Digital networks teem with jokes, satirical videos and memes about everything — from politics to the absurdities of new world cultures. Humour is a coping mechanism that can balance out overwhelming circumstances, neutralise aggression and heal relationships. It is also a means of expressing a criticism of society that escapes social or legal restrictions.

The court jester could get away with saying things that an ordinary critic would be beheaded for. With the end of traditional kingships, the court jester transformed into the stand-up comic, holding the mirror to society’s weaknesses.

Dark “gallows humour”, coined by the Germans during the 1848 revolution for the persecution of liberals is, as Antonin Obrdlik says, “an index of strength or morale on the part of oppressed peoples.” Humour can be used as a weapon for mass resistance. The Italians used the slogan “Una risata vi seppellirà” during protests against the Ancien regime, which translates as: “It will be a laugh that buries you.” Telling jokes was made illegal by the Nazis and a person could be sent to concentration camps or even executed.

However, most humour is joyous and intended to elevate the spirits. Theorist Martin Armstrong, who wrote about the function of laughter in society, said, “For a few moments, under the spell of laughter, the whole man is completely and gloriously alive: body, mind and soul vibrate in unison… the mind flings open its doors and windows… its foul and secret places are ventilated and sweetened.”

Comedy is a billion dollar industry from sitcoms, to stand up comic theatre, comic strips and newspaper cartoonists.

Laughter seems to be a fundamental human experience. Infants begin to laugh in response to actions of others from four months on. Laughter is a universal expression, which sounds the same from one culture to another. It creates a sense of well-being and exultation and what Thomas Hobbes called “sudden glory”. Laughter can be infectious even when there is no cause for laughter. And has become a form of therapy.

Comedy is a billion dollar industry from sitcoms, to standup comic theatre, comic strips and newspaper cartoonists. Being able to tell a joke, garners attention, makes speeches more memorable and is an effective tool in advertising. Sociologists get valuable insights of a society through how humour is used. The Lahore based ’70s comedy programme Such Gup can be seen as a reflection of a society in transition to sophisticated urbanism.

Unlike ordinary humour, wit is an intellectually acquired art that has barely survived into the 20th century. One of the reasons may be that wit is dependent upon a refined use of language, its nuances, ambiguities and potential for double meaning.

In Pakistan, comedy faded out of television dramas in the ’90s. This was possibly partly due to the sobering impact of regional wars and their aftermath in Pakistani society, including the influx of religious extremists. But it was also arguably with the demise of elegant Urdu, so beautifully expressed by Agha Nasir’s Taleem-i-Baalighan, Jamshed Ansari’s Hasnat Bhai, Kamal Ahmed Rizvi’s Alif Noon, Athar Shah Khan’s Jaydee, Anwar Maqsood and Shoaib Mansoor’s Fifty Fifty, and the more recent Loose Talk and the Grips theatre of Imran Aslam… to name a few. Mushtaq Yusufi was the last in a line of witty writers and poets from the subtle humour of Ghalib, the more overt humour of Akbar Allahbadi and the substantial list of mazahiya or humourous poets. Even the shocking poetry of Chirkeen earned serious critical appraisal from the likes of the critic Shamsur Rehman Farooqi because of his intelligent use of language.

People who encounter more stress are more receptive to humour, which provides immediate relief — as highlighted in Robin Williams irreverent broadcasts in the film Good Morning, Vietnam.

Being a great comedian is not without its own heavy price as many comedians, such as Robin Williams, Spike Milligan, Jerry Lewis or our own Nanha (Rafi Khawar), struggled with depression and their dark side — a sad clown. McGhee and Goldstein write, “The circus clown mediates between cultural order and natural disorder, between the adult and the child, between joy and sadness.”

Probably the best national humour is that of the British. From Shakespeare to Monty Python to P.G. Woodhouse, its self-deprecating and subtle satire, full of puns, innuendos has delighted generations.

Spoonerisms, named after Reverend Archibald Spooner, is a form of unintentional humour where words get switched. Shaggan Apa, wife of Jamil Ansari, a former editor of Dawn, once said to our great delight, “Ghar sahib bemar thay aur mein mian badalnay mein masroof thi,” [The dear house was ill and I was busy changing husbands.]

Pakistanis love a good laugh. Whether it’s the butcher announcing “Begum sahab ka qeema nikal do” [make mince meat of the lady] or the humourous verses written on the back of buses and rickshaws, whether it is our love of actress Meera’s struggle with English, Qandeel Baloch’s phrase “How em looking” or adding Gullu Butt to the lexicon… we love it all. Pakistani memes are arguably the wittiest from Mufti Muneeb’s efforts at sighting the Eid moon to “fasting and furious politicians”. Irreverent humour is our way of gaining back control and not succumbing to the bewildering chaos of our times.

Durriya Kazi is a Karachi-based artist and heads the department of visual studies at the University of Karachi

Email: durriyakazi1918@gmail.com

Published in Dawn, EOS, October 21st, 2018