Anti-humor

From ArticleWorld

Anti - Humour is a kind of indirect humour in which the joke – teller says something that is intentionally not funny or lacks any inner meaning. When the narration begins, the audience expects something funny and when this is not outcome, the irony of the situation is itself funny. Numerous hoaxes and pranks have their roots in anti – humour.

Examples

The most famous example of an anti – humour joke is “Why did the chicken cross the road?” and the answer is “To get to the other side”. But this one has been told so many times that it has passed into the realm of humour. Mundane answers when a funny one is expected is usually a form of anti – humour. The punchline of such jokes end with a full stop instead of an exclamation mark to indicate its superficial non – humour. The common prank of the no soap radio joke is an example of anti – humour.

Another type is the shaggy dog story which involves weaving a long tale often with mystic undertones and repetitive plot which enthralls the audience into wanting to hear the end, and then ending the story with a flat line or a weak pun like “better late than never”. Such jokes may take a long time to tell and hence are considered excellent pastimes by many.

‘Dead Body’ / ‘Dead Baby’ Jokes

These anti – jokes have punchlines that are often gruesome or horribly violent. They may be graphic and relate to death and infanticide. Some examples are :

“Q. How many babies does it take to paint a barn? A. Depends on how hard you throw them.”

“Q. What did the little boy with no arms or legs get for Christmas? A. Cancer”

“Knock, knock. Who is there? The police. I'm afraid there's been a serious road traffic accident; your partner is in intensive care.”