Abstract:
Laughter is a unique behavior exhibited only by humans. Therefore,
questions like "what purpose is there in humor and laughter?” arose (Palmer, 1994).
Filipinos are considered a Happy People and are known to laugh at almost
everything, even at the face of adversities and disaster. What makes us do so?
One manifestation of the Filipinos’ incessant want and need to laugh is the
increasing number of comedy bars in the Philippines especially in the metropolis
areas. These comedy bars, as the name implies, showcases stand-up comedy as
well as Karaoke performances However, these establishments are somewhat
criticized by some to be vulgar and incongruent to the ideal Filipino values.
Using the Functionalist perspective, which assumes that every variable in the
society which exists must serve a function for the solidarity of the society, the
researcher aimed to find the different functions of comedy bars through inferring
from the reasons why some members of the society avail of the services provided by
this kind of establishments. Thus, the irony of taking humor seriously began for the
researcher.
For the study to be empirical, the researcher interviewed an owner of a
comedy bar as well as two performers of the same bar to gain insight as to what
services comedy bars have to offer the people as well as to get a view on their
perceived functions of comedy bars in the society. For the most part, the paper discusses the results from interviews with
several respondents, all of which are customers or patrons of three comedy bars
namely, The Library, Laffline and Zirkoh. Questions which were mainly aimed to
reveal the various reasons why people go to comedy bars were asked by the
researcher. The reasons provided by the respondents chiefly provide an insight to
the needs of the members of the society which comedy bars cater to. From
identifying these needs, the researcher deduced the possible societal functions that
these comedy bars fulfill.
Aside from the functionality of the comedy bars per se, the researcher also
delved into the Filipino psyche on humor, as humor is the main attraction and the
main “product” that comedy bars sell. From the interviews conducted, the
researcher was able to identify some reasons for the unmistakable search of
Filipinos for laughter; and from these, the researcher identified some possible
functions of humor and laughter for these individuals.
Recommendations for future related studies were also provided by the
researcher as well as ways to further improve the study itself and make the results
more extensive as well as more valid and reliable.
