Explaining a joke makes humor processing more complete
January 20, 2024 10:37 AM Subscribe
"Most previous studies have used two-element (setup and punch line) jokes as stimuli and have been based on an experimental design and cross-material methods, such as comparisons of funny jokes with nonfunny nonjokes, as well as comparisons of material with incongruity and resolution with material that has incongruity but no resolution (i.e., a comparison of joke types between sentences) ... Furthermore, previous studies have mainly conducted comparisons in the two elements of setup and punch line to clarify the process of humor processing. The main contribution of this study lies in its use of a specific three-element joke."
Chang, C. Y., Chan, Y. C., & Chen, H. C. (2023). Verification of the Four-Stage Model of Humor Processing: Evidence from an fMRI Study by Three-Element Verbal Jokes. Brain sciences, 13(3), 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13030417
Chang, C. Y., Chan, Y. C., & Chen, H. C. (2023). Verification of the Four-Stage Model of Humor Processing: Evidence from an fMRI Study by Three-Element Verbal Jokes. Brain sciences, 13(3), 417. https://doi.org/10.3390/brainsci13030417
"Many frogs died to bring us this information."
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:33 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 11:33 AM on January 20 [4 favorites]
They really need to get some actual comedians involved in these studies to tell some decent jokes.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:49 AM on January 20 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:49 AM on January 20 [3 favorites]
Looks like they used an ISO standard joke. About as enjoyable as this standard.
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:05 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
posted by tigrrrlily at 12:05 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Maybe the joke is funnier in the original Chinese?
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:23 PM on January 20
posted by Faint of Butt at 12:23 PM on January 20
You tell me: Table S1-1. Sample 1 stimuli in Mandarin Chinese
Setup (Expectation):
精神病院院長：「明
天總統來，你們都要
拍手，表現好一人一
First punch line (Incongruity):
突然，一個病人衝出
去，伸手打了總統一個
巴掌，
Second punch line (Resolution, Elaboration):
凶狠狠地說：「你不想吃
肉包嗎？」
posted by achrise at 12:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
Setup (Expectation):
精神病院院長：「明
天總統來，你們都要
拍手，表現好一人一
First punch line (Incongruity):
突然，一個病人衝出
去，伸手打了總統一個
巴掌，
Second punch line (Resolution, Elaboration):
凶狠狠地說：「你不想吃
肉包嗎？」
posted by achrise at 12:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
Is this something I would have to eat donuts to understand?
posted by mittens at 12:53 PM on January 20
posted by mittens at 12:53 PM on January 20
The secret of comedy is...
posted by one for the books at 1:05 PM on January 20
posted by one for the books at 1:05 PM on January 20
Taboo.
posted by zengargoyle at 1:14 PM on January 20
posted by zengargoyle at 1:14 PM on January 20
n=54. What a joke! (OK, more than I would have expected, but still seems small.)
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:19 PM on January 20
posted by Mr.Know-it-some at 1:19 PM on January 20
All this so IPG will soon be able to add Jokes to its Chat, then?
posted by jamjam at 1:52 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
posted by jamjam at 1:52 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
Mandatory comment
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qklvh5Cp_Bs
posted by olykate at 2:31 PM on January 20
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qklvh5Cp_Bs
posted by olykate at 2:31 PM on January 20
The secret of comedy is...
relevant David Mitchell outtake from Was it Something I Said?
posted by juv3nal at 3:10 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
relevant David Mitchell outtake from Was it Something I Said?
posted by juv3nal at 3:10 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
The secret of comedy is...
surprise, the bigger the surprise, the better the joke ... except some folks really don't like surprises
posted by philip-random at 3:15 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
surprise, the bigger the surprise, the better the joke
Exactly. The punchline has to be unexpected to make you laugh. It’s why you don’t actually enjoy an obvious joke even if you can see why it should be funny.
posted by stopgap at 3:35 PM on January 20
Exactly. The punchline has to be unexpected to make you laugh. It’s why you don’t actually enjoy an obvious joke even if you can see why it should be funny.
posted by stopgap at 3:35 PM on January 20
Speak for yourself...
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
The secret of comedy is...
Also, whoopie cushions!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
Also, whoopie cushions!
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]
Two peanuts were walking down the street. And one was assaulted.
Stephen Colbert describes the perfect joke
posted by fairmettle at 4:04 PM on January 20
Stephen Colbert describes the perfect joke
posted by fairmettle at 4:04 PM on January 20
The punchline has to be unexpected to make you laugh. It’s why you don’t actually enjoy an obvious joke even if you can see why it should be funny.
posted by stopgap 37 minutes ago [+] [⚑]
Speak for yourself...
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM
see that surprised me. I laughed.
posted by philip-random at 4:14 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
posted by stopgap 37 minutes ago [+] [⚑]
Speak for yourself...
posted by Greg_Ace at 3:50 PM
see that surprised me. I laughed.
posted by philip-random at 4:14 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
The Act of Creation by Art Koestler describes a punch-line like breaking through ice on a lake. Going from one level to another...
posted by ovvl at 5:26 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
posted by ovvl at 5:26 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
Stephen Colbert describes the perfect joke
I strongly suspect he picked that (dumb, and this is me saying that!) joke to deliberately avoid trying to explain "humor" to some witless news personality. I refuse to believe a comedian as talented and funny as Colbert thinks "one was a salted" is the epitome of the art form.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:36 PM on January 20
I strongly suspect he picked that (dumb, and this is me saying that!) joke to deliberately avoid trying to explain "humor" to some witless news personality. I refuse to believe a comedian as talented and funny as Colbert thinks "one was a salted" is the epitome of the art form.
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:36 PM on January 20
that's the joke
posted by glonous keming at 6:14 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
posted by glonous keming at 6:14 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
It's the way you write them up.
posted by flabdablet at 6:17 PM on January 20
posted by flabdablet at 6:17 PM on January 20
I strongly suspect he picked that (dumb, and this is me saying that!) joke to deliberately avoid trying to explain "humor" to some witless news personality.
Given Colbert's long and public association with nazism, my best guess would be that he chose it to honor the Wehrmacht's decision to deploy it during WW2.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:23 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Given Colbert's long and public association with nazism, my best guess would be that he chose it to honor the Wehrmacht's decision to deploy it during WW2.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 6:23 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Given Colbert's long and public association with nazism
If this is a joke, I think I need it explained to me.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 6:27 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
If this is a joke, I think I need it explained to me.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 6:27 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
Yo momma is a three-element joke
posted by eustatic at 6:41 PM on January 20 [6 favorites]
posted by eustatic at 6:41 PM on January 20 [6 favorites]
If this is a joke, I think I need it explained to me
The psychiatric patient either did not comprehend or refused to acknowledge that the president was not part of the cohort promised a meat bun for applauding, and further assumed that the president's failure to applaud was risking non-delivery of rewards for everyone. Ha ha mad people are funny.
posted by flabdablet at 6:43 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
The psychiatric patient either did not comprehend or refused to acknowledge that the president was not part of the cohort promised a meat bun for applauding, and further assumed that the president's failure to applaud was risking non-delivery of rewards for everyone. Ha ha mad people are funny.
posted by flabdablet at 6:43 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Science has really let itself go.
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 6:53 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
posted by rrrrrrrrrt at 6:53 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Oh no, I get that one. I just wandered what association Stephen Colbert had with Nazis. Or if this was another joke, flying over my head.
posted by The Manwich Horror at 6:54 PM on January 20
posted by The Manwich Horror at 6:54 PM on January 20
On the long dawn walk home after a very drunken and weird night out, a good friend told me about two lemons falling off a cliff, one of whom turned to the other and said "last time I did this, I damn near killed myself".
At the time, this struck me as hysterically funny.
Took me years to work out that they weren't lemons at all, but lemmings. So, probably.
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 PM on January 20 [8 favorites]
At the time, this struck me as hysterically funny.
Took me years to work out that they weren't lemons at all, but lemmings. So, probably.
posted by flabdablet at 7:13 PM on January 20 [8 favorites]
If this is a joke, I think I need it explained to me.
(A) The killer joke is an (obviously, it has to be) old Monty Python skit in which a British gentleman writes a joke so funny that it causes a hearer to die laughing
(B) During the skit, the British weaponize the joke by translating into German as "Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!"
(C) The Germans attempt their own killer joke, which turns out to be the assaulted peanuts joke
(D) Therefore, one might use the assaulted peanuts joke out of devotion to nazism. Colbert is not actually a nazi; I had thought his political leanings were well-known enough that this was like starting with "Given Joe Biden's well-developed skills as an occult practitioner..." or "Given Steven Seagal's phd work in biochemistry..."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:30 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
(A) The killer joke is an (obviously, it has to be) old Monty Python skit in which a British gentleman writes a joke so funny that it causes a hearer to die laughing
(B) During the skit, the British weaponize the joke by translating into German as "Wenn ist das Nunstück git und Slotermeyer? Ja! Beiherhund das Oder die Flipperwaldt gersput!"
(C) The Germans attempt their own killer joke, which turns out to be the assaulted peanuts joke
(D) Therefore, one might use the assaulted peanuts joke out of devotion to nazism. Colbert is not actually a nazi; I had thought his political leanings were well-known enough that this was like starting with "Given Joe Biden's well-developed skills as an occult practitioner..." or "Given Steven Seagal's phd work in biochemistry..."
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:30 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]
Given Joe Biden's well-developed skills as an occult practitioner...
An FPP waiting happen, right there
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:34 PM on January 20
An FPP waiting happen, right there
posted by cupcakeninja at 7:34 PM on January 20
Seagal's doctorate is a surprisingly amusing read, fwiw.
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 PM on January 20
posted by flabdablet at 7:38 PM on January 20
As demonstrated by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace’s explanation, a joke’s punchline should be surprising and also recognizable.
posted by notyou at 7:51 PM on January 20
posted by notyou at 7:51 PM on January 20
"Most previous studies have used two-element (setup and punch line) jokes as stimuli and have been based on an experimental design and cross-material methods, such as comparisons of funny jokes with nonfunny nonjokes, as well as comparisons of material with incongruity and resolution with material that has incongruity but no resolution (i.e., a comparison of joke types between sentences) ... Furthermore, previous studies have mainly conducted comparisons in the two elements of setup and punch line to clarify the process of humor processing. The main contribution of this study lies in its use of a specific three-element joke."
Says the unfunniest guys in the room.
Ya know, they call it a sense of humor.
posted by Relay at 8:06 PM on January 20
Says the unfunniest guys in the room.
Ya know, they call it a sense of humor.
posted by Relay at 8:06 PM on January 20
One thing that interests me professionally is that the use of the term “meat bun” skews things in English because it’s a non-standard food item and thus a little more distracting to process (and if you happen to know about a foodstuff from another culture commonly translated as “meat bun,” part of you might immediately get distracted thinking about the translation process).
posted by No-sword at 8:47 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
posted by No-sword at 8:47 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
it’s a non-standard food item and thus a little more distracting to process
Exactly. How could this kind of research possibly be regarded as sound before the scientific community has settled on a universally accepted numbering convention for humorous anecdotes and the components thereof?
Get on it, NIST.
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
Exactly. How could this kind of research possibly be regarded as sound before the scientific community has settled on a universally accepted numbering convention for humorous anecdotes and the components thereof?
Get on it, NIST.
posted by flabdablet at 10:36 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
METAFILTER: the unfunniest guys in the room.
posted by philip-random at 10:52 PM on January 20 [6 favorites]
posted by philip-random at 10:52 PM on January 20 [6 favorites]
All the TLAs (AMG, MTG, MFG, FWE, SVC, EPI, ITI, IFG, SFG, GLM, FOV, VTA, SNR, MNI, IPL) went into a bar
. . . and asked for GIN.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:20 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
. . . and asked for GIN.
posted by BobTheScientist at 11:20 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]
So, probably.
When I was about ten someone told me a similar joke: 'What did the earwig say when he fell off a cliff? "'Ere we go!"' and I was uncontrollable with laughter for about fifteen minutes. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I realised it was a pun. Timing and delivery are everything.
posted by Hogshead at 8:12 AM on January 21
When I was about ten someone told me a similar joke: 'What did the earwig say when he fell off a cliff? "'Ere we go!"' and I was uncontrollable with laughter for about fifteen minutes. It wasn't until I was in my late teens that I realised it was a pun. Timing and delivery are everything.
posted by Hogshead at 8:12 AM on January 21
There are four sample jokes (out of sixty) in the supplementary material associated with the paper. They're all solidly in Sensible Chuckle territory. Only one was new to me. (Jack is told to stop farting so much. His whole body starts quivering and bouncing. He explains, "I've set it to vibrate.")
If you got on stage at an open mic and read these jokes as printed, you'd get heckled off. But they're all jokes with staying power because they are funny; it's a question of details and delivery, which is about knowing your audience.
When I tell the one about the woman whose daughter has spent six months believing she is a chicken (which is a funnier word than "hen"), the half-year delay in seeking help is not because the family is waiting for eggs; it's because the family has been enjoying the eggs.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:21 AM on January 21 [2 favorites]
If you got on stage at an open mic and read these jokes as printed, you'd get heckled off. But they're all jokes with staying power because they are funny; it's a question of details and delivery, which is about knowing your audience.
When I tell the one about the woman whose daughter has spent six months believing she is a chicken (which is a funnier word than "hen"), the half-year delay in seeking help is not because the family is waiting for eggs; it's because the family has been enjoying the eggs.
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:21 AM on January 21 [2 favorites]
[timing!]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:21 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 8:21 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
The Germans attempt their own killer joke, which turns out to be the assaulted peanuts joke
They botch it, though. Their punchline was something like "one was a salted peanut and the other one was unsalted."
posted by anhedonic at 8:33 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
They botch it, though. Their punchline was something like "one was a salted peanut and the other one was unsalted."
posted by anhedonic at 8:33 AM on January 21 [1 favorite]
Authoritarians weaponize humor to normalize mistreatment of people. "You didn't like my joke. Don't cancel me, lib. It's for the lulz. Get a sense of humor."
Anything in the article about using humor to dissolve that?
posted by otherchaz at 10:49 AM on January 21
Anything in the article about using humor to dissolve that?
posted by otherchaz at 10:49 AM on January 21
It's funny because it's bigger than a normal hat.
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:31 PM on January 21
posted by The_Vegetables at 3:31 PM on January 21
Norm MacDonald said the perfect joke is one where the setup and the punchline are as close to identical as possible.
Actress Julia Roberts divorced husband Lyle Lovett this week. She said the grounds were that she realized she was Julia Roberts and he was Lyle Lovett.
posted by Billiken at 6:14 AM on January 22 [3 favorites]
Actress Julia Roberts divorced husband Lyle Lovett this week. She said the grounds were that she realized she was Julia Roberts and he was Lyle Lovett.
posted by Billiken at 6:14 AM on January 22 [3 favorites]
Anecdatum: I told my son (16) about this article today, and got genuine laughs for all four of the sample jokes (followed in each case by "that joke is stupid"). I said "hamburgers" instead of "meat buns."
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:41 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]
posted by fantabulous timewaster at 11:41 PM on January 22 [1 favorite]
They botch it, though. Their punchline was something like "one was a salted peanut and the other one was unsalted."
It's not so much that they botch it, but that the joke teller explains it, and then laughs weakly at it. "... und one vos assaulted... peanut. ... Ha ha ha ha ..."
This is funny in context because of the perfect timing of the delivery of the bad, failed joke, and the lightly puzzled reaction of the British couple listening.
posted by Devoidoid at 7:23 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
It's not so much that they botch it, but that the joke teller explains it, and then laughs weakly at it. "... und one vos assaulted... peanut. ... Ha ha ha ha ..."
This is funny in context because of the perfect timing of the delivery of the bad, failed joke, and the lightly puzzled reaction of the British couple listening.
posted by Devoidoid at 7:23 AM on January 24 [1 favorite]
MEIN DOG HAS NO NOSE
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:30 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 7:30 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]
HOW DOES HE HUNT
posted by flabdablet at 5:04 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]
posted by flabdablet at 5:04 PM on January 24 [1 favorite]
TIMING!
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:25 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
posted by Greg_Ace at 5:25 PM on January 24 [2 favorites]
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