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This article discusses humour in terms of comedy and laughter. For ancient Greek theories of humour in physiology, psychology and medicine, see four humours.Humour (humor in American English) is a form of entertainment and a form of human communication, intended to make people laugh and feel happy. The origins of the word "humour" lie in the humoral medicine of the ancient Greeks, which stated that a mix of fluids, or humours, controlled human health and emotion.
Different types of humour which appeal to different sectors of humanity exist – for instance, young children particularly favour slapstick, while satire tends to appeal more to the older and better-educated. Humour often varies by locality and does not easily transfer from one culture to another. This happens because humour often relies on a context, and someone not understanding the context will usually not understand the humour. Various techniques, as detailed below, serve to deliver humour:
1 Techniques
- Verbal
- Triple and paraprosdokian
- Irony
- Play of words such as oxymorons, puns, etc
- Wit, as in many one-liner jokes
- Enthymeme
- Non-sequitur
- Sarcasm
- Satire
- Syllepsiszeugma Syllepsis is a figure of speech in which one word simultaneously modifies two or more other words such that the modification must be understood differently with respect to each modified word. This creates a semantic incongruity which is often humor
- ParodyIn contemporary usage, parody is a form of satire that imitates another work of art in order to ridicule it. Parody exists in all art media, including literature, music, and cinema. In ancient Greek literature, a parody was a type of poem that imitated an
- NonverbalNonverbal communication is interpersonal communication without words. Forms of nonverbal communication applause behavior body language clothes dance eye contact gaze facial expression gesture posture prosody sign language touch See also unconscious commun
- Fake stern manner (inappropriate in a comic setting)
- Ridiculous gestures and movements
- Slapstick
- Inflicting pain (such as kick in the groin or in the filmFor other uses see film (disambiguation Film — also called movies the cinema the silver screen moving pictures motion pictures photoplays picture shows and flicks — is a field that encompasses motion pictures as an art form or as part of the entertainment Home AloneHome Alone is a 1990 film that starred Macaulay Culkin as Kevin McCallister, an eight year-old who is mistakenly left behind when his family flies to France for Christmas. The film made Macaulay Culkin famous. The film also features Joe Pesci and Daniel S, etc)
- Faking stupidity
- Pointing out real stupidity (such as the Darwin AwardsNamed in honor of Charles Darwin, a Darwin Award is a manifestation of Internet humor, a dubious/ sarcastic/ cynical honor awarded to those members of the species Homo sapiens who have improved the human gene pool by "removing themselves from it in a spec)
- Silly acts inappropriate for the situation or age of person
- Practical joke: deliberately luring someone into a humorous position and then laughing at their expense
- Adages, often in the form of parody " laws" of nature
- Deliberate ambiguity and confusion with reality (such as in Andy Kaufman's humour)
- Unexpected outcome, such as a witty punchline, ( surprise)
- Absurdity
- Humorous " Laws" such as Murphy's law
- Self-inflicted embarrassing situation, e.g. losing one's swimming trunks after a dive
- Comic sound s or inherently funny words with certain sounds that make them amusing in a particular language
- Self-deprecation (such as in Rodney Dangerfield's humour)
- Stereotyping (such as blonde jokes, lawyer jokes, racial jokes, etc)
- Unintentional humour, that is, making people laugh without trying
- Form-versus-content humour
- Note - many more exist
