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There is no 'magic formula' that makes something funny to all audiences. Every professional comedian has people who like them and people who don't. People have different tastes in humor just as they do in food, music and other things. That being said, there are some common elements found in most things people find to be funny.

1. Surprise:
Whether it is incongruity (things which don't normally go together), a double-entendre (a word or homophone pair which can be taken two different ways), another play on words (as in a pun), or an unexpected turn of events, the element of surprise occurs in the majority of funny things. It is present in jokes, cartoons, funny stories and slapstick (physical humor). If you have ever watched "America's Funniest Home Videos", then you know that they are usually funny because something unexpected happens. Bob Markoff, Cartoon Editor for the New Yorker magazine, cites the element of surprise as the primary, indispensible element in visual humor.

In textual or verbal humor, surprise usually works most effectively when placed at the end of the joke. Compare the following examples:

1. What is the proper term for referring to a transvestite? "He" is misleading; "she"
is inaccurate; "it" is dehumanizing; and "tranny" is derogatory. I guess I'll just
stick with "dad".

2. My dad is a transvestite. I don't know whether to call him "he", "she", "it" or
"tranny".

The second example is backwards - and not really even funny.

The surprise can be almost anything. It can be as simple as someone saying or doing something out of character - which only works for characters we are already familiar with, such as in a sitcom. Another, subtler twist on surprise is the use of 'taboo' - usually references to sex, bodily functions, racial stereotypes or something gross (the last being very common in kids' humor):

Why do gorillas have big nostrils? Because they have big fingers!

2. Structure:
Alluded to in the previous section, structure is just as important as surprise, and is often what makes it a surprise. A joke or cartoon or sketch is just a short way to tell a story, and like any good story it must:
* have a conflict, or tension;
* build on that tension;
* release that tension with a climax (or 'punchline', in the case of a joke).
(Note: a 'euphemism' is humorous because it leads you right to the edge - tension - then lets you cross the threshold yourself).
All the advice you hear about timing, and including or excluding details, etc., is all useless with

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