COMEDY

132 LAUGHTER‘laughter naturally results when consciousness is unawares transferredfrom great things to small’, when an anticipated sequence of thoughts isbathetically interrupted with the result that the accumulated nervousenergy of one emotion now needs to be to be re-channelled andprovided with an alternative outlet (Spencer, 1860: 400). Spencerimagines internal channels along which nervous energy flows. Thegrander or more serious the emotion, the more the channels dilate. If asequence of ideas were to then take a ludicrous turn, the channelsbecome restricted and the surplus of energy expends itself: ‘the excessmust therefore discharge itself in some other direction; and…thereresults an efflux through the motor nerves to various classes of themuscles, producing the half convulsive actions we call laughter’(Spencer, 1860: 400). Laughter, then, is always the product of alowering of anticipated ideas, although these can have healthful effects:‘The heart and stomach must come in for a fair share of discharge’, headds, ‘And thus there seems to be a good physiological basis forthe popular notion that laughter facilitates the digestion’ (Spencer, 1860:401).While Spencer’s hydraulic explanation of laughter may not have agedwell, it is worth considering for its influence on Freud’s analysis of thequestion in his 1905 study, Jokes and Their Relation to theUnconscious. Freud’s theory is in general agreement with Spencer’smodel of laughter as redirected internal energy, although he modifies itbeyond a biological explanation and explains the need for energeticredirection as the circumvention of internal prohibitions put in place bythe superego. Jokes in Freud can be used as a means of making publicstatements about taboo topics: ‘a purpose being satisfied whosesatisfaction would otherwise not have taken place’ (Freud, 2001:117).Freud’s discussion of laughter occurs within the context of laughter as aresponse to jokes only, and two types of joke in particular that heidentifies as ‘innocent’ and ‘tendentious’. The innocent joke isessentially a pun or word game and appeals because of its technique andformal qualities, its play on words or transposition of concepts, as inFreud’s example: ‘Not only did he not believe in ghosts; he wasn’t evenfrightened of them’ (Freud, 2001:92). As for the tendentious joke, saysFreud, ‘there are only two purposes that it may serve, and these two canthemselves be subsumed under a single heading. It is either a hostilejoke (serving the purpose of aggressiveness, satire, or defence), or anobscene joke (serving the purpose of exposure)’ (Freud, 2001:97). Theneed for these jokes is a response to social expectations, as the norms ofetiquette usually prevent us from directly insulting others or broaching