A Philosophy of Comedy on Stage and Screen: You Have to be There

As far as we know only human beings have a sense of humour - although chimps might laugh when tickled and dogs respond similarly in play Seth McFarlane's fan-base is comprised exclusively of humans. Whilst animals and robots might feature as prominent characters in our favourite comic movies shows and stand-up routines we have no reason to suspect that their real-life brethren get the joke. Drawing on the philosophy of Martin Heidegger Shaun May attempts to address this issue - suggesting that there is something distinctive about human beings which grounds our ability to make and comprehend jokes. Guiding the reader through a range of examples including the films of Charlie Chaplin the stand-up of Francesca Martinez the TV show Family Guy and Samuel Beckett's Endgame he demonstrates that in order to get the joke you have to 'be there'.