Humour in teenagers:  Experimentation and the transition to adult humour

• As they enter their teenage years, the ability of adolescents to reason about ideas and concepts without having to relate them to concrete objects or experiences gets stronger and more nuanced and this capacity allows them to play with ideas and concepts at a more abstract level – and find humour in jokes that involve complex word and image play. Overall, they get better at resolving complex jokes and take greater interest in producing and sharing their own.

• At the same time, as their language skills develop, teenagers begin to show an interest in a broader range of humour forms (e.g., puns, internet videos, cartoons, one-liners, narrative jokes, and different forms of stand-up comedy). This points to their greater openness of mind, tolerance for ambiguity, sensation seeking, intelligence and enjoyment of novelty and complexity. That’s why many teenagers like to test the waters with absurdist jokes or risqué humour.

 

Learning objectives

• Develop an appreciation and understanding of some of the basic mechanisms underlying the most common forms of humorous language play, using concrete examples (e.g., puns, one-liners, malapropisms, neologisms, backronyms, oxymorons, etc.). This objective deepens students’ understanding of polysemy (multiple word meanings) and forms of homophony (sound resemblances) that underlie many of these joke forms.

• Develop critical thinking skills by working on the ability to identify and describe logical flaws and common sense violations in common joke forms (i.e., jokes are little puzzles that need to be “solved”).

• Improve the ability describe, evaluate and rank the effectiveness or shortcomings of various joke forms (i.e., why some jokes fall flat while others are deemed very funny or clever).

 

Typical exercises and activities

• Writing original jokes based on the knowledge of common forms of language play (e.g., malapropisms, neologisms, etc.) using prepared source materials.

• Writing various types of pun using lists of key words.

• Comedy writing based on popular common forms (top ten lists, spoof or satiric headlines, short observational pieces, and single frame cartoons).

 

Did you know?

• There is a relationship between humour and intelligence and the former can help sharpen the latter. In his article “Humor: A Course Study for Gifted Learners,” Richard Shade argues that because much humour requires careful attention to and a deftness with language, gifted students are often particularly adept in the reading and production of humorous texts. He suggests that the close relationship between humour and creativity “allows an individual to ‘jump the track’ or ‘think outside the box’ more successfully” and to be more receptive to the kinds of risk taking and problem solving that bright students need if they are to feel intellectually challenged.