9 Jokes Research Proved to Be Funny
By Reader's Digest Editors of Reader's Digest |
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.
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.
Here are the jokes that came out on top. How funny do you think they are? These are the 50 jokes that we think are the funniest.
