Why Do Some Jokes Get Laughed Lots of times and Other Jokes Get Repeated Too?
Learning how to become funny is a very important interpersonal skill. Most individuals do not realize that they can actually learn to become more funny. In fact, those who feel the need to become humorous often need to persuade you that only the truly funny individuals truly hone their witty art. Learning how to become funny can actually make all the difference.
Humor comes in many different forms. People are capable of identifying and applying a wide variety of funny ways of dealing with situations. Some people enjoy telling jokes while others prefer to adopt a more dry and analytical approach. Some people prefer to inject humor into every conversation they are having with others while other prefer to keep things purely serious. No matter which approach you choose to adapt, it will help to keep in mind that humor is the best medicine.
When we are asked the question, “How do you find out if something is funny or not”, it is generally accepted that there are a few main criteria that must be met before a person can conclude that something is funny. The first criteria is that the joke needs to have the ability to elicit a reaction in the audience. The second criteria requires an assessment of the strength of the punch line and the dynamic of the delivery system.
Many people claim that if a joke makes them laugh it is funny. This is true on some level. The problem lies in the inability to identify the exact lines that turn people into fans of a certain comedian. There are many factors that contribute to the success or failure of a joke.
If you ask a group of people to try and identify a joke that made them laugh, there is a good chance that not all of them will be able to point you in the right direction. As such, if you are looking for the single most effective way to determine if something is funny, the only way to truly measure its popularity is by gauging the level of laughter each person feels when hearing it. The more laughs a person gets the more of a sense of popularity the joke has.
While many people argue that a joke needs to have real meaning for it to actually be funny, there also exists the incongruity between the intent of the joke and the actual delivery. Incongruity humor is the most powerful force in humor. This occurs when a joke conveys multiple meanings within the same delivery and in the same language. A perfect example of an incongruity comes from the Monty Python’s Graham Berry’s performance of “ums”.
