ABSTRACT
Laughter is a form of threatening behavior. A baring of teeth, a shortening of the breath, and a rapid spasm of the diaphragm are accompanied by a sort of baying noise. To a comedy writer, one of the most interesting and important expressions of tribal group emotion is laughter, and what follows is a lecture on this subject to an audience of about four hundred people at the Royal Institution in London. The comedy is an essential—as that advice also illustrates—for the audience to be focused on, and to accept, the performer or performers. Henry Bergson in his essay on laughter tells the story of a church where the priest was preaching such a moving sermon that everyone was weeping. The threatening, stupid, funny behavior teaches a lesson, the lesson stimulates laughter, the laughter reinforces the group's unity, and the group's unity reinforces the lesson.
