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In this video a comedian talks about how he dealt with his daughter having cancer while appearing on the Tonight Show:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qdBJ1X33rXM

A lot of comedy comes from pain. I think Peter McGraw's benign violation theory partially explains this. According to McGraw's theory, humor comes from a "violation" or something negative that is made benign. Comedians learn to take the negative and transform it into something humorous.

People also say that many comedians have a more realistic view of the harshness of life. This reminds me of the quote from GK Chesterton, “Always be comic in a tragedy. What the deuce else can you do?"



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