THE SENSE OF HUMOUR

Hutt News, Volume 1, Issue 32, 17 January 1929, Page 10

THE SENSE OF HUMOUR

1' Surely the gates of Heaven stand wide for the makers of jokes as well as the singers of psalms,' ' is the eoueluding sentence of Katherine M. Wilson's article in the "Contemporary Review" on "The Sense of Humour." She says in the course of her contribution:—

'' Things are not funny in themselves, only as we think them so; humour depends more 6n anv attitude. of mind than on something intrinsically ludicrous in the thing or situation, And it is not an emotion so much as a point of view; the expression 'a sense of humour' recognises this, for we do not talk of a sese of love. People with a sense of humour easily lift feelings. or experiences on to the plane where nothing has any consequence and everything provokes mental sunshine. The humour lies precisely in not taking the situation seriously. In comedy we look at life from an altitude where things seem too trivial to hurt, and, indeed, delight us the more they are awry.

."All humorous * situations are disagreeable taken seriously. Very few disagreeable situations cannot become humourous, perhaps none. It is out of these that humour grows. When circumstances become too much for us, as we reach breaking point, the humour of the situation often strikes us; our overwrought emotions ; escape into, the land where nothing can "hurt. It is not that the tangle we struggle in takes a funny turn, but that we cannot bear it liny longer and must find some way out. We find that way by suddenly thinking the whole thing funny.

'' We say the funny side' struck us, but it was we who made it seem funny. The tragic laugh of melo-dramatic fiction comes from very good psychology. If we could not find this way out, we should succumb to the trouble. By this sense of humour people come unhurt through calamities that would, hurt them otherwise, and the memory of their suffering does not sadden their lives as it may gloom over a solemn sufferer.

'' The apparently idiotic laughter that sometimes bursts out in a theatre "when the strain of a tragedy pulls tightest, possibly has this origin; someone is using the emergency ladder to step down 'from the sublime. Many jokes arise from a shock to our reason, or when our expectations are suddenly completely upset. Practically everyone laughs at these jokes; their sanity depends on it.

"John Bull, who once preserved himself against the stranger by heaving a brick-, now laughs. And so with minor disappointments and discomforts. Why should it tickle our humour to come out with a 'duck,' or when our mighty swing leaves the ball still on its i.cc? A great effort giving a small result does not account for. out mirth, and though we- may enjoy seeing others make fools of themselves, most hum 3urpus pepple laugh at their own follies. The humour turns aside the humiliation, and the humourous man enjoys