Laughter makes you happier. It releases chemicals like dopamine and oxytocin into the brain. These chemicals enhance your motivation and attention. But in writing, the tension in a scene can lessen with a good quip. It also can emphasize the hilarity of certain situations. However, different types of humor have contrasting effects on an audience.
The Types of Humor
There are two common types of comedy, cheerful and pessimistic. Cheerful comedy is having a light-hearted outlook on challenges and the oddities of daily life. This humor is what most people (and characters) use throughout their lives. People who use jolly jokes have a healthy coping mechanism. Writers use this wit to make their audience laugh during an intense or sad scene. An example of a character that uses this humor is Percy Jackson from Percy Jackson and the Olympians and Heroes of Olympus. Percy uses sarcasm to make light of the awful situations he is in.
However, there is also pessimistic humor. This humor is when a person makes awful jokes about themselves or others. Some people use this humor, but it is an unfavorable coping mechanism. It leaves the people around them uncomfortable. However, some writers use this type of humor with their audience to emphasize a point. An example of a character would be the Joker. While the Joker does not make fun of himself, he does make fun of others and leaves them in hurtful situations. In Joker, Arthur Fleck (or Joker) blames society and cruelly makes fun of it. The audience feels pity and upset about what happened to him.
Humor Makes Things Better
Humor is remarkable because it can make some situations better. Some people use humor to cope with trauma or defuse a tense situation. Additionally, this use of humor shows people who use it are not the only ones going through bad times.
In writing, humor is used for the same reasons. Characters use humor to make others laugh or to help themselves through situations. The audience gains the most from it because being light-hearted breaks a stressful scene. An example of this is Tony Stark (or Iron Man). Tony uses a lot of wit and sarcasm that breaks up the tension for the audience.
Many characters give a humorous outlook on situations. The audience can see themselves in that character and know they are not alone. But humor is crucial to a story because it provides hope in a hopeless situation.
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