claridge of the University of Oxford's department of experimental psychology, who led the study....
(Excerpt) Read more at ca.news.yahoo.com ...
It seems like a lot of comedians get into stand up as a sort of therapy. Not all of them, but quite a few. Billy Connolly comes to mind. Hilarious comedian, but goodness what a miserable childhood that man had.
Tears of a clown.
Think of the “funny” people you know in real life (every family/office/classroom has its cut up). Now really think about they person...from my experience it’s easier to be the one laughed WITH than laughed AT. Defense mechanism :-/
My observation has been that many comics exhibit a Jeckle/Hyde type scenario.
In person: quiet, brooding, socially inept
On stage: gregarious, relaxed etc
It’s fascinating to witness in person.
Having spent roughly 30 years in that world I would say that most comedians are: fairly bright, introverted and often painfully shy offstage, very aware of incongruities in their world. needy for approval, unable to maintain lasting relationships, prone to daydreaming, and not all that creative. They tend to copy what they have seen work for others.
Of course there are exceptions to this. Your mileage may vary.
At this point in American history — with psychology being bent to Administration and government needs, much like the Soviet Union — I no longer trust one single thing the psychs say.
Seaman 1st Class Rickles (WWII) is one of the exceptions in my opinion.
“I shouldn’t make fun of the blacks,” Rickles said, and then proceeded to do just that: “President Obama is a personal friend of mine. He was over to the house yesterday, but the mop broke.”
The black-tie crowd, gathered to celebrate MacLaine, the 40th recipient of the AFI’s Life Achievement Award, alternately gasped at the 86-year-old comic’s put-downs and then found themselves laughing and applauding...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/don-rickles-president-obama-shirley-maclaine-335308
Only Rickles gets away with roasting the Hollywierdos regardless of PCness.
Jonathan Winters immediately comes to mind.
This is my ex. Just wow.
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