**TL;DR - All comedy is the mocking of pain, suffering, or humiliation. The degree of suffering can vary, but the end result is always the same: Jokes make fun of something.** > *"Comedy doesn't work unless somebody's getting offended."* > -- [George Carlin](https://lucien0maverick.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/explaining-comedy-to-sjws-a-response-to-laci-green/) Most comedy tends to fall under the umbrella of "it's funny because it's true." As [The Nostalgia Critic](https://channelawesome.com/nostalgia-critic-when-does-a-joke-go-too-far/) explains, "what most comedians realize is the more truth in pain you can emphasize, usually the more funny it is." People make jokes about tragic things like death, historic atrocities, and terrible contagious diseases all the time (I bet there are already quite a few COVID jokes out there). And some people laugh at them, others get offended. But those who laugh would obviously be horrified to encounter any of these things in real life. When I say that *ALL* comedy is based on pain, I literally do mean "all." While I won't cover an exhaustive list of all the types of comedy out there, I'll cover the most well-known ones here. **Slapstick:** Slapstick is the most obvious example of comedy based on suffering. The Nostalgia Critic cites the classic Tom and Jerry cartoons as the prime example of slapstick comedy, in which the characters are suffering visible pain that would, if witnessed in reality, not be funny because someone is getting hurt. **Irony:** [Irony has three forms](https://kidadl.com/articles/best-ironic-jokes-and-puns): dramatic, situational, and verbal. - Dramatic irony is where "The spectator is more aware of what happens in a plot than the characters." Imagine knowing what a character does not. Imagine the pain they must be going through not having the answer, or not knowing the tragedy/joy that is to come, or being so close to something yet so far. - For situational irony, I believe the above article illustrates it best: "Situational irony comes whenever something that is totally different from what was planned arises. These cases usually contain a sort of contradiction and a significant degree of confusion or shock. For instance, an individual has been working hard for decades, investing less to save retirement money. The individual suddenly has a freak heart attack the week before retirement and dies." - "Verbal irony happens when one thing is said by a character, but implies another." This can involve sarcasm, innuendos, and the like. Sarcasm is usually meant to knock someone down a peg or two, or to illustrate the flaws in someone else's argument. Innuendos are usually sexual, which is bound to offend someone. **Absurd Comedy:** Even for the comedy that is pure nonsense not based in reality, it is making fun of someone's silliness, silly ideas, or even their insanity. - Knock-knock jokes and puns often fall under this category. The joke is usually that someone is using the wrong word for something (thus mocking their ignorance), or they're substituting in some innuendo that some people would find offensive. - [Monty Python's comedy](https://www.cheekymonkeycomedy.com/how-absurd-comedy-works/) showcases how people would realistically react in situations that are absurd and would never happen in reality. It's mocking the pain these characters go through in their effort to make sense of the nonsensical. Note that there are varying degrees of pain within comedy, some so miniscule or subtle that most people don't even recognize it. The aforementioned knock-knock joke and puns are an example of this -- you have to think *really* hard about it to see the pain within the humor, but it's there. Funny faces are even based on someone's pain -- it's mocking how silly someone's face looks. Think about it -- when was the last time someone used a funny face to mock a teacher, authority figure, or friend? Even when parents are making funny faces to amuse their babies, it is -- in spirit -- mocking people who make silly faces. So there you have it. It hurts me to say it, but all comedy is based, in one way or another, on the pain, suffering, or humiliation of *someone*.

A key component of comedy is that a person(s), place, thing, idea, or concept has to suffer or undergo some form of insult. Someone or something must be in some form of misery.

Lots of comedic things have no connection to pain in any meaningful sense. Comedy is, more or less, whatever the heck is funny. Coincidences can be funny (don't have to be based on pain). Optical illusions can be funny. Weird colored, mismatched socks can be funny. A puppy's reaction to a grasshopper can be funny. Maybe you'd have a point that some of the finest comedy on Earth is based on pain, but comedy and pain are not strictly mutually inclusive.