Carnival Capers

Storyline by Annie Salem

Introduction

This case study is based on a humorous situation that occurred at my high school carnival. The setting and description will be followed by an analysis of the event. The analysis will be based on various theories and concepts found in literature on humor.

A Tradition for a Cause

I could hardly contain the excitement…I was finally a senior at Ursuline Academy! This was the life; I firmly believed that nothing could burst my senior bubble. Little did I know how soon I would be proven wrong?

It was the first Saturday during the school year, and the student council sponsored their annual Ursuline Carnival for Kids. This was a fundraiser for less fortunate schools in the area, where eighty students ages 4-12 and their parents were invited for a day of fun. Each family only had to pay $5 for rides, food and entertainment. As student council president, I was in charge of making sure everything ran smoothly. I had spent weeks ensuring that each detail was covered from catering to activities. This year, I was certain that the dragon-shaped moon bounce would be the hit of the carnival. The sheer pleasure of bouncing up and down, crashing into one another, was sure to be a favorite with the kids.

Fun in the Sun

Halfway through the carnival, I let out a sigh of relief. The day was going better than I had hoped. The children had a blast doing the cakewalk and water balloon toss, and now it was time for me to orchestrate the much anticipated moon bounce. I organized the children into age groups, ensuring that no 12-year-old boys would get rough around the toddlers. As the older kids bounced around for their 20 minutes, the young ones watched in awe… it was almost their turn! I distinctly recall a young girl grabbing onto her mother’s leg exclaiming, “Mommy, I want to bounce in the dragon NOW!” After I hoarded the older children out of the bounce, I carefully helped the youngest kids remove their shoes and step in. The scene was priceless… little ones squealing in delight, and their parents smiling at the happy children. One lady was standing there telling me about how thankful she was to have a day where she could escape her worries and just enjoy the sunshine.

Did I do that?

That’s when I heard a girl scream, and the commotion began. I quickly glanced around and saw one of the 8 year-old boys running away with a 6 year-old’s shoe. She ran after him shrieking in anger. Since no mother was taking immediate action, I quickly darted after the boy, turning my head to see his path. Before I knew it, my feet were up in the air and my chin hit the dirt. What seemed like minutes later, I finally regained a sense of where I was, only to notice that I had tripped over the tube that connected the moon bounce to its air source. Sure enough, 10 screaming toddlers were soon heard, as the dragon began to lose shape. Parents rushed across the field to get their children out, but the dragon’s head and neck had already deflated over the narrow entryway. I stood frozen in horror, watching the enormous structure deflate over the children who had already fallen into a pile on top of each other. Luckily, a group of Ursuline dads made their way over to the commotion, crawled into the dragon and rescued the kids. Much to my surprise, the children came out of the moon bounce laughing hysterically. From the ground, I heard the boys exclaiming, “Lets do that again!”

All Eyes on Me

Once all of the upheaval died down, I looked up and saw people make their way towards me. After I realized that aside from a few scrapes, I was fine, I stood up and did the first thing that came to mind. I gave a sweeping bow and said, “Don’t worry parents, there will be no additional charge for the ride!” The parents erupted in laughter and I got the sense that I was forgiven. I re-inflated the moon bounce, and then went as far away from it as possible. Picking up trash suddenly sounded much more appealing than manning the moon bounce.

Analysis

This humor case shows an example of how a negative situation could be cured by a little humor. Because the parents were distressed to see a 20 foot structure cave onto their child, they could have taken their children and stormed out of the carnival in anger. However, because the children found the situation humorous, and I cracked a joke, the kids and I together were able to diffuse their parents’ frustration. Although I did not strategically plan to tell a joke after the moon bounce incident, my impulses were right on target. According to Michael Iapoce, “The more serious the subject or situation, the more valuable humor can be in easing tensions” (Iapoce, 1988).

Furthermore, the situation was able to turn humorous due to little amount of risk that was actually at hand. Looking back on the situation, both the parents and I know that the children would not have suffocated under the moon bounce. The dads were able to quickly get the kids out without any harm done. If we had been white-water rafting and the children had fallen overboard and then been saved, a joke would not change the tone of the situation. In fact, a joke would be inappropriate, and probably offensive. Also, if the children had come out of the moon bounce in tears, a joke would not have helped. In Humor Works, Morreall advises us to, “make sure humor doesn’t make you seem insensitive to your audience’s feelings. Don’t make light of some big problem its members face” (Morreall, 1997). However, in this relatively lighthearted situation, humor was able to cure the mood.

The carnival situation finds its humor based on the Incongruity Theory. This theory suggests that, “what we are enjoying is experiencing something that doesn’t fit our mental patterns… a mismatch between what we expect and what we experience” (Morreall, 1997). The children found this incongruity to be hilarious. They certainly did not expect to be thrown on top of one another, but they enjoyed the surprise. Furthermore, when the parents allowed their children to enter the moon bounce, they did not expect that someone would trip over the air hose and send the structure down on the kids. While the initial mental jolt that the deflating moon bounce caused was neither enjoyable for the parents, nor myself, the unexpected situation later created a humorous mood. Morreall describes this phenomenon as “mental distance” (Morreall, 1997). When the parents were in the middle of the situation, it was far from humorous; however, once the threat of their children being hurt went away, they were able to look at the situation from a different angle.

Lets Learn a Lesson Here!

After hearing this case, I hope you will all learn to watch your step. Also, there is a deeper lesson one can take from this situation. Humor can’t erase a negative situation, but it can keep participants from leaving with a bad taste in their mouths. All it takes is a little joke to turn a scowl into a smile.

References

Iapoce, Michael. (1988). A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Boardroom: Using Humor in Business Speaking. New York, NY: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., p.p. 5, 6.

Morreall, John. (1997). Humor Works. Amherst, MA: HRD Press, Inc., p.p. 26, 37, 166.

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