Jokes & Comedy

A joke is usually defined as a short story that has an intention of being humourous and the intended response is laughter. Usually jokes will have a punch line at the end of the story that is intended to have the humourous response but they can also come in the form of a statement or phrase. As simple as a joke may seem, they do have rules which relate to their success.

The first rule is ‘Precision’. A comic must clearly define the situation to enable the observer to fully comprehend the situation and therefore interpret the funny outcome. ‘Synthesis’ is also considered an essential component which is to maximize the level of humour in the least amount of words. ‘Rhythm’ of a joke is sometimes referred to as comic timing which is broken down into a ternary rhythm of three beats – introduction, premise and punch line. ‘Conclusions’ is the end of the three stage rhythm and delivers the unexpected humourous result. It is referred to as ‘weighting’, where there is the development of anticipation of the humourous outcome and therefore has a more high ‘payoff’. The ‘Comic’ rule involves the over or under expenditure of energy in expressing the humour, classic examples are Laurel and Hardy or Clown behaviour. The rule of ‘Wit’ is to take a possibly dangerous idea and turns it into a humourous outcome. All of these different rules tend to move in cycles of popularity within cultures according to political, economic and social movement.