ABSTRACT
We tell jokes to amuse people, to generate laughter. This laughter is a response to messages we have been given about relationships among people, places, and things. Laughter is a response to information—but a special kind—which is based, so different theorists suggest, on incongruities, masked aggression, a feeling of superiority, or things such as signs and play frames. They are minimal elements of the joke such as actions undertaken by individuals, or things said. The joke establishes relationships among the individuals in the joke or makes reference to the experiences of listeners and their relationships with others. The response to the telling of the joke and the establishment of relationships that are suddenly and unexpectedly altered by the punch line. The codes upon which the jokes are based must be known and explicit. In some cultures, mothers-in-law or old people or certain animals have high status and are not seen as the proper subject of humor.
