Henri Bergson’s essay On Laughter originally appeared in a series of three articles in one of the leading magazines in France, the Revue de Paris. “This will account for the relatively simple form of the work and the comparative absence of technical terms. It will also explain why the author has confined himself to exposing and illustrating his novel theory of the comic without entering into a detailed discussion of other explanations already in the field. He none the less indicates, when discussing sundry examples, why the principal theories, to which they have given rise, appear to him inadequate. To quote only a few, one may mention those based on contrast, exaggeration, and degradation.”
Since I write comedies, this essay is something I turn to repeatedly. I’m especially fascinated by Bergson’s claim that laughter cannot be accompanied by emotion.
“Doubtless a fall is always a fall, but it is one thing to tumble into a well because you were looking anywhere but in front of you, it is quite another thing to fall into it because you were intent upon a star.”