Humour isn’t only about fun and games. A lot of it is really about the opposite. In researching satire engagement, I’ve come to realise not only that it is one of our main ways of coping with problems, on an emotional level, but that it is a way for us to dare, or have the strength, to feel anything at all, and to realise other feel the same way we do. This may seem like a bit of a paradox, as humour creates distance too – but perhaps it’s a bit more complicated – perhaps humour is a way of calibrating our feelings.

Continue reading →