Slapstick - why is it universally funny to watch people falling over

[likelysuspect]

Watching a documentary about early film, things like Charlie Chaplin and the Keystone Cops, that sort of thing

Lots of slapstick obviously involves people just falling over, tripping over, falling into each other. Timeless.

Why is it so funny?

I even make myself laugh when I trip up on something?

I hate it. Things like "You've been framed ' (in its original format rather than the staged for money latter version) makes me cringe for the person/concerned for them. Can't stand it slapstick or silly like that.

cause it's just funny lol 😂

It isn't funny and never has been.

I don't find that sort of thing at all funny.

People coming a cropper and hurting themselves is not funny.

Aw, almost everyone is taking the wind out of your sails and telljng you it isnt funny! I guess there's a hard divide between those who find it hilarious and those who just find it horrible. I do find it funny but don't even understand why, I genuinely can't help it (although not if the person looks hurt or sad as that's never funny to me). I suppose all.comedy is a bit like that - cringeworthy and dull if it's not your bag. But as to why it's funny, I'm not sure - perhaps the unexpected element of a fall? Some people enjoy watching the type of comedy in films where things go endlessly wrong but I find that stressful and upsetting. If you slip on a banana skin in an amusing way I will.laugh though!

Absolutely not funny. People falling and injuring themselves isn't something to laugh about.

It never fails on me OP - the point of slapstick is that it is unfortunate but not life threatening. Ridiculous falls and accidents that come in this category. I am alarmingly clumsy and find my own falls funny too. Dogs pulling owners over is always fun too. It might be a maturity issue!

It’s not, I don’t like it personally

Ooohhh betty 🤭

It's one thing watching slapstick that's been set up with the falls managed carefully and you know no-one is actually hurt. People whose first instinct is to laugh when someone falls in the street or walks into something or whatever have something seriously wrong with them.

I find physical comedy and some slapstick absolutely hilarious and I don’t even know why. It just sets me off, I’ll
cry laughing sometimes, if something really sets me off.

No judgement. I'm happy for you to love it. It genuinely does nothing for me.

Obvious slapstick makes me laugh.

Those videos where someone falls down the stairs or comes off their bike or slips on ice, I dont find funny. That may be because ive had a life altering fall so im happy to take on board my bias about it. Although a couple of people did find it funny when ot happened despite all the blood etc so people find funny in the weirdest of things.

I always thought Charlie Chaplin was really unfunny sorry. I don’t like cringey comedy though. Watching The Office was physically painful, I couldn’t sit still.

It's funny when people aren't hurt badly.

There's a theory that laughter is a way of diffusing tension and signalling that it's ok. Hence nervous laughter in a potentially aggressive encounter to signal you aren't a threat, awkward laughter in a tense or stressful situation, laughter when someone falls down a flight of stairs but doesn't die.

That's probably over analysing why a pan falling on a table and covering himself in custard pies is funny. But I guess it explains why it's universal.

Or like babies when you disappear by covering your face so they get slightly worried but when you come back they find it absolutely hilarious. It's a strange new thing about the world that has the potential to be scary but turns out not to be so it's just surprising and funny.

Different people find different things funny. Like some pp, I don't find slapstick funny, whether it's professional comedians on tv or in film; members of the public in You've Been Framed style shows or seeing people trip over in real life.

But there are books, films and tv programmes that I find very funny which I am sure would do absolutely nothing for plenty of other people (although I would struggle to understand how anyone couldn't find some of Count Binface's answers to recent interview questions very funny).

The world would be a boring place if we all liked the same things.

It’s not my kind of humour. Not at all. But different strokes for different folks 😁

Categorically not funny. You’ve Been Framed makes me wince and I couldn’t watch Jackass at all. The guys from that ended up with horrendous long term injuries/painkiller addictions. People hurting themselves just isn’t funny to me. Surely you would have to have an empathy bypass to laugh at someone’s misfortune? Also what about not encouraging shows that fill up A+E with head injuries, broken bones etc? All for the chance to get £250.

Schadenfreude.

That said, I still love Del Boy falling though the bar.

Beat me to it. That scene is an absolute classic. There’s a very funny one in one of the Pink Panther films as well, where Clouseau tries to show off on parallel bars.

I don’t find You’ve Been Framed funny though. There has to be some context for slapstick, not just someone slipping over or being hit in the face by a swing.

Neither do I.

I thought it was just me. I didn't even smile once watching The Office. How on earth anyone can find that funny is beyond me. It was uncomfortably bad as you say.

i have never found slapstick funny. There are a lot of so called comedy shows that I just don’t find funny.