We all love to laugh, I think.
Laughter has proven to be good for humans. Numerous studies have found that it reduces our stress levels, and boost our immunity. Laughing can also improve our physical health, among other things. I love the scene in Mary Poppins with the “I Love To Laugh” song, where they all float up to the ceiling the harder they laugh.
Yeah. It is good.
These days, it seems that people use TikTok and YouTube to try to be funny. Often times they are, posting hilarious videos of dogs climbing up on counters, or some toddler talking about the greater nuances of life.
But throughout history, people have tried to find ways to make other people laugh. Pratt falls like tripping over their own feet. Standing on their heads. Wearing round red noses that beep when you squeeze them.
And then there are the jokes.
Jokes have changed over the years, I think. Most people avoid them now, as so many are politically incorrect, or just plain old insensitive. But back in the day, jokes were as common place as tying a shoe.
But why are some jokes funnier than others?
Some jokes may just elicit a small chuckle while others will have you laughing so hard that you cry. So, what makes certain jokes better than others?
Researchers at Oxford University conducted a study to find out. They analyzed the reactions of 55 undergraduates from the London School of Economics to 65 different jokes claiming to be the funniest jokes of all time.
The jokes were mostly from standup comedians. Some were one-liners and others were longer and more complex.
The result? In the end, they found that the jokes that got the most laughs have two characters and up to five levels of back and forth between the comedian and the audience.
If jokes became too intricate, people lost interest and didn’t find them as funny. Increasing the “mentalizing complexity” of a joke does make it better, but only up to a certain point. So, not too complex, not too simple.
Here are a couple of the jokes that came out on top.
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Mr. Fix It
A newlywed couple moves into their new house.
One day the husband comes home from work and his wife says, “Honey, you know, in the upstairs bathroom one of the pipes is leaking, could you fix it?”
The husband says, “What do I look like, Mr. Plumber?”
A few days go by, and he comes home from work and his wife says, “Honey, the car won’t start. I think it needs a new battery. Could you change it for me?”
He says, “What do I look like, Mr. Goodwrench?”
Another few days go by, and it’s raining pretty hard. The wife finds a leak in the roof. She says, “Honey, there’s a leak on the roof! Can you please fix it?”
He says, “What do I look like, Bob Vila?”
The next day the husband comes home, and the roof is fixed. So is the plumbing. So is the car. He asks his wife what happened.
“Oh, I had a handyman come in and fix them,” she says.
“Great! How much is that going to cost me?” he snarls.
The wife says, “Nothing. He said he’d do it for free if I either baked him a cake or slept with him.”
“Uh, well, what kind of cake did you make?” asks the husband.
“What do I look like,” she says, “Betty Crocker?”
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One wish each
Three guys stranded on a desert island find a magic lantern containing a genie, who grants them each one wish. The first guy wishes he was off the island and back home. The second guy wishes the same. The third guy says: “I’m lonely. I wish my friends were back here.”
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And there we have it.
As they say in Singin’ In The Rain, “Make ‘Em Laugh.”
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“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.”
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol
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“If we couldn’t laugh we would all go insane.”
― Robert Frost
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“I don’t trust anyone who doesn’t laugh.”
― Maya Angelou
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