Knock, knock! In pursuit of a grand unified theory of humour
What makes a joke funny?
Humour comes in many forms, from slapstick to sarcasm to knock knock jokes. Author and humourist William Hartston explained them all in this talk about what makes us laugh and why.
During the event, William gave our audience a survey with a list of ten jokes to rate on a scale from 1 to 5. He also asked each audience member to pick their favourite of the ten jokes. The results confirm that our senses of humour are all different—every single joke was the favourite of at least one person!
Which joke tickles your funny bone? Take William's joke survey, submit your ratings, and choose your favourite joke to see how your sense of humour stacks up with the rest of our respondents'!
About the speaker
After reading maths at Jesus College, Cambridge, William Hartston played too much chess to complete his PhD, which led to his twice winning the British Chess Championship. While writing far too many chess books, he worked as an industrial psychologist on the development and interpretation of personality tests. He has also written books about Puzzles, Sloths, Numeracy, Sex, Useless Information and The Things Nobody Knows. He is also an opera critic but still does not know what he wants to be when he grows up.
