What makes a joke funny?

Have you ever wonder, while laughing at just another joke, why you actually find it funny? 

There are several theories about why do we laugh at jokes, but the one we will be focusing on is "Superior Theory". 

The main idea of this theory is that jokes which we find the finniest have one common characteristic - they create the feeling of superior while we are reading or hearing them. 

How does in work? Well, we feel smart if we get a joke, we feel over the butt of the joke who appears to be stupid in it. 

Generally speaking, the more superior a joke makes us feel - the more we laugh. 

That is the reason why we enjoy making jokes about the authority, in real life it has power over us, while in the joke authority people look silly. 

Have you ever noticed how people from one country make jokes about people from another? British people laugh at Irish or Mexican at American, and the other way around. In this case one group of people make themselves feel better and smarter by making jokes about other group and laughing about how stupid they are. 

Lets use as an example one of the funniest universal jokes : 

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says "OK, now what?"

We laugh at this joke because we feel smarter than the "stupid hunter" and we understand (unlike him) that "make sure" in this context means "to check".

So first of all this joke is superior. 

But there are two more important elements in this joke that makes it funny.

One of them is - "we laugh at things that make us feel anxious", according to Sigmund Freid.  

That is the reason why old people find jokes about getting older funny, or a student will laugh out loud at a joke about exams.

In our example the "anxious" element is the second hunter death, it provokes in us an anxious feeling, as we hear about the death. 

And the last element is "a surprise" in the joke  or a "pun joke" - we didn't expect the hunter to interpret the operator's words in such a way and to shout his friend. 

As well as, we like the jokes where we can play with different word's meanings and the jokes with unexpected ending. 

So now you know that the three elements - "surprise", "anxious feelings" and "superior" are the absolute recipe for a damn funny joke!  

Cheers and clean jokes to everyone!