"funny"? ...sure, it's like 'folk', 'beautiful', 'tasty', 'important', and 'moral'.....it depends on who's doing the analysis and what the context is. Now if you'll just settle back for 3-4 hours, I'll lay out the basics and....hey! wait.....


Seriously, it DOES depend on many things. What is funny to a bunch of 9 year olds practicing smarmy jokes, may not be a bit funny to educated, urbane adults at a night club.

And there are so many kinds of 'funny'...jokes, sight gags, use of language, bad puns, stories of people in 'strange' situations..etc..

It IS the case that much humor depends on some concious entity (not necessarily human) being the brunt of the joke...(like a kitten chasing a flashlight beam). Some humor is not at all funny to the subject of the joke..(i.e., mean ethnic jokes..[unless told BY a member of the group])..see how complicated it can be?

And a good joke, told badly, can be a real flop. Sometimes one word or inflection can make 'sorta cute' into 'hilarious'.

...and some educated, urbane adults STILL titter at smarmy jokes like 9 year olds tell. I know 3-4 of them.