Listen to Your Brain

A slick, nicely produced, and funny music video about neuromarketing. Dr. NeuroFocus and crew explain how they examine the brain’s functioning for more incisive market research, while singing and dancing. For a more serious look at neuromarketing, check out this lecture.

Child Psychologist

A cute, short, comedy skit portraying a five year old psychotherapist in a session with her frustrated middle-aged client.

The Benign Violation Theory of Humor

The combination of a moral violation with benign consequences is a recipe for amusement, says an interesting new study on what makes things funny. Available alongside the peer-reviewed research article Benign Violations: Making Immoral Behavior Funny, McGraw and Warren, Psychological Science, 2010, in a multimedia pubcast, or an audio podcast version.

The Evolution of Comedy

Panel discussion of comedy writers and producers about the evolution and role of different types of comedy in “serious” society.

Is the Pursuit of Happiness Making Us Miserable?

Lively and at times funny Australian debate between experts in diverse fields on “that fizzy burst of high caffeine goodness that we call happiness” and satisfaction: seeking it within vs. social and material pleasures. Produced by ABC, via FORA.tv.

On Fake

Behavioural economist Dan Ariely explains his experiment in which wearing sunglasses perceived as designer counterfeits led people to cheat in an economic game. Amusing, nicely produced DIY video, featuring a great wardrobe. Check out more of his vids on Ariely’s YouTube channel (a very funny intro to his work: The Dan Ariely Show), and watch a lecture on irrational behaviour in the archives.

Office Life

Not to be confused with The Office, this is an amusing series too. Mental health issues and stigma in the workplace are the focus. The Interview, The Breakdown, and The Return.

Twitter Wit: Nick Douglas and Guests

The author of Twitter Wit, a collection of humorous tweets, reads from his book and discusses the medium and how people use it. Highlight: Is Twitter shortening our attention spans?

producer FORA.tv
featuring Nick Douglas, Michael Ferguson, Mike Monteiro, Robin Sloan
format Flash, mp3, mp4
date 24/09/09
length 00:42:58
link http://fora.tv/2009/09/24/Twitter_Wit_Nick_Douglas_and_Guests

Web Therapy – Gossip Girl, part 1-3

Comedy about dubious web psychotherapist Fiona Wallice, who offers three minute sessions online using her theory that 50 minutes is too long and all the real work happens in three minutes. Features Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame, and other well-known actors playing her clients. Season two has just been uploaded to YouTube, beginning with “Gossip Girl” (in three parts) about a woman who comes to therapy for help because she thinks she’s too pretty, but ultimately reveals a shocking secret about Wallice’s husband. I recommend all the webisodes: they’re brief, slick, and very funny.

title The Science of Love
description This cute and funny short film features two professors who fight about a neuroscientific explanation of love but research its pleasures together after a “battle of egos and intellect, swords and [fabulous] stilettos.” It also challenges stereotypes of scientists and is pretty accurate about the research it describes, since it was funded by a grant from the Sloan Foundation to do just that. This film is my favourite of the many cultural artifacts with the overused label “science of love”. I’d mentioned it before when it was a short film on the festival circuit, but it’s now online in its entirety. A must see.
producer director Joyce Draganosky’s Hollywon’t Productions
featuring Alexandra Neil, Sally Wheeler and others
format streaming Flash
date 2005
length 00:18:34
link http://www.logoonline.com/shows/events/short_films/details.jhtml?cid=1572507&pollstat=r&a=5

Tags: videos film brain comedy fiction art neuroimaging LGBTQ science love neuromanticism