I've sat down with people from other countries with whom I've shared not one word in common. People from China, India, Lithuania, Ghana, Mexico to name but a few and made connections with those people during which time we have been creased up with laughter based on mutual understanding of things where we knew of each other that we both "got it".
Likewise, I have tried to explain to people who have the same first language as me, and who are equally as proficient in it as I am, why I find something funny and the understandng has simply not been there.
Humour transcends every rule, and it breaks down every barrier - eventually - well ... nearly every barrier then ...
It builds trust, it calms down arguments, it starts friendships, and it makes sorrow and hardship easier to bear.