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Humour is everywhere in art, points out Marie Brennan, and perhaps it deserves more respect than we give it.

Four giant puppets
Giant puppet swings child in it's arms

Humour is something that can be found in any artform, and any genre within an artform. Take film, for example: we can find humour just about anywhere, from Bollywood to Hollywood: romance, science fiction, and even disaster movies or westerns, they can all be created in such a way as to make us laugh (whether deliberately or not).

But the issue of humour as artistic content is not a straightforward one. Although many of us find humour in art, giggling in the gallery is not normally considered to be good behaviour. Culturally, we have been conditioned to worship at the altar of the Artist, in quiet reverence and awe. The Romantic idea of artists as sensitive beings who feel the pain of society more acutely than their less creative counterparts, still exists. The tragic, the wretched, the serious are highlighted, alongside injustice and inequality. There is a need for art to deliver messages to help us understand our own plight and empathise with that of others. But should these topics always be handled without humour?

Mind and body

Humour in art has an effect on the body. It creates a physical reaction (shaking shoulders, lifted diaphragms, wide open mouths, tears, reddening of the cheeks, and so on) that is often involuntary, reaching deep into our psyche. This is something the surrealists of the 1920s and pop artists of the 1960s were aware of as they worked to free our oppressed consciences. The idea that humour affects our bodies more than our minds is probably why comedy is seen as being less ‘worthy’ than more serious artforms. If a work makes us giggle, it is often ignored in terms of serious critical debate. Yet humour within art has immense power to unite communities. It appeals to both our intellects and our bodies – it makes us feel good.

Leicester Comedy Festival’s scheme ‘Hurt Until It Laughs’ uses comedy to address men’s health issues. People learn through laughter, in settings that have an increased informality due to the injection of humour. Community engagement in creativity can be more effective using humour: people can feel light, free and happy. Humour offers a way to help people find a voice and have a good laugh to boot. If handled well, it can reach
beyond the usual package of participatory arts projects, and really engage and empower people. Once you have had a laugh about something, it isn’t scary any more.

Truth and beauty

In order to understand humour in art, there are important spiritual matters to ponder: the tragic is universal; death, destruction, war, lost love, exploitation, pain and sorrow are familiar the world over. However, comedy is more culturally specific, class specific and even geographically specific, and does not always travel well. For example, satirical art works may deal with universal issues, but they will not necessarily find a universal audience. I really struggle with the common perception that beauty can be tragic, but that humour cannot be beautiful. Is there some deep psychological issue here? How many times have we heard that beautiful women cannot tell jokes? Perhaps a cocktail of humour and beauty create mixed messages with regard to sexuality, or maybe we like to admire beauty in a different way from wit, satire and silliness.

Humans are capable of being moved by art works in different ways. We can be moved to tears by beautiful music, feel fear and relief when we see circus acts, split our sides with laughter at comic performance or recognition of ourselves within caricature. The cathartic elements of the arts are well known, and are important in helping us healthily release blocked emotions. But is crying perhaps seen as ‘purer’ than laughing? [[The idea that humour affects our bodies more than our minds is probably why comedy is seen as being less 'worthy' than more serious artforms.]]

Laughter in the streets

Street theatre, spectacle and circus are key artforms that use humour to unite communities, launch festivals and create a shared experience that audiences of thousands can enjoy. It shows how ‘something funny’ can reach out to audiences diverse in age, gender, culture and class by allowing the humour to be interpreted freely by anyone. Bui Bolg is a street theatre company based in Wexford, in the South East of Ireland. It works with beautiful giant inflatables, and also creates giant puppets who are often modelled on Irish stereotypes and caricatures. These are extremely popular in Singapore, even though the way the humour is received there is different to the way it is received by audiences in the UK and Ireland. Colm Lowney, Artistic Director of Bui Bolg, said, “People in Singapore often see our work as frightening at first. Often the humour comes out of people’s initial shock reaction or embarrassment. In terms of comedy, there is a difference from country to country. Irish people may recognise a caricature and say that it reminds them of someone they know, like a family member, but this may not happen in other locations. In Singapore, the reaction can be different from person to person – surprise, astonishment, and probably some people wondering what it was all about as we catch people unawares.”

To include humour in any artform requires creative skill, an understanding of cultural mores, a critical eye for current affairs and respect for the audience. All in all, this is a difficult recipe to perfect. The Guardian newspaper’s ‘The Blog’ last August featured a debate about the role of comedy in art. One respondent, known as ‘curius’, has hit the nail on the head: “Maybe the reason for so little humour in art is that it’s a lot easier to create serious art than to create art which shows a truly great sense of humour.”

Marie Brennan runs Glasshouse, a Kilkenny-based consultancy firm working across Ireland and the UK in arts, cultural policy
development, heritage, sport and leisure.
t: 00 353 59 977 5900;
e: info@glasshouse.ie
w: http://www.glasshouseireland@mac.com

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