Bill Engvall

Bill Engvall

A lot of politically incorrect humor relates to the ideas of high and low.   Bill Engvall, for example, comes across as a seemingly half-witted southerner, but he comes across as funny when he makes random intelligent comments.   When we someone like Bill Engvall or Larry the Cable Guy performs, just based on his speaking-style and choice of attire, one forms the initial expectation that he would be stereotypical farm-boy hick.   However, as Engvall makes a comment on angles of incidence, the listener’s expectations are instantly shattered.   As such, I feel that all humor associated with highs and lows is a form of situational irony (difference between expectation and outcome).
There exist several counterclaims to this view.   One is that some of the humor Bill Engvall presents us with would be funny regardless of our expectation, and, therefore, is not related to situational irony.   For instance, Bill Engvall stated that he burned himself with a magnifying glass as a kid when an insect came upon his arm.   This, of course, is very funny because Bill Engvall is being, more or less, extremely stupid.   One could argue quite justifiably stupidity is inherently funny regardless of whether or not you expect to see stupidity.   Others could argue that meeting expectations advances, not diminishes, humor.   For instance, seeing people who fit stereotypes perfectly can often be really humorous.   Russell Peters, an Indian-Canadian stand-up comedian, gains his laughs from imitating stereotypes from different countries, the most popular of which are Indian and Chinese stereotypes (I know this from seeing him personally, no citation needed).   Lastly, we may laugh at those who go from high to low because of our newly acquired superiority over them.   For instance, in The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, Junot Díaz creates a tragically and comedic character out of Oscar by making him go from a pimply child to a loser adult.   The author’s general tone does not shift between these...