Sometime back, during some random readings, I had come across a concept called ” pattern interrupt ” and the analogy used to explain the term was of the ‘ elevator pitch ‘. The typical elevator pitch is all about ‘ I, me, myself ‘ where one is doing one’s best to articulate an idea or thought to the person willing(or is it?) to give you an ear for the next 30-45 seconds. The pattern interrupt on that runs counter to what convention has established as an elevator pitch. It turns the concept on its head and crafts the elevator pitch being about the other person and not you. And potentially, leaving you with an open door to re-connect and re-engage with that person well after the elevator doors have closed, metaphorically speaking!
Humour is a pattern-switching process. A joke is funny because it causes ‘ insight switchover ‘ from a familiar pattern to a new, unexpected one. And it is this moment of surprise and delight that triggers laughter.
Sometime back a joke that launched an artistic revolution was Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain. It went on to become one of the most influential works of the twentieth century. For a six dollar fee, any artist could submit their work to an exhibition held by the Society of Independent Artists. For a joke, Duchamp submitted a porcelain urinal that he’s bought from a New York plumbing supplier, signed it R MUTT 1917(the maker’s name) and titled it Fountain. Not surprisingly, the piece was never exhibited, the curator refused to display it- but its submission caused an uproar. Was it art or not? The Fountain was thrown away. Forgotten. A photograph was the only record of the original object. The key to its success was that the photo was reproduced in an avant-garde art magazine with an accompanying article that eloquently explained the concept of ‘ ready-made ‘. It started the ball rolling. The reputation of Fountain grew. It was repeatedly reproduced in art magazines and books. Collectors clamoured to buy it because of its fame, so Duchamp decided to remake it. There was a problem though: the manufacturer had stopped producing them. Duchamp had to hire craftsmen to make an exact replica from the photograph ‘ by hand ‘- a delicious irony!
( Marcel Duchamp Fountain, 1917, photograph by Alfred Stieglitz at 291 art gallery following the 1917 Society of Independent Artists exhibit, with entry tag visible. The backdrop is The Warriors by Marsden Hartley. )
The format of a conventional joke is that the listener is led down a familiar, ‘reasonable‘ pathway. While they are travelling down this familiar road, the punchline suddenly shifts them onto an unexpected, different sidetrack. Creativity is about producing the unexpected and seeing things from a new perspective. Humour can be instrumental in shifting that expectation.
It hardly helps that our society believes that if you’re having fun then you can’t be getting the job done. Rather than being weighed down by a serious mindset, what we really need is humour. Humour is a key that opens the door to subversive and counter-intuitive thinking.
” Only those who are capable of silliness can be called truly intelligent “- Christopher Isherwood