8 Common Kinds of Joke in English
Below are eight of the most common kinds of joke in English. Why not try to write your own jokes using these models?
- pun with homonym
Q: Why couldn’t the elephant go on holiday?
A: Because it was impossible to pack his trunk.
- pun with homophone
Q: Why did the tennis equipment factory have to close down?
A: Because they kept making a racket.
- pun based on an idiom
A: Look – that guard outside Buckingham Palace has just removed his bearskin.
B: I bet that’s a weight off his mind.
- mixed match
Q: What do you get when you cross an unsolicited message with tinned meat?
A: A spam email.
- riddle (logic)
Q: What weighs both 8.75 g and 454 g?
A: A pound.
- comparison
Q: What is the difference between a nag that delivers letters and a man with a sore throat?
A: One is a mail horse and the other is a hoarse male.
- reverse expectations
I woke up, had a wash, got dressed, had breakfast, and brushed my teeth. Then I got off the bus.
- knock knock
A: Knock, knock.
B: Who’s there?
A: Wa.
B: Wa who?
A: No need to be so enthusiastic!
Material for further discussion:
What is humour?
For example:
Surprising juxtapositions:
“Humour is evoked when a trigger contained in the punchline causes the audience to abruptly shift its understanding of the story from the primary (or more obvious) interpretation to a secondary, opposing interpretation.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joke
Why do we laugh?
For example: surprise, shock, recognition, embarrassment, etc.
Find out more: The 7 Real Reasons for Laughing | Psychology Today
Are the English joke models above similar to joke models in your language?
Please give some examples.
What other kinds of joke can you think of?
For example:
- The rule of three: establish, reinforce, subvert (expectations)
- One-liner
- Shaggy dog story – a long, rambling story with a surprising punchline. The humour is in the way it is told
- Observation about life in general
- Anecdote about your life
- Call-back to an earlier gag – the audience is pleasantly reminded of an earlier funny event
- Other wordplay based on homonyms, homophones, double meanings
- Shock joke: sick, transgressional, taboo, e.g. sexist, racist, bad language, anti-minority groups
- Practical joke – you trick somebody you know, e.g. tying their shoelaces together when they’re not looking so they trip over
What’s your favourite joke? Why do you like it? Does it still make you laugh after hearing it many times?
Are you funny? Can you make people laugh? How do you do it? Do you do it consciously or by accident?
Who are your favourite comedians? What kinds of joke do they tell?
What other kinds of humour do you know?
For example:
- Situation-based, e.g. a sit-com
- Character-based
- Irony / sarcasm / self-deprecation
- Deadpan delivery
- Farce – events spiral out of control
- Slapstick – people falling over and getting in a mess
- Written humour: stories, limericks (5 lines, rhyme scheme: A, A, B, B, A)
- Roast – friends making fun of one another
What is your favourite comedy show / film / book / comic strip, etc.? What kind of humour do they use?
See also:
Nine genres of comedy:
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Image: TheDigitalArtist on Pixaby.com; Smiling people photo created by kroshka__nastya on www.freepik.com
