Funny moments
Humor can be found in moments and events which are in some way unexpected. Our collective appreciation for it is an example of novelty-seeking behavior.
Unexpected moments may arise due to cleverness or quickness. Observational humor, for example, is funny because it highlights known but unappreciated things which are readily recognized when verbalized. Many forms of fast-paced humor, for example insult comedy (wherein comics engage their audiences unkindly) serve to showcase sharp natural wit (while engaging in norm-flouting outrageousness, which may also be unexpected). Wit and wordplay may be used to less offensive but no less impressive effect.
Funny moments may equally be extremely "unclever" or even nonsensical (e.g. taking the form burlesque or slapstick, or surreal comedy).
Humor is often subversive:
- Anti-humor — unfunny lines delivered by comedians become funny precisely because an audience expects the reverse.
- Anti-establishment criticism — providing a cathartic release valve for those on the receiving end of hardship.
- Taboo, difficult, or dark topics are overrepresented at comedy shows, in part because these topics so infrequently arise in ordinary conversation, and they allow engaging with shame-laden ideas without cost.
- Self-subversion — comics may even subvert themselves, through self-deprecating humor, or "being cringe".
Comedic delivery
Humor can be delivered in many ways. This list is not exhaustive.
Satire frames and exposes shortcomings through irony, sarcasm, exaggeration, or juxtaposition. Impersonation and parody (mockumentaries, spoofs, impressions) help illustrate satire’s point. Character comedy — think Sacha Baron Cohen’s Borat, Brüno, or Ali G — exaggerates patterns to reveal absurdity.
Anecdotes and storytelling (à la Louis C.K.) wrap punchlines inside narrative arcs. Good stories build tension, and may signal a direction, but then zigzag at the last moment. The personal nature of stories can also deepen an audience’s investment.
Environments can provide additional contrast or context. They can be artificially constructed or modified, for example through the use of props, and may deliver punchlines before anybody speaks.
Style matters. Observational lines can be delivered deadpan, “dumb” (faux-naïve), or with righteous indignation. There is no single “correct” style; while individuals have preferences, in general optimizing for the unexpected (perhaps simply novelty?) yields the biggest laughs.
Comedic effect(s)
As a tool of persuasion
I was at a No. 10 reception at which Boris Johnson gave an amazing speech, which seemed so off the cuff and fantastic — slightly bumbling, as ever, of course.
“Not”, he said, “since the Aztec Empire: the Mazatecs, the Mixtecs, the Chinantecs, the Toltecs, the Ixcatecs, and so on — has one nation — BRITAIN! — known so much tech. EdTech, MedTech, FinTech, RegTech, HealthTech, PropTech… “ and so he went on.
It was a funny line, extremely well delivered, and very well-received. And yet the CEO of (at the time) one of the UK’s three biggest startups stood next to me and groaned. This was, apparently, the fourth time he’d heard Boris tell this exact joke in the last month. What seemed so original was in fact a contrived line he’d worked up, tested out, and deployed countless times already. And this poor CEO was spending far too much of his time schmoozing lobbyists to tolerate it any more.
Selling anything to anyone — whether you’re a startup founder raising venture capital, a politician winning over an audience, or a car salesman palming off an old motor — is a matter of developing a message, testing it, taking in the response, and refining it over time. In military jargon, it’s an OODA loop (observe-orient-decide-act), wherein observing is knowing your audience, orienting is picking your message, deciding is choosing your moment, and acting is execution. This is all great.
Boris’ strategy is unique, though, in that he tries to win people over with a special kind of comic charm. His delivery is designed to seem organic every time (necessary to create his jokes' "unexpected" moments). He’s explicitly trying to come across less like a salesperson (with a persuasive set of reasons as to why you should do anything), and more like a comedian (who recognizes everyday truths and amusing things, and tees them up in a way that the individual appreciates for themselves). Delivery then is everything. And of course, it doesn’t work in a repeat context. The same joke told over and over to the same audience, however funny to begin with, isn’t funny on its fifth attempt. In fact, if crafted to appear spontaneous the first time, it may come across as calculated as well as tired if one is uncareful.
As deniable cover
“Just kidding… unless?” jokes allow criticism that would otherwise be impolite.
In closed groups, radical candor is strongly preferable, but when liaising with unknown or untrusted outsiders, humor can enable norms and red-lines to be surfaced in a low(er)-risk fashion.
As social glue
Laughing lowers cortisol and loosens muscle tension, helping overcome social anxiety and put people at ease.
Laughter synchronizes people: studies show that after a group laughs together, their heart rates converge and conversation becomes more free-flowing.
Inside jokes can lead to an "us vs them" dynamic, and lead to a feeling of alignment and/or inclusion… lucky enough to be bestowed with some special knowledge that positively binds us to others in our group in a way incomprehensible or even unknown to others.
Teams that laugh are more willing to throw out half-baked ideas because the cost of short-term embarrassment is buffered by shared mirth.
For attention
Laughter (re)captures an audience's attention.