The correlation between humour and intelligence is one that has often been touted, and while many comedians are clearly insightful people, few of them have ever made the decision to run for office. Well, except for Al Murray.
We want to believe that our politicians are erudite, well-versed in a number of different fields and that they will not be caught on the hop by a question they weren't expecting. That latter quality is one that sees itself expressed in the lively exchanges between them across the floor of the houses of parliament, and while a heated debate on a particular issue might make the news, the moments that often grab the public attention are those times when the humour emerges and we get to see that our leaders are not emotionless robots.
Barney Frank, who served in the House of Representatives until 2013, became known for his wit and withering remarks, but speaking on a recent episode of Slate's podcast The Gist, he did feel that there were a few that he wished he could take back. Not, it should be stated, because they were bad or unfunny, but as a result of them overstepping a mark and crossing that line between humour and offence. It is a delicate balancing act, but the right combination shows both opponents and the electorate that a certain politician is capable of defending themselves and their point of view, not to mention that they are intelligent. There are a number of studies that back this theory up; a 2008 paper from the University of Colorado, for example, confirms that "effective humor productions acts as an honest indicator of intelligence in humans", and while there they talk about "general intelligence", perhaps the best phrase to use would be emotional intelligence.
Displaying a sense of humour involves timing, good judgement and mental agility; a formidable and rare combination. GK Chesterton, writing in The Innocence of Father Brown, praised a young politician who was a rising star with the following assessment of his wit: "when he thought of a joke he made it, and was called brilliant. When he could not think of a joke he said that this was no time for trifling, and was called able". While that might seem like a slippery move, it displays the acumen needed to read the situation and decide when it's time to make light of something, and when it's time to get down to business.
It should come as little surprise then that politicians frequently look to throw in a joke when they appear in public, in an effort to connect with their audience and break the ice. While some of them hit home, the vast majority are laboured and clunky, and end up sounding like they were the jokes that were left on the floor in the writers' room of a late night chat show host.
As the most recognisable candidate in the democratic camp, Hilary has a long campaign ahead of her where she can expect to be the butt of some rather unfunny jokes, but that doesn't mean that people are going to stop trying to have the funniest Hillary Clinton email scandal joke. As the list of Republican candidates grows longer and longer, she becomes the easiest target for any of the presidential hopefuls to rally against. At the recent First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit, a veritable rogues gallery (when it comes to comedy, anyway) appeared with their best material.
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana had possibly the best of the jokes when he went with a classic bait and switch, starting his speech with a breakdown of what he was going to talk about, only to pause midway through his introduction and claim he was giving the wrong speech.
The final line of his fake intro is a jab at what turned out to be an apocryphal claim on Clinton's part that her grandparents had all been immigrants to America, but Jindal wasn't the only one poking fun at Clinton at that summit, although his routine was probably the best.
Senator Ted Cruz
Cruz also tried his hand at a few jokes at Clinton's expense, most of which would get him booed off the stage at a comedy club, but brought a chuckle out of the partisan crowd in attendance. Here, he makes reference to the "Scooby Van" that she was travelling the country in, with a joke that seems to come from and go absolutely nowhere.
This wasn't the first time Cruz had tried his hand at Clinton comedy either, for example a rather crude and clearly pre-rehearsed gag aimed at Bill managed to get a laugh out of Sean Hannity, but if he hopes to make a career out of stand-up, he'll need to work on his Winston Churchill impression.
Marco Rubio, another in the long list of candidates who fancies himself as the next president, also decided to get a joke in about Clinton's visit to the Chipotle chain of restaurants, only to pronounce it incorrectly.
British Politics
There has always been a tradition of trading blows across the floor of the Commons, and while they don't always land, they are often better than the efforts above, many of which are more likely to elicit a cringe rather than a laugh, verging on 'dad joke' territory.
The British exchanges are more heated, done at a rather remarkable pace, and often in direct response to an opponent, giving each person involved the chance to fire back with their own quip, making for a much better spectacle. For instance, this exchange between Cameron and Miliband references the former's texts to Rebekah Brooks, and former Labour leader Gordon Brown's apparent penchant for throwing phones.
At times it can cross a line and verges toward that most detestable of phrases, boyish "banter", with a chauvinist edge that is rather unpleasant.
Kebab-gate
Ireland's attempts are somewhat less frequent, and while there are many iconic comedy writers and performers from the lands of saints and scholars, none of them seem to be writing gags for the politicians just yet.
One of the most famous examples of an attempt at humour in the Dail that went awry was Conor Lenihan's remarks about "kebabs" while in his capacity as Minister for Overseas Development and Aid, a fact which added an extra edge of unpleasantness to the remarks. Lenihan advised Joe Higgins to "stick with the kebabs", and while he thought it was funny, no one else (particularly not Higgins) was laughing.
Perhaps the intelligence that governs humour is one that our politicians are not all that familiar with: emotional intelligence. The best comedians sit as outsiders, they take a position in opposition to the popular opinion or mainstream view, most of the time to point out that there are other sides to an issue that is not being given due coverage. Doing that as a politician means courting controversy, and for obvious reasons the majority won't want to do that. That doesn't mean politicians won't try their hand at the odd joke, mainly because, as in the examples cited above with Barney Frank, it can win favour with a lot of people, and allows them to perform one of the more difficult balancing acts in politics: demonstrating intelligence without seeming arrogant. The humour of the moment humanises them, while the riposte displays the type of wit and speed of thought that we want in our representatives and often wish we had ourselves. Most of the time though, we're just not getting the joke.
Barney Frank, who served in the House of Representatives until 2013, became known for his wit and withering remarks, but speaking on a recent episode of Slate's podcast The Gist, he did feel that there were a few that he wished he could take back. Not, it should be stated, because they were bad or unfunny, but as a result of them overstepping a mark and crossing that line between humour and offence. It is a delicate balancing act, but the right combination shows both opponents and the electorate that a certain politician is capable of defending themselves and their point of view, not to mention that they are intelligent. There are a number of studies that back this theory up; a 2008 paper from the University of Colorado, for example, confirms that "effective humor productions acts as an honest indicator of intelligence in humans", and while there they talk about "general intelligence", perhaps the best phrase to use would be emotional intelligence.
Displaying a sense of humour involves timing, good judgement and mental agility; a formidable and rare combination. GK Chesterton, writing in The Innocence of Father Brown, praised a young politician who was a rising star with the following assessment of his wit: "when he thought of a joke he made it, and was called brilliant. When he could not think of a joke he said that this was no time for trifling, and was called able". While that might seem like a slippery move, it displays the acumen needed to read the situation and decide when it's time to make light of something, and when it's time to get down to business.
It should come as little surprise then that politicians frequently look to throw in a joke when they appear in public, in an effort to connect with their audience and break the ice. While some of them hit home, the vast majority are laboured and clunky, and end up sounding like they were the jokes that were left on the floor in the writers' room of a late night chat show host.
Hillary Clinton
As the most recognisable candidate in the democratic camp, Hilary has a long campaign ahead of her where she can expect to be the butt of some rather unfunny jokes, but that doesn't mean that people are going to stop trying to have the funniest Hillary Clinton email scandal joke. As the list of Republican candidates grows longer and longer, she becomes the easiest target for any of the presidential hopefuls to rally against. At the recent First in the Nation Republican Leadership Summit, a veritable rogues gallery (when it comes to comedy, anyway) appeared with their best material.
Bobby Jindal of Louisiana had possibly the best of the jokes when he went with a classic bait and switch, starting his speech with a breakdown of what he was going to talk about, only to pause midway through his introduction and claim he was giving the wrong speech.
The final line of his fake intro is a jab at what turned out to be an apocryphal claim on Clinton's part that her grandparents had all been immigrants to America, but Jindal wasn't the only one poking fun at Clinton at that summit, although his routine was probably the best.
Senator Ted Cruz
Cruz also tried his hand at a few jokes at Clinton's expense, most of which would get him booed off the stage at a comedy club, but brought a chuckle out of the partisan crowd in attendance. Here, he makes reference to the "Scooby Van" that she was travelling the country in, with a joke that seems to come from and go absolutely nowhere.
This wasn't the first time Cruz had tried his hand at Clinton comedy either, for example a rather crude and clearly pre-rehearsed gag aimed at Bill managed to get a laugh out of Sean Hannity, but if he hopes to make a career out of stand-up, he'll need to work on his Winston Churchill impression.
Marco Rubio, another in the long list of candidates who fancies himself as the next president, also decided to get a joke in about Clinton's visit to the Chipotle chain of restaurants, only to pronounce it incorrectly.
British Politics
There has always been a tradition of trading blows across the floor of the Commons, and while they don't always land, they are often better than the efforts above, many of which are more likely to elicit a cringe rather than a laugh, verging on 'dad joke' territory.
The British exchanges are more heated, done at a rather remarkable pace, and often in direct response to an opponent, giving each person involved the chance to fire back with their own quip, making for a much better spectacle. For instance, this exchange between Cameron and Miliband references the former's texts to Rebekah Brooks, and former Labour leader Gordon Brown's apparent penchant for throwing phones.
At times it can cross a line and verges toward that most detestable of phrases, boyish "banter", with a chauvinist edge that is rather unpleasant.
Kebab-gate
Ireland's attempts are somewhat less frequent, and while there are many iconic comedy writers and performers from the lands of saints and scholars, none of them seem to be writing gags for the politicians just yet.
One of the most famous examples of an attempt at humour in the Dail that went awry was Conor Lenihan's remarks about "kebabs" while in his capacity as Minister for Overseas Development and Aid, a fact which added an extra edge of unpleasantness to the remarks. Lenihan advised Joe Higgins to "stick with the kebabs", and while he thought it was funny, no one else (particularly not Higgins) was laughing.
Perhaps the intelligence that governs humour is one that our politicians are not all that familiar with: emotional intelligence. The best comedians sit as outsiders, they take a position in opposition to the popular opinion or mainstream view, most of the time to point out that there are other sides to an issue that is not being given due coverage. Doing that as a politician means courting controversy, and for obvious reasons the majority won't want to do that. That doesn't mean politicians won't try their hand at the odd joke, mainly because, as in the examples cited above with Barney Frank, it can win favour with a lot of people, and allows them to perform one of the more difficult balancing acts in politics: demonstrating intelligence without seeming arrogant. The humour of the moment humanises them, while the riposte displays the type of wit and speed of thought that we want in our representatives and often wish we had ourselves. Most of the time though, we're just not getting the joke.
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