Flora Lichtman and Ira Flatow talks to comedian Tig Notaro who found out she had breast cancer and incorporated the news into her stand-up routine—and got quite a few laughs from the audience.  Robert Provine joins the discussion and talks about the origins of laughter, what separates the amusing from the truly funny, and why even tragedy sometimes gets a laugh.

Tig Notaro

Related articles

• No Joke (npr.org)
• Breast cancer funny? How comedian Tig Notaro says she did it (cbsnews.com)
• Painfully Funny (humorinamerica.wordpress.com)
• What It Takes To Make A Comic Laugh (huffingtonpost.com)