Travel comedies have been a staple of the film industry for more than a century.

They set up a need for characters to reach a destination, then incorporate dozens of elements to hamper them.

Highlighted physical, emotional, cognitive, and social vulnerabilities serve to inspire audience laughter.

Readers familiar with this blog know that I have a thing for patterns that provide insight into why we laugh. One such pattern is the long-standing link between comedy and the act of traveling. There is something about getting into a vehicle—whether a car, bus, plane, train, or boat—and transporting oneself from A to B that seems conducive to feelings of amusement. What might explain this relationship?

As a point of reference, a list produced by the Internet Movie Database under the heading of “Road Trip Travel Comedy movies” provides more than two dozen examples, including "National Lampoon’s Vacation," "We’re the Millers," "EuroTrip," "Herald and Kumar Go to White Castle," "Orange County," "Miss Stevens," "Going the Distance," and "Away We Go." One could add as well the classic "Planes, Trains, and Automobiles." Plenty of other comedies feature memorable travel-related scenes that get the audience laughing. "Tommy Boy" and "Little Miss Sunshine" come to mind.

Vulnerability in Motion

What’s going on? As an advocate of the Mutual Vulnerability Theory of Laughter, I have some thoughts. According to this worldview, the feeling of amusement is intimately tied to the perception of vulnerability. When we observe someone—especially those with whom we have some emotional connection—display a........

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