Response to lead blogger Katherine

In Katherine's blog post she evaluates the superiority theory from a new perspective. Much of what we have looked at thus far is how these theories can relate to some of our favorite shows and online videos. However, in Katherine's blog post she relates the superiority theory to one of her favorite comedians, Jim Gaffigan. In this blog post, she evaluates this comedian's sense of humor and relates it to what we have discussed in class.

   

In the superiority theory, it is understood that we often times laugh at the misfortunes of others (Lippitt 1). Thomas Hobbes says that “We laugh for the position of power, laughter is a feeling of love, hate, and guilt” (Lippitt 2). Relating this back to one of Katherines main points she says that the comedian, Jim Gaffigan is able to make jokes about himself. In the reading “Humor and Superiority” by John Lippitt one of the major critiques of Hobbes claim is that we as humans are not able to laugh at ourselves. This definitely contradicts what Katherine says in her blog post and the acts of comedy Jim Gaffigan performs in his shows. I feel this is an interesting point to bring up because from reading Katherine's post it can be seen that this also denies Hobbes claim.

Another claim that Katherine makes in her post is that not only is Jim Gaffigan able to laugh at himself but he also makes jokes that are easily relatable to other individuals. In Katherine's blog post she says, “In almost every single set, he talks to the audience about the daily stresses parenting, eating junk food, and of course laziness in general”. Many of these topics are universal and I can see why many other Americans would find this type of humor relatable.

Overall I think that Katherine did a good job in her post evaluating the superiority theory from a new perspective. Through her examples of the different types of comedy that Jim Gaffigan uses it is clear that his objectives in his shows clearly demonstrate many characteristics of the superiority theory.