Research Week

      So this past week has been pretty research heavy, but I think I really needed to take the time to sit down and figure some things out. I started learning about how humor develops in children and what people think is funny. As it turns out, theres no good way to define what people think is funny, it varies from culture to culture, between languages, it depends on your upbringing and simply your taste. However a recognition of humor is something that every person is born with. Within one week of being born, babies smile for the first time and by four months of age we all were laughing. Laughter is unconscience, and forced laughter is often difficult to produce, as we all know.
      From my experience at the carnival I learned that the age of the child you're talking to matter so much! Any one under 10 didn't think my riddles were funny at all but when I hit myself with my juggling balls, now that was just hilarious. As it turns out, preschoolers to middle elementary aged kids are still learning to process words and double meanings, so riddles really mean nothing to them. They will be more amused by physical humor and rhymes, twisting of sounds and goofy words repeated over and over. By later elementary age to middle school the play on words in riddles becomes more amusing and as children as learning to create jokes themselves and expanding their vocabulary, riddles become more natural to them. By high school, people are entertained by situational humor. People tell stories and often laugh at the surprising outcome or the unexpected twist.While riddles still can be funny, they are often met with groans.
      When trying to be funny you have to understand the time and the place to employ the humor as well as have good timing. You can't be afraid to laugh at yourself and trust your innate sense of humor, after all we are born with the ability to laugh. You should draw from what you already know to be funny, but also broaden your horizons and test out different types of humor that you aren't always comfortable with. Think silly and focus on the benfits of being a goofball.
      This research helps me get a better of idea of how to be entertaining to all different age groups, although my primary focus is on younger children. I want to keep persuing this line of research because I think it is a key piece to my project, I won't be a very good clown if I'm not funny.  This week I also researched some different sites with videos and written out instructions on how to make sword balloons because I popped so many of them at the carnival and I need to practice before my next event!