According to (former) Onion Editor-In-Chief Scott Dikkers
- Irony – Intended meaning is opposite of literal meaning
- Character – Comedic character acting on personality traits
- Relatable – Common experiences that audiences can relate to
- Shock – Surprising jokes typically involving sex, drugs, gross-out humor, swearing
- Reference/Parody – Mimic a familiar character, trope or cliche in an unfamiliar way
- Hyperbole – Exaggeration to absurd extremes
- Wordplay – Puns, rhymes, double entendres, etc.
- Analogy – Comparing two disparate things
- Madcap – Crazy, wacky, silly, nonsensical
- Meta-humor – Jokes about jokes, or about the idea of comedy
- Misplaced Focus – Attention is focused on the wrong thing
Do you have a favorite "kind" of joke or is it more about the execution? Do you have a least favorite kind?
Do you agree with this theory of comedy or are there more types of joke?
Okay, hold on:
- "Isaac Asimov pretty sure anti-vaccine movement won't amount to much"
- "isaac Asimov awarded honorary degree in 'Pretty Much Everything'"
- "Isaac Asimov seen cleaning eyeglasses for eight straight minutes"
- "Asimov to Judy Garland: 'Now that you've taken a ride on my rocket, would you like to see my penis?'"
- "Columbia University chemistry professor makes crystal meth to fund medical treatments"
- "Isaac Asimov writes twelve books during single trip to bathroom"
- "Tampa-based EDM producer iSick AssMove hit with lawsuit"
- "Bow ties, blood, bullets: Asimov/Heinlein fan feud claims eight more lives"
- "We've identified the 6 bird species living in Isaac Asimov's hair. #4 will knock your socks off"
- "Local jackass thinks all he has to do to appear highbrow is namecheck Isaac Asimov enough times"
- [Picture of Anna and Judah Asimov holding their newborn son] "Historians have identified the event responsible for the 'vibe shift' that occurred in Russia in the 1920s"
I was gonna ask why most of your jokes were about Asimov and then I made it to #10 :tito-laugh:
Is this combat liberalism vol. 2?
Cum Town. This is the 12th type of liberalism.
I like misplaced focus, which I assume would include dry humor and deliberately downplaying situations.
Character humor is very funny too sometimes when its done to my tastes, not a character that is a funnyman but a character that has extreme or specific traits that lead to comedic situations. Hyperbole is funny too.
Generally not a fan of reference and shock humor, madcap also is very easy to make obnoxious.
I like misplaced focus
same, though if dipped in too much irony it can just come across as callous shock humor. Like "my car plowed through a crowd of people. Don't worry, the car's fine."
Generally not a fan of reference and shock humor, madcap also is very easy to make obnoxious.
agreed
Meta-humour Gang Meta-humour Gang. There's nothing funnier to me than a comedian dissecting comedy and the relationship between comedian/audience. Ones like Andy Kaufman, Tim Heidecker, Eric Andre, Norm MacDonald, and Bo Burnham have all used jokes as a weapon against their audience in a way that grows comedy. They have that modernist streak of the shock of the new. Everything else up there, except for layering irony, ends up staying comfortably within the existing boundaries of comedy.
Nah this leaves out intentional cringe for the purpose of cringe-tainment.
Alan Partridge, The Office, Peep Show, etc etc.
Literally the polar opposite of number 3, unrelateable and intentionally uncomfortable.
Ha, this is interesting...
For me, Peep Show is extremely (and uncomfortably) relatable at times, and the jokes/gags that aren't relatable for me I can fit neatly into the other categories individually (the dog of the one woman that Jez hooks up with namely). EDIT: I think we could probably agree to update the definition of "Relateable" to include things that are uncomfortably relatable/even if you've never personally experienced it, you can still relate to why it's uncomfortable. I'm sure there's some specific example of a social situation where the cringe is played for laughs in Peep Show that just doesn't translate to some other culture because it's not seen as abnormal/cringe-worthy. The cringe is suddenly not relatable to them, so the joke falls flat.
I think "ironic" intentional cringe types of comedic performances, eg not sitcom levels of rehearsed, usually fall into "shock" and "meta".
For me, this list is complete.
also 3. cringe is highly relatable for better or worse. life is practically made out of cringe
Shaggy dog joked? Those usually just turn out to be puns in the end tho
Those are kinda meta-humor or maybe even anti-jokes. But yeah they tend to end in puns
Where would purposefully out of tune music fit here? It's long been known as the only kind of humor with no victim.
That's fair, I think madcap does cover it. It's a pretty solid theory overall.
My favorite type of comedy is when loud noise happens a d I laugh
People always forget about physical humor.
Take this famous scene of Sideshow Bob walking into a bunch of rakes:
Irony
There's nothing particularly ironic about Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes unless you're trying to argue that a rake hitting someone in the face instead of being used to rake leaves counts as irony.
Character
Sideshow Bob's reaction towards getting hit in the face by a rake could count, but that's not the main thing that makes it funny, which is Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Relatable
This is probably the closest one that could count, but I feel like actual relatable jokes are different from physical humor. You don't need to literally get hit in the face with a rake to laugh at Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Shock
There's nothing particularly shocking or edgy about Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes although a lot of Jackass stuff could count as both shock and physical humor.
Reference/Parody
The entire Simpsons episode is a parody of Cape Fear, but the actual gag of Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes is something completely original.
Hyperbole
Having a bunch of rakes and Sideshow Bob repeatedly walking into them could count, but that part of the joke is still different from Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Wordplay
No wordplay to be found in Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Analogy
No comparison to be found in Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Madcap
This is a nonsensical setup, but the setup is different from the payoff of Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
Meta-humor
This entire gag of Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes is technically filler because the length of the episode came up short and they had to fill up time, but that really isn't a commentary on humor.
Misplaced Focus
The scene is perfectly focused of Sideshow Bob getting hit in the face with rakes.
I figured rake-stepping type stuff was slapstick and fell under madcap but I guess you're right. Madcap and meta-humor are honestly so broad as to cover most types of humor that you're not sure if they show up on the list or not. Like I was thinking about subversions of other genres. Like a horror jumpscare that turns out to be something harmless. That's meta-humor too.
