Humor Mechanisms
Every joke in our 359,000-joke corpus is tagged with a primary humor mechanism. These are the eight that cover almost all of written and spoken comedy — each with its own mental mechanic, its own writing signals, and its own place on stage. Click any for a deep dive with real examples.
Incongruity-Resolution
The most common humor mechanism: a setup primes one script, the punchline reveals another.
Wordplay
One word, two meanings, weaponized.
Benign Violation
Something feels wrong — but also safe enough to be funny.
Superiority
Someone looks foolish, gets one-upped, or loses status.
Relief
Tension builds, then releases.
Absurdism
Sustained nonsense that refuses to resolve.
Meta-Humor
Jokes about jokes, anti-jokes, and fourth-wall breaks.
Imitation
Parody, satire, mimicry — humor that rides on recognition.
See a joke's full Comedy Stack
The Analyzer applies all eight mechanisms plus script opposition, compression score, and surprise level to any text you paste.
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