Today’s International Joke Day: What you need to know to tell a great one

July 1 marks the annual celebration of International Joke Day, which, according to NationalToday.com, is a day to get a grin out of your best friend and share a laugh on social media.

Created in 1994 by comedian Wayne Reinagel to promote his joke book, it has become a day where everyone from celebrities and politicians to companies and organizations tries their best to make the perfect joke.

Looking to get in on the fun? Here’s what you need to know.

What does a joke need to be funny?

There isn’t a single reason why someone might find something funny, but there are a few explanations for why they might.

“The argument I’m most compelled by is that the core of it is about kind of recognizing juxtaposition or something that’s kind of like that,” said Jeffrey Hall, a professor of communication studies at the University of Kansas. “You have an expectation that something is going to go one way, and then it goes another way.”

Jokes of this type fall into the broader category of humor called observational humor, characteristic of the sitcom “Seinfeld.”

“We find [them] pleasurable because we are observing the same shared reality, ‘Oh yeah, I’ve seen that or I’ve done that or I totally understand what you are getting at,’” Hall said.

Other forms of comedy, such as dark humor or slapstick, may require different characteristics to be seen as funny.

“The two elements for something to be funny to me are it has to be incongruous, has to [have] a surprise factor ... and then there has to be an absence of empathy. If there’s empathy, it’s never funny,” said Elden Hayes, a professor of French at KU. “Do we feel bad for Wile E. Coyote always getting the anvil dropped on his head? No, because there’s no empathy there. The second there’s empathy there, it stops being funny and it can be tragic instead.”

Simply having the elements of surprise and no empathy doesn’t mean everyone will find the joke funny, however.

“You can bring those two elements and still it’ll fall flat,” Hayes said. “The Three Stooges definitely fit into that model. And lots of people really hate the Three Stooges and don’t find them funny at all.”

What does a joke need to avoid to be funny?

Just like there are many reasons a joke can be funny, there are many reasons a joke might not be funny.

“When something is not funny, there are two principal reasons for it. One is it has to be explained, which means it’s just lost on the audience, or it is offensive,” Hayes said.

If the joke is offensive, it needs to be “really, really funny in order for you to compensate,” said comedian Ke’Juan Moses, a Wichita native.

Yet, the fine line between OK and offensive is often where humor lies.

“There’s a balance between risk and reward and humor that only works if people are willing to take some risks,” Hall said. “Humor that’s really rewarding is one that actually goes right along the lines of things which are maybe really weird or really inappropriate or touch a nerve.”

It’s for this reason that “dad jokes” or puns often result in a groan instead of a laugh.

“Dad jokes, so to speak, or puns have an extremely small difference between what’s being presented and arriving at a conclusion. There’s not much space there, and people groan because they recognize the form,” Hall said. “There’s no humor there, because there’s no distance to travel to the release of it being resolved. There’s no risk.”

So now, is it possible to write the perfect joke?

Probably not, according to Hall.

“Understanding the principles of why humor works doesn’t really give you any clues about what to do to become a funny person,” he said.

Instead, writing the perfect joke may just be working with it until you are happy with it.

“No joke is done. Every joke is as always under construction,” Moses said. “Read it back to yourself, write it, rewrite it, rearrange the order, try to add some tags, and have some thoughts.”

If you are stuck, Moses recommended changing your perspective and thinking about someone else telling the joke.

“[If] you were coming to see a comedian and they said this, would you laugh?” he said.

If nothing is working however, there’s always one thing to fall back on.

“When in doubt, fart jokes always work,” Hayes said. “If you’re 2 years old or if you’re 60 years old, a fart joke can always work.”