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FilmWeek

Comedy lovers try to crack the connection between misery and hilarity

NEW YORK, NY - APRIL 22:  (L-R) Jim Norton, Lewis Black and Kevin Pollak speak onstage at 'Tribeca Talks after the Movie: Misery Loves Comedy' during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater on April 22, 2015 in New York City.  (Photo by Rommel Demano/Getty Images for the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival)
(L-R) Jim Norton, Lewis Black and Kevin Pollak speak onstage at 'Tribeca Talks after the Movie: Misery Loves Comedy' during the 2015 Tribeca Film Festival at SVA Theater on April 22, 2015 in New York City.
(
Rommel Demano
)
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Comedy lovers try to crack the connection between misery and hilarity

The new documentary "Misery Loves Comedy," featuring a long list of funny people such as Janeane Garofalo and Christopher Guest, explores the oft-debated idea that comics are depressives who have led unhappy lives.

Take Larry David, for example - the beloved creator of “Seinfeld” and “Curb Your Enthusiasm”. David's personality is famously discontented, pessimistic, and side-splitting. So to know that he's described as a comic's comic indicates what a dark bunch of fools dedicate themselves to making people laugh.

Joel Warner studied comics for his recent book, "The Humor Code." Warner says personality tests conducted on comics shows they are no more sad nor more happy the rest of humanity.

Do you see a connection between misery and comedy? Assuming you're funny, what inspires your humor?

Guests:

Jamie Masada, Founder and Owner, The Laugh Factory

Joel Warner, Co-Author, "The Humor Code: A Global Search for What Makes Things Funny." (2015; Simon & Schuster)