Is Johnny Bravo a chicken? The gap between expectation and the surprise result can make you laugh. © Cartoon Network.

What’s Funny?
Why does Johnny Bravo refuse to cross the road?…Because he’s no chicken!

What makes you laugh? Or more importantly what makes your audience laugh? Humor varies from culture to culture and from age to age. In comedy we set up a situation, increase the tension, and suddenly we’re stopped cold by something unexpected. Emotion gushes out, tension is relieved and exploded in laughter. Or at least that’s the way it’s supposed to work! And it will if you set up the gag right. Comedy is a contrast between two incompatible frames of reference linked in an unexpected and sudden way. You lead the audience down the garden path (the set up), and then zap! Surprise is all-important. Generally, the bigger the surprise, the bigger the belly laugh. Two classic baby jokes: peek-a-boo and the jack-in-the-box. There’s the build up, the expectation, then the pop or shock. A running gag is a little different, as it gets funnier with each repetition. Often there’s a twist as the gag repeats. Think of The Roadrunner, one long running gag. Some forms of comedy, such as satire, don’t rely on a single effect, but a series of minor explosions or a continuous state of mild amusement. Experts believe that all comedy contains an impulse of aggression or fear. It’s these emotions that are released when we laugh. Repression can contribute to a bigger laugh. Repression is the reason that gross-out and potty humor get belly laughs. In all comedy the energy of the comedy is important. Whether a situation is tragic or funny depends upon the audience’s attitude, whether that attitude is dominated by pity or malice. Who is slipping on the ice? Is it the little old lady or the school bully?

Animation Comedy
Animation comedy is above all, visual with plenty of sight gags. It uses motion and misuses the laws of physics. The comedy is exaggerated and often illogical. Dialogue may be “smart” with comebacks, put-downs, puns, rhymes or alliteration. Titles are funny.

Mistaken identity is used as a comedy device in The Emperor's New Groove. © Walt Disney Pictures. All rights reserved.

Comedy Out of a Character’s Personality
Some of the funniest comedy develops out of a character’s personality. What makes that character naturally funny? Use a character’s attitude, mannerisms and dialogue to increase the comedy. Reactions can often be funnier than the gag that has gone before. Use characters as different from each other as possible so that these conflicting personalities can bounce off of each other in a funny way.