Whilst there seems to be no limit to the range of things that make us laugh, most writing for laughter appears to be derived from only two or three elements:

• surprise,
• human nature and/or
• language.

We will devote one or more classes to each of these. By way of introduction, however, let us consider each in outline.

SURPRISE

The most prominent feature of most jokes is the punch-line, which largely determines whether the joke will meet with laughter, smiles, groans, embarrassed silence or even outrage.

However complex or simple the build-up towards the punch-line, the aim is invariably to surprise the listener/reader by creating and maintaining a sense of anticipation and then discharging it in an unexpected way.

The process of unfolding a joke is much the same as telling any story, whether humorous or not:

• The narrative is designed to capture and hold the attention.
• Questions are deliberately raised and left unanswered in the reader's/listener's mind.
• "Red herrings" may be employed to create false expectations.
• The punch-line then resolves the issues, ideally in an unexpected way.

Our laughter is prompted to some extent by our recognition of the elegance and wit of the narrative. It is also usually prompted by the recognition that we have been tricked: into expecting one thing (or into not knowing at all what to expect), only to be given another that is no less plausible and possibly a good deal cleverer than our spontaneous thoughts.

Whatever the true causes of laughter, there can be no doubting the importance of surprise. Think of the groans that invariably greet an old joke, known to everyone who hears. The best joke-tellers take care to introduce new twists and turns in their narratives and even to adapt punch lines so that the audience is never sure where the narrative is going to lead.

(This is not to suggest that jokes are necessarily a once-only affair. The enduring popularity of the best comic literature and drama shows that, provided the humour is sufficiently multi-faceted to re-engage the attention, even the most familiar "surprises" can still retain their freshness.)

HUMAN NATURE

Arguably the greatest source of humour by far is human nature: the way we are, the things we do and the things that happen to us.

The diversity of human nature is an endless source of fascination. The uniqueness of our individuality causes us to view others' behaviour as strange and often amusing.

• We laugh to see someone behaving stupidly, in the sense of failing to grasp some basic fact or concept that is evident to us;
• We laugh to see evil overcome by good humoured intelligence or even by base stupidity;
• We laugh with people who have the courage to laugh at themselves;
• And so on.

Insofar as humanity is the focus of the world as we see it, human nature lies at the heart of almost all humour. Jokes or situations involving animals, for instance, invariably depend on the attribution of human behaviours to them.

LANGUAGE

Without language (in the broadest sense of the word (spoken, written, visual, etc), of course, humour would not exist.

However the words, signs and symbols that we use to communicate meaning have such a richness of associations that their potential for ambiguity is limitless. Accordingly, it is not at all surprising that language conveys its own humour in addition to the ostensible meaning of the narrative.

In other words, language presents its own sub-text, studded with little punch-lines in the form of puns, rhymes, well-chosen metaphors and so on. The story might still be enjoyable without them, but it is enriched by their inclusion.

THE GENTLE FLOW OF HUMOUR

The subject of writing for laughter need not necessarily be approached from the perspective of writing quick-fire jokes: the ability to pull brilliant one-liners out of thin air is not given to us all, perhaps other than in occasional moments of inspiration.

Most people feel much more comfortable with the idea of establishing a situation that has comic potential and allowing the humour to emerge as part of the process of writing. This course is principally concerned with this situation-based approach to writing for laughter, not least since it helps us to think of humour as an integral part of every writer's tool-kit rather than a specialist resource for the stand-up comedian.