David Huron
International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition
Evanston, Illinois, August 7, 2004
Live recordings of Peter Schickele's music were examined and 629 instances of audience laughter were identified. Each of the laughter-evoking moments was analyzed to determine possible reasons why listeners might have laughed. Excluding visual gags and language-based humor, the musical devices used by Schickele appear to fall into nine categories. All of the devices used by Schickele involve violations of expectation. A plausible physiological explanation can be offered for why listeners respond to some dramatic violations of expectation by producing the distinctive "ha-ha-ha ..." vocalization.