Different Types of Humor

Watching stand up comedians performing on television shows or on the stage makes us laugh our heart out! Certainly, humor must be a part of our life to break its monotonicity and boredom. An awesome sense of humor is considered to be an effective personality trait that helps you to communicate your ideas and beliefs to the people in an effective manner.

One wonders what are various types of humor in writing? Writers have been genius in conveying emotions through various methods of humor. Some types of verbal humor that are often used in literature are pun, malapropism, spoonerism, mixed metaphor, satire etc. Let us take a look at some of the types of Humor.

Exaggeration in literature is more closely known as hyperbole. Although, hyperbole is used to intensify some situation or something, it often leads to humor. One of the hyperbole examples is, "I caught a fish as big as my bungalow".

Incongruity is lack of harmony between two statements or events. An example of this is the book Animal Farm, by George Orwell. Incongruity also leads to humor often because a tense situation may eventually lead to nothing, making us laugh. Incongruity is regarded as one of the several types of humor when used effectively.

Surprise elements are always found in literature by creating suspense, introducing new characters and sometimes giving an unexpected end to a situation.

Slapstick, generally more prevalent in comedies, is also conveyed in literature through events that are often beyond the common sense to understand and judge. It surely makes us laugh and eases any tension in the story. Slapstick is widely popular in comedies of iconic Charlie Chaplin.

One of the most popular forms of humor in literature that is hailed to be a sharp, bitter or cutting remark on something or someone. The intensity of ridicule or mockery is often a bit harsh and terse in sarcasm. Generally, sarcasm is closely related to irony however, many people find it to be different than irony.

Puns are a common source of humor in jokes and they certainly are one of the commonest types of humor. For instance, consider this statement; 'which disease can one associate with cigarettes? Answer: Premature death.

Irony is a very popular form of figure of speech used in literature. Verbal, dramatic and situational irony are various forms of irony that have been frequently used in literature. Irony generally means that something that has been said or done is different than what the speaker meant.

Advertising or movies, both have an advantage when it comes to expressing humor as they've the power of visual and audio media to communicate their messages. And certainly, humor is best conveyed through actions, tone of speech and correct timing of words.