It’s all a lot of flingam: why nonsense words make us laugh

Blackadder jokes prove that Arthur Schopenhauer's 200-year-old theory of humour still holds true today

Any aspiring comic wanting to make it big should seek inspiration not so much from the likes of Michael McIntyre but that arch proponent of philosophical pessimism, Arthur Schopenhauer.

For it seems that the German thinker, not easily confused with a ray of sunshine, may have been on to something when he came up with his now 200-year-old theory of humour.

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