# How is joke formed? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 22, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438 "2021-03-22T15:21:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/1 "2021-03-22T15:21:46Z")
I consumed a piece of media that had a part in it that, from context, I surmised was intended to be funny. **I** didn’t laugh, so explain to me, a real human being, how is humor formed? ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/2 "2021-03-22T15:32:55Z")
When a setup and a punchline love each other very much, they sometimes get especially close to each other, and then something magical happens: Humor! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/3 "2021-03-22T15:35:33Z")
And it is a **sin** to waste a straight line. Go forth and sin no more. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/4 "2021-03-22T15:43:42Z")
It’s called the Sin of Youngman ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/5 "2021-03-22T15:45:31Z")
Deep in the recesses of your mind you have created a wall to block out the insanity that permeates reality so that you can pretend that the world operates in some predictable organized manner. Jokes can briefly permeate that wall and laughing is an involuntary response to that sudden moment of clarity. Very funny jokes can sometimes gouge out holes in that wall that lead to increasing physical effects, including loss of balance and bladder functions, and occasionally causing a particular portion of your anatomy to fall off. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/6 "2021-03-22T15:56:15Z")
Jimmy Carr wrote a sort of treatise on the matter, that the concept of a joke is a sentence or concept with a surprise ending. (If memory serves correctly. It may not.) Or if you’re referring to a very specific thing which I think you may be referring to, the “humour” originates from a near-incoherent post that was read straight by a man with a very serious voice, while set to a bit of animation of a crying caveman. You will then need to do way instain mother. ---
**Author:** ![QuickSilver](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quicksilver/32/7832_2.png) [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/7 "2021-03-22T16:01:49Z")
> [@naita](#): > > **I** didn’t laugh, so explain to me, a real human being, how is humor formed? How many innocent jokes are you prepared to kill to find the answer you’re looking for? ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/8 "2021-03-22T16:08:51Z")
Trying to explain how something is funny to somebody who doesn’t have a sense of humor is like trying to explain the difference between red and green to somebody who is color blind. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/9 "2021-03-22T16:13:39Z")
Watch America’s Funniest Home Videos. If dozens of people going splat doesn’t send you into convulsions go to the nearest emergency ward. ---
**Author:** ![Acierocolotl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acierocolotl/32/6241_2.png) [@Acierocolotl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acierocolotl)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/10 "2021-03-22T16:14:09Z")
The presence of gravity also never stopped Sisypus from trying to roll that stone. We all have our own forms of personal damnation. ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/11 "2021-03-22T16:15:43Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Watch America’s Funniest Home Videos. If dozens of people going splat doesn’t send you into convulsions go to the nearest emergency ward. The video with the kid or pet always wins, regardless of funniness. You are hereby banned from this thread! (This is a joke. I’m not junior modding!) ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/12 "2021-03-22T16:28:48Z")
> [@Acierocolotl](#): > > The presence of gravity also never stopped Sisypus from trying to roll that stone. I never got into Sisypus. I was more of a Quick Draw McCadmus fan. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/13 "2021-03-22T16:35:58Z")
I’m talking laughter here, not prizes. Splat! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/14 "2021-03-22T16:44:49Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Watch America’s Funniest Home Videos. If dozens of people going splat doesn’t send you into convulsions go to the nearest emergency ward. I felt bad about criticizing your post on such weak grounds and went to the nearest emergency ward to laugh at the people there, and they threw me out! ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/15 "2021-03-22T17:19:19Z")
> [@naita](#): > > went to the nearest emergency ward to laugh at the people there, and they threw me out! Winner! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/16 "2021-03-22T17:34:55Z")
First, you take a frog … ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/17 "2021-03-22T17:35:08Z")
> [@naita](#): > > I felt bad about criticizing your post on such weak grounds and went to the nearest emergency ward to laugh at the people there, and they threw me out! Did you go splat? Was somebody recording it? $10,000, baby! ---
**Author:** ![naita](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naita/32/5862_2.png) [@naita](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/naita)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/18 "2021-03-22T17:40:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Did you go splat? Was somebody recording it? $10,000, baby! Is AFV still on? Are the videos now all in portrait? ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/19 "2021-03-22T17:43:07Z")
I’m still miffed that the humerus isn’t the funny bone. 😡 ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [March 22, 2021, 6:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438/20 "2021-03-22T18:22:31Z")
I’m sure this is a parody of some thread. Can someone help a guy out? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-is-joke-formed/938438.md?page=2)