1 . Humor Dictionary

Observational humour is based on comments about everyday life. Comedians who use this type of humour often start by saying, Have you ever noticed how...? Then, they make funny comments about everyday things such as work, marriage, children, etc. This trend began in the 1970s with US comedians such as Bill Cosby and Jay Leno.

Slapstick humour is very physical. It involves characters falling down, hitting people or crashing into things. This type of comedy is very common in cartoons such as Tom and Jerry, Mickey Mouse and Donald Duck. Typical comedians, such as Laurel, Hardy (from The Three Stooges), Charlie Chaplin, Rowan Atkinson are people’s favorites.

Self-deprecating humour involves making jokes about yourself or drawing attention to your faults. George Costanza from the comedy series Seinfeld uses a lot of self-deprecating humour, often making jokes about his lack of hair, his weight and his shallow personality. Comedians such as Chris Farley, Conan O’Brien, David Letterman and Woody Allen also use self-deprecating comedy.

Toilet humour often focuses on the noises and functions of the body. It’s often viewed as rude, impolite and childish, although many people find it very funny. There is a hilarious scene involving toilet humour in the film Along Came Polly, Reuben (Ben Stiller) is invited back to Polly’s apartment (Jennifer Aniston). After dinner, Reuben accidentally blocks the toilet. In an attempt to unblock it, he uses her hand-embroidered towel (a gift from her grandmother) and an expensive loofah. Eventually, the toilet overflows, leaving Reuben with no option but to leave.