Look up Humour in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

This article discusses humour in terms of comedy and laughter. For ancient Greek theories of humour in physiology, psychology and medicine, see four humours. See also aqueous humour.

Humour (humor in American English) is the ability or quality of people, objects, or situations to evoke feelings of amusement in other people. The term encompasses a form of entertainment or human communication which evokes such feelings, or which makes people laugh or feel happy. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wiktionary is a Wikimedia Foundation project intended to be a free wiki dictionary (hence: Wiktionary) (including thesaurus and lexicon) in every language. ... In traditional medicine practiced before the advent of modern technology, the four humours (or four humors) were four fluids that were thought to permeate the body and influence its health. ... The aqueous humour is the clear, watery fluid that fills the complex space in the front of the eye which is bounded at the front by the cornea and at the rear by the front surface or face of the vitreous humour. ... American English (AmE) is the dialect of the English language used mostly in the United States of America. ... Quality refers to the distinctive characteristics or properties of a person, object, process or other thing. ... Amusement is the state of experiencing humourous and usually entertaining events or situations, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Recreation. ... Communication is the process of sending information to oneself or another entity, usually via a language. ... Laughing Child Laughter is the biological reaction of humans to moments or occasions of humor: an outward expression of amusement. ... This article is about an emotion. ...

The origin of the term derives from the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids known as humours controlled human health and emotion. In traditional medicine practiced before the advent of modern technology, the four humours (or four humors) were four fluids that were thought to permeate the body and influence its health. ... Ancient Greece is the term used to describe the Greek_speaking world in ancient times. ...

A sense of humour is the ability to experience humour, a quality which all people share, although the extent to which an individual will personally find something humorous depends on a host of absolute and relative variables, including, but not limited to geographical location, culture, maturity, level of education and context. For example, young children (of any background) particularly favour slapstick, while satire tends to appeal to more mature audiences. Look up Experience in Wiktionary, the free dictionary This article discusses the general concept of experience. ... In computer science and mathematics, a variable (sometimes called a pronumeral) is a symbol denoting a quantity or symbolic representation. ... In geography, location is a position or point in physical space expressed relative to the position of another point or thing. ... The word culture, from the Latin colo, -ere, with its root meaning to cultivate, generally refers to patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activity significance. ... ConTEXT is a freeware text editor aimed for software developers. ... Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence. ... The World According To Ronald Reagan - a Finnish satirical poster from 1984 Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ...

Styles or techniques

Humans often find the behaviour of other animals amusing or humorous.

Examples of various different styles of humour, or techniques for evoking humour or creating a humourous situation are listed below. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (771x1200, 842 KB) Latin: Pongo pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1760) da:Orangutang de:Orang-Utan en:Orangutan es:Orangutango fr:Orang-outan Location: Aalborg Zoo, Denmark Date: 21. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (771x1200, 842 KB) Latin: Pongo pygmaeus (Linnaeus, 1760) da:Orangutang de:Orang-Utan en:Orangutan es:Orangutango fr:Orang-outan Location: Aalborg Zoo, Denmark Date: 21. ...

• Verbal
  • Figure of speech
    • Triple and paraprosdokian
    • Enthymeme
    • Syllepsis (zeugma)
    • Hyperbole
    • Understatement
  • Word play
    • Acrosticdoublespeak, a form of satire characterized by the unsubtle encryption of an acrostically constructed humurous message
    • Oxymoron
    • Pun
  • Comic sounds or inherently funny words with sounds that make them amusing in a language
  • Joke
    • Adages, often in the form of paradox "laws" of nature, such as Murphy's law
    • Stereotyping, such as blonde jokes, lawyer jokes, racial jokes, viola jokes.
    • Sick Jokes, arousing humour through grotesque, violent or exceptionally cruel scenarios
  • Riddle
  • Irony, where a statement or situation implies both a superficial and a concealed meaning which are at odds with each other.
  • Wit, as in many one-liner jokes
  • Sarcasm
  • Non-sequitur
  • Dry humour
  • Caustic humour
  • Droll
  • Obscenity
  • Parody
  • Random humour
  • Black humour
  • Draconian Humour
  • Satire
  • Self-irony
  • Ridicule, such as the Darwin Awards
    • Self-ridicule, such as Rodney Dangerfield's self-deprecating humour
      • Ridicule of self through absurdism, as in the surreally dry, deadpan, and bizarre comedy of Steven Wright
• Nonverbal
  • Deadpan Fake stern manner
  • Slapstick
  • Bathos
    • Exaggerated or unexpected gestures and movements
    • Inflicting pain, such as kick in the groin
  • Faking stupidity
  • Clash of context humour, such "fish out of water".
  • Surreal humour or absurdity
  • Practical joke: luring someone into a humorous position or situation and then laughing at their expense
  • Form-versus-content humour
  • Funny pictures: Photos or drawings/cartoons that are intentionally or unintentionally humorous.
  • Sight gags
  • Visual humour: Like the above, but encompassing narrative in theater or comics ,or on film or video.
• Anti-humour
  • Deliberate ambiguity and confusion with reality, often performed by Andy Kaufman
• Unintentional humour, that is, making people laugh without intending to (as with Ed Wood's Plan 9 From Outer Space)
• Character Driven, deriving humour from the way characters act in specific situations, without punchlines. Exemplified by The Larry Sanders Show and Curb Your Enthusiasm.

Note - many more exist

Broadly conceived, linguistics is the study of human language, and a linguist is someone who engages in this study. ... A figure of speech, sometimes termed a rhetorical , or elocution, is a word or phrase that departs from straightforward, literal language. ... In mathematics, a triple is an n-tuple with n being 3. ... A paraprosdokian is a figure of speech that uses an unexpected ending to a series or phrase. ... An enthymeme is a syllogism (a three-part deductive argument) with an unstated assumption which must be true for the premises to lead to the conclusion. ... Syllepsis is a figure of speech in which one word simultaneously modifies two or more other words such that the modification must be understood differently with respect to each modified word. ... Zeugma (from the Greek word ζεύγμα, meaning yoke) is a figure of speech in which one word applies to two others in different senses of that word, and in some cases only logically applies to one of the other two words. ... Look up hyperbole in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Understatement is a form of speech where a lesser expression is used than what would be expected; a commonly cited example is The Rocky Mountains are scenic. ... Word play is a literary technique in which the nature of the words used themselves become part of the subject of the work. ... Acrosticdoublespeak is a form of Orwellian satire, in which an acrostically constructed humorous message emerges from a grammatically and factually correct statement. ... An acrostic (from the late Greek akróstichon, from ákros, extreme, and stíchos, verse) is a poem or other text written in an alphabetic script, in which the first letter, syllable or word of each verse, paragraph or other recurring feature in the text spells out another message. ... An oxymoron (plural oxymora or oxymorons) (noun) is a figure of speech that combines two normally contradictory terms (e. ... It has been suggested that dajare be merged into this article or section. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Some influential comedians have long regarded certain words in the English language as being inherently funny and have used these to enhance the humor of their comic routines. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... An adage (IPA ) is a short, but memorable saying, which holds some important fact of experience that is considered true by many people, or it has gained some credibility through its long use. ... For law within legal systems see law. ... Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Murphys Law Murphys law (also known as Finagles law or Sods law) is a popular adage in Western culture, which broadly states that things will go wrong in any given situation in which error is possible. ... For the term used in Computing, see Stereotype (computing). ... A joke is a short story or short series of words spoken or communicated with the intent of being laughed at or found humorous by the listener or reader. ... A riddle is a form of word puzzle designed to test someones ingenuity and lateral thinking in arriving at a solution. ... Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ... Look up Wit in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... A one-liner is a joke that takes to its heart the principle that brevity is the soul of wit. ... -1... Non sequitur is Latin for it does not follow. ... Deadpan is a form of comedic delivery in which something humorous is said or done by a person, while not exhibiting a change in emotion or facial expression. ... Caustic humour is a type of humour designed to have an impact, it involves witty language to convey biting or insulting remarks. ... Droll humor is an often dry, witty form of humor that elicits laughs through amusingly odd, sometimes zany behavior or speech. ... The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... The use of randomly made statements or actions to cause humour is a relatively new form. ... Black comedy, also known as black humor, is a subgenre of comedy and satire that deals with serious subjects – death, divorce, drug abuse, et cetera in a humorous manner. ... The World According To Ronald Reagan - a Finnish satirical poster from 1984 Satire is a literary technique of writing or art which exposes the follies of its subject (for example, individuals, organizations, or states) to ridicule, often as an intended means of provoking or preventing change. ... This article or section contains information that has not been verified and thus might not be reliable. ... Charles Darwin, the originator of the theory of natural selection. ... Rodney Dangerfield in 1997 Rodney Dangerfield (November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004), born Jacob Cohen, was an American comedian and actor, best known for the line I dont get no respect and his monologues on that theme. ... Deadpan is a form of comedic delivery in which something humourous is said or done by a person, while not exhibiting a change in emotion or facial expression. ... Steven Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, and writer from Burlington, Massachusetts. ... Nonverbal communication (NVC) is usually understood as the process of sending and receiving wordless messages. ... Deadpan is a form of comedic delivery in which something humourous is said or done by a person, while not exhibiting a change in emotion or facial expression. ... Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence. ... Bathos is Greek for depth. ... Clash of context is a technique used in humor to create an absurd situation. ... Surreal humour is a form of humour based on bizarre juxtapositions, absurd situations, and nonsense logic. ... Disambiguation: Theatre of the Absurd In Philosophy, The Absurd refers to humans who continue to live their lives, despite knowledge that their lives are utterly pointless. ... A popular practical joke is to completely block someones doorway while he/she is in the room. ... Form-versus-content humour is a type of humour in which the way a statement is made contributes to making the statement humorous. ... Funny pictures are photographs or drawings/cartoons that are intentionally or unintentionally humorous. ... In comedy, a Sight Gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. ... Anti-humor is a type of humor that is not directly humorous, though anti-humor jokes often become humorous due to the irony involved in telling them. ... Look up ambiguity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Andy Kaufman Andrew Geoffrey Kaufman (January 17, 1949 – May 16, 1984) was a New York-born American entertainer. ... Categories: Stub ... Ed Wood can refer to: The movie director Ed Wood, Jr. ... Plan 9 from Outer Space is a 1959 science fiction/horror film written, produced and directed by Edward D. Wood, Jr. ... For the phase, see Punch line Punchline is a North American punk rock band from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. ... The Larry Sanders Show was a satirical television series that originally aired from 1992 to 1998 on the HBO cable television network in the USA. It starred former stand-up comedian Garry Shandling as the shows vain, self-obsessed, neurotic host, Larry Sanders. ... Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom starring Seinfeld writer & co-creator Larry David. ...

Understanding humour

Some claim that humour cannot or should not be explained. Author E. B. White once said that "Humor can be dissected as a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are discouraging to any but the pure scientific mind." However, attempts to do just that have been made, as follow. Elwyn Brooks White (July 11, 1899 – October 1, 1985) was a leading American essayist, author, and literary stylist. ...

The term "humour" as formerly applied in comedy, referred to the interpenetration of the sublime and the ridiculous. In this context, humour is often a subjective experience as it depends on a special mood or perspective from its audience to be effective. Arthur Schopenhauer lamented the misuse of the term (the German loanword from English) to mean any type of comedy. In aesthetics, the sublime (from the Latin sublimis (exalted)) is the quality of transcendent greatness, whether physical, moral, intellectual or artistic. ... Subject (philosophy) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Arthur Schopenhauer (February 22, 1788 – September 21, 1860) was a German philosopher. ... A loanword is a word directly taken into one language from another with little or no translation. ...

One explanation of humour is based on the fact that a great deal of humour is a consequence of language. Language is an approximation of thoughts through symbolic manipulation, and the gap between the expectations inherent in those symbols and the breaking of those expectations leads to laughter^{[citation needed]}. Irony is explicitly this form of comedy, whereas slapstick takes more passive social norms relating to physicality and plays with them^{[citation needed]}. In other words, comedy is a sign of a 'bug' in the symbolic make-up of language, as well as a self-correcting mechanism for such bugs^{[citation needed]}. Once the problem in meaning has been described through a joke, people immediately begin correcting their impressions of the symbols that have been mocked. This is one explanation why jokes are often funny only when told the first time. Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ... Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence. ...

Another explanation is that humour frequently contains an unexpected, often sudden, shift in perspective^{[citation needed]}. Nearly anything can be the object of this perspective twist. This, however, does not explain why people being humiliated and verbally abused, without it being unexpected or a shift in perspective, is considered funny - ref. Curb Your Enthusiasm and The Office. Curb Your Enthusiasm is an American television sitcom starring Seinfeld writer & co-creator Larry David. ... The opening credits The Office is a British television comedy series, created, written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, and first aired in the UK on BBC Two on July 9, 2001. ...

Another explanation is that the essence of humour lies in two ingredients; the relevance factor^{[citation needed]} and the surprise factor. First, something familiar (or relevant) to the audience is presented. (However, the relevant situation may be so familiar to the audience that it doesn't always have to be presented, as occurs in absurd humour, for example). From there, they may think they know the natural follow-through thoughts or conclusion. The next principal ingredient is the presentation of something different from what the audience expected, or else the natural result of interpreting the original situation in a different, less common way (see twist or surprise factor). For example: Relevance is term used to describe how pertinent, connected, or applicable some information is to a given matter. ... The surprise factor is a fundamental building block in many forms of humour which provides the audience with the twist or punch line, intended to ellicit amusement. ... Absurd can refer to: Look up Absurd in Wiktionary, the free dictionary Absurdism is a philosophy born of Existentialism absurdity, with small a, is a form of Surreal humour Theatre of the Absurd is an artform utilizing the philosophy of Absurdism Absurd (band) is a heavy metal band This is... The surprise factor is a fundamental building block in many forms of humour which provides the audience with the twist or punch line, intended to ellicit amusement. ...

A man speaks to his doctor after an operation. He says, "Doc, now that the surgery is done, will I be able to play the piano?" The doctor replies, "Of course!" The man says, "Good, because I couldn't before!"

Both explainations can be put under the general heading of "failed expectations". In language, or a situation with a relevance factor, or even a sublime setting, an audience has a certain expectation. If these expectations fail in a way that has some credulity, humour results. It has been postulated^{[citation needed]} that the laughter/feel good element of humour is a biological function that helps one deal with the new, expanded point of view: a lawyer thinks differently than a priest or rabbi (below), a banana peel on the floor could be dangerous. This is why some link of credulity is important rather than any random line being a punchline.

For this reason, many jokes work in threes. For instance, a class of jokes exists beginning with the formulaic line "A priest, a rabbi, and a lawyer are sitting in a bar..." (or close variations on this). Typically, the priest will make a remark, the rabbi will continue in the same vein, and then the lawyer will make a third point that forms a sharp break from the established pattern, but nonetheless forms a logical (or at least stereotypical) response. Example of a variation: Roman Catholic priests in traditional clerical clothing. ... Rabbi (Classical Hebrew רִבִּי ribbī;; modern Ashkenazi and Israeli רַבִּי rabbī) in Judaism, means teacher, or more literally great one. The word Rabbi is derived from the Hebrew root-word RaV, which in biblical Hebrew means great or distinguished, (in knowledge). In the ancient Judean schools (and among Sefaradim today) the sages... British barrister 16th century painting of a civil law notary, by Flemish painter Quentin Massys. ...

A gardener, an architect, and a lawyer are discussing which of their vocations is the most ancient. The gardener comments, "My vocation goes back to the Garden of Eden, when God told Adam to tend the garden." The architect comments, "My vocation goes back to the creation, when God created the world itself from primordial chaos." They both look curiously at the lawyer, who asks, "And who do you think created the primordial chaos?"

In this vein of thought, knowing a punch line in advance, or some situation which would spoil the delivery of the punchline, can destroy the surprise factor, and in turn destroy the entertainment value or amusement the joke may have otherwise provided. Conversely, a person previously holding the same unexpected conclusions or secret perspectives as a comedian could derive amusement from hearing those same thoughts expressed and elaborated. That there is commonality, unity of thought, and an ability to openly analyse and express these (where secrecy and inhibited exploration was previously thought necessary) can be both the relevance and the surprise factors in these situations. This phenomenon explains much of the success of comedians who deal with same-gender and same-culture audiences on gender conflicts and cultural topics, respectively. A vocation is an occupation, either professional or voluntary, that is seen to those who carry it out as offering more than simply financial reward. ... The Fall of Man by Lucas Cranach, a 16th century German depiction of Eden The Garden of Eden (from Hebrew Gan Ēden, גַּן עֵדֶן) is described by the Book of Genesis as being the place where the first man - Adam - and woman - Eve - lived after they were created by God. ... Michelangelos The Creation of Adam, a fresco on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, shows God creating Adam, with Eve in His arm. ... A punch line is the final part of a joke, usually the word, sentence or exchange of sentences which is intended to be funny and to provoke laughter from listeners. ... Amusement is the state of experiencing humourous and usually entertaining events or situations, and is associated with enjoyment, happiness, laughter and pleasure. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... The surprise factor is a fundamental building block in many forms of humour which provides the audience with the twist or punch line, intended to ellicit amusement. ...

Notable studies of humour have come from the pens of Aristotle in The Poetics (Part V), of Sigmund Freud in Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious and of Schopenhauer. The French philosopher Henri Bergson wrote an essay on "the meaning of the comic", in which he viewed the essence of humour as the encrustation of the mechanical upon the living. He used as an instance a book by an English humourist, in which an elderly woman who desired a reputation as a philanthropist provided "homes within easy hail of her mansion for the conversion of atheists who have been specially manufactured for her, so to speak, and for a number of honest folk who have been made into drunkards so that she may cure them of their failing, etc." This idea seems funny because a genuine impulse of charity as a living, vital impulse has become encrusted by a mechanical conception of how it should manifest itself. Media:Example. ... Aristotles Poetics aims to give an account of poetry. ... Sigmund Freud Sigmund Freud (IPA: []) (May 6, 1856 – September 23, 1939) was an Austrian neurologist and the founder of the psychoanalytic school of psychology. ... Image:Bergson. ...

A Bergsonian might explain puns in the same spirit. Puns classify words not by what lives (their meaning) but by mechanics (their mere sound).

There also exist linguistic and psycholinguistic studies of humour, irony, parody and pretence. Prominent theoreticians in this field include Raymond Gibbs, Herbert Clark, Michael Billig, Willibald Ruch, Victor Raskin, Eliot Oring, and Salvatore Attardo. Although many writers have emphasised the positive or cathartic effects of humour some, notably Billig, have emphasised the potential of humour for cruelty and its involvement with social control and regulation. Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ... In contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. ... Michael Billig is one of the key figures in contemporary social psychology. ...

A number of science fiction writers have explored the theory of humour. In Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert A. Heinlein proposes that humour comes from pain, and that laughter is a mechanism to keep us from crying. Isaac Asimov, on the other hand, proposes (in his first jokebook, Treasury of Humor) that the essence of humour is anticlimax: an abrupt change in point of view, in which trivial matters are suddenly elevated in importance above those that would normally be far more important. Science fiction is a form of speculative fiction principally dealing with the impact of imagined science and technology, or both, upon society and persons as individuals. ... Stranger in A Strange Land Cover Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by Robert A. Heinlein. ... Heinlein autographing at the 1976 Worldcon Robert Anson Heinlein (July 7, 1907 – May 8, 1988) was one of the most influential and controversial authors of hard science fiction. ... Dr. Isaac Asimov (c. ...

Humour formula

Not Required components:

• some surprise, contradiction, ambiguity or paradox.
• appealing to feelings or to emotions.
• similar to reality, but not real

Methods: Look up surprise in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Broadly speaking, a contradiction is an incompatibility between two or more statements, ideas, or actions. ... Look up ambiguity in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... Robert Boyles self-flowing flask fills itself in this diagram, but perpetual motion machines cannot exist (according to our present understanding of physics). ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged into Emotion. ... It has been suggested that Feeling be merged into this article or section. ... Reality in everyday usage means everything that exists. The term Reality, in its widest sense, includes everything that is, whether it is observable, accessible or understandable by science, philosophy, theology or any other system of analysis. ...

• metaphor
• hyperbole
• reframing
• timing

Rowan Atkinson explains in his lecture Funny Business, that an object or a person can become funny in three different ways. They are: In language, a metaphor (from the Greek: metapherin) is a rhetorical trope defined as a direct comparison between two or more seemingly unrelated subjects. ... Look up hyperbole in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... In film, reframing is changing the view of a subject. ... Timing refers to how events are spaced in time. ... Rowan Atkinson on promotion tour for his movie Bean in Hürth, Germany August, 1997 Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born January 6, 1955 in Consett, County Durham, England) is an English comedian, actor and writer best known for playing the title roles in the UK television series Blackadder and Mr. ... Funny Business is a documentary about the craft of comedy in which Rowan Atkinson made an appearance. ...

• By being in an unusual place
• By behaving in an unusual way
• By being the wrong size

Most sight gags fit into one or more of these categories. In comedy, a Sight Gag is anything which conveys its humour visually, often without words being used at all. ...

Humour is also described as an essential ingredient in spiritual life. Many Masters have added it to their teachings in various forms. Much of Taoism is humour-based. A famous figure in spiritual humour is the 'laughing Buddha', who would answer all questions with a belly laugh.

A quote from modern Spiritual Master Adi Da Samraj, "No humourless, pleasureless son-of-a-bitch ever realised God." Adi Da is known to have caused hours of laughter in many of his disciples over the last 34 years^{[citation needed]}.

In the book "Death Comes Dancing", the author, Ma Satya Barti, had a laughing fit that lasted 3 days, as part of her own spiritual purification process.

See also

Black comedy, also known as black humor or dark comedy, is a sub-genre of comedy and satire where topics and events normally treated seriously – death, mass murder, sickness, madness, terror, drug abuse, rape, war etc. ... The classic American clown partnership of neat whiteface Mike Snyder and grotesque auguste Billy Vaughn pictured here with Ringmaster Danny McCallum. ... Comedy is the use of humor in the form of theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... A comedian, or comic, is an entertainer who amuses an audience by making them laugh. ... Airplane! is considered by some critics to be one of the funniest movies of all time. ... Comics (or, less commonly, sequential art) is a form of visual art consisting of images which are commonly combined with text, often in the form of speech balloons or image captions. ... Sherlock Holmes, pipe-puffing hero of crime fiction, confers with his colleague Dr. Watson; together these characters popularized the genre. ... One of the more frequent jokes on the internet is to produce a fake or joke web counter. ... Irony is best known as a figure of speech (more precisely called verbal irony) in which there is a gap or incongruity between what a speaker or a writer says, and what is understood. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... Anti-jokes subvert audience/reader/listener expectations of well-worn punchlines. ... An in joke is a joke whose humour is clear only to those people who are in a group that has some prior knowledge (not known by the whole population) that makes the joke humorous. ... Meta-joke may refer to three somewhat different, but related categories: self-referring jokes, jokes about jokes (see meta-) also known as metahumor, and joke templates. // Self-referential jokes This kind of meta-joke is a joke in which the joke itself, or, rather, a certain category of joke, is... Self-portrait of Joseph Ducreux shown laughing. ... The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor is awarded by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts annually since 1998. ... Robert Charles Benchley (September 15, 1889 in Worcester, Massachusetts – November 21, 1945) was an American humorist, newspaper columnist, film actor, and drama editor. ... Some mathematical humor is as simple and crude as using mathematical symbols to write Sex is fun A mathematical joke is a form of professional humor which relies on aspects of mathematics or a stereotype of mathematicians to derive humor. ... Political satire is a subgenre of general satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics, politicians and public affairs. ... A popular practical joke is to completely block someones doorway while he/she is in the room. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Both outside and within a profession such as law there are jokes which serve to poke fun at the absurdities of the profession. ... Ribaldry is the third and somewhat neglected genre of sexual entertainments, something different from either pornography or erotica, yet is often confused with them. ... Surreal humour is a form of humour based on bizarre juxtapositions, absurd situations, and nonsense logic. ... Toilet humor or potty humor (humour in Commonwealth English) is a type of humor dealing with bodily toilet functions. ... Comedy is the use of humor in from theater, where it simply referred to a play with a happy ending, in contrast to a tragedy. ... British humour has a reputation for being puzzling to non-British speakers of English - but certain nations (such as Australia) find it readily understandable whereas the average American viewer may find the comedic elements less comprehensible. ... Canadian humour is an integral part of the Canadian Identity. ... The majority of jokes in Hungary, as told by common Hungarian people, usually belong to one of these subgenres: Móricka (little Maurice): jokes about a 10 to 12 year old Jewish boy, who is preoccupied with sex and saying obscenities. ... Jewish humour refers to a long tradition of humor in Judaism dating back to the Torah and the Midrash, but generally refers to the more recent stream of verbal, self-depreciating and often anecdotal humor originating in Eastern Europe and which took root in the United States over the last... The Romanian humour, just like the whole Romanian culture has many afinities with four other peoples: the Latins (Spanish and Italians), the Slavs, the Balkanic people (Greeks and Turks) and the Hungarians. ... Russian humour gains much of its wit from the great flexibility and richness of the Russian language, allowing for plays on words and unexpected associations. ... New Zealand humour bears some similarities to the body of humour of many other English-speaking countries. ...

References

• Mobbs, D., Greicius, M.D., Abdel-Azim, E., Menon, V. & Reiss, A. L. Humor modulates the mesolimbic reward centers. Neuron, 40, 1041 - 1048, (2003).
• Billig, M. (2005). Laughter and ridicule: Towards a social critique of humour. London: Sage.
• Daniele Luttazzi, Introduction to his italian translation of Woody Allen's trilogy Side Effects, Without Feathers and Getting Even (Bompiani, 2004, ISBN 8845233049 -57-65).

Daniele Luttazzi Daniele Luttazzi (born in Santarcangelo di Romagna, Rimini, January 26, 1961), real name Daniele Fabbri, is an Italian comedian, writer, satirist, illustrator and singer/songwriter. ... In an essay or article, an introduction is a beginning section which states the purpose and goals of the following writing. ... Woody Allen in the movie Anything Else 2003. ... A side-effect is any effect other than an intended primary effect. ... Woody Allens Without Feathers is one of his most well-known literary masterpieces. ...

External links

• Dictionary of the History of ideas: Sense of the Comic
• Humor at the Open Directory Project
• Humor reference guide: a comprehensive classification and analysis
• http://onetrickpony.ws/interviews - A collection of interviews with standup comedians.