ladbible homepage
ladbible homepage
  • iconNews
  • videos
  • entertainment
  • Home
  • News
    • UK
    • US
    • World
    • Ireland
    • Australia
    • Science
    • Crime
    • Weather
  • Entertainment
    • Celebrity
    • TV
    • Film
    • Music
    • Gaming
    • Netflix
    • Disney
  • Sport
  • Technology
  • Travel
  • Lifestyle
  • Money
  • Originals
    • FFS PRODUCTIONS
    • Say Maaate to a Mate
    • Daily Ladness
    • UOKM8?
    • FreeToBe
    • Citizen Reef
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Archive
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
Snapchat
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content Here
  • SPORTbible
  • Tyla
  • GAMINGbible
  • LADbible Group
  • UNILAD
  • FOODbible
  • UNILAD Tech
The World's Funniest Joke Has Been Revealed By Scientific Experts

Home> News

Published 17:14 1 Jul 2022 GMT+1

The World's Funniest Joke Has Been Revealed By Scientific Experts

What do you make of it?

Frankie Golding

Frankie Golding

google discoverFollow us on Google Discover

In honour of today being International Joke Day, we are revealing the world's funniest joke, according to scientific experts.

A scientist has put their hard-earned PhD to good use and officially discovered what the world's funniest joke is. 

Watch Gregory Brown discuss it on his YouTube channel here: 

The finding of the world’s funniest joke is actually based on a study conducted 20 years ago.

Psychologist Dr Richard Wiseman set up the study through website LaughLab in 2001, where, over the course of a year, he invited 1.5 million people across the world to rate five randomly selected jokes out of a database of over 40,000. 

Advert

The results are in. The funniest joke in the world is... 

Knock knock... "Who's th-" 

OK, I'm just messing. The best joke in the world is not a knock knock joke. It's this one here: 

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps: "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says: "Calm down, I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence, then a shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says: "OK, now what?" 

What do you make of that then? Considering a joke isn't likely to be at its most side-splittingly hysterical when muttered to yourself, it's not bad is it? 

Pexels

Wiseman said this joke came out on top because of its universal appeal.

He told The Guardian: "Many of the jokes submitted received higher ratings from certain groups of people, but this one had real universal appeal. 

"Also, we find jokes funny for lots of different reasons. They sometimes make us feel superior to others, reduce the emotional impact of anxiety-provoking situations or surprise us because of some kind of incongruity. The hunters joke contained all three elements." 

This sense of surprise is critical, according to Scott Weems, author of Ha! The Science of When We Laugh and Why. 

Discussing Wiseman's study in the HuffPost, he said: "I believe comedy tastes vary so widely because humour isn't about setups or punchlines. Instead it's about the 'kick of the discovery', thinking one way and then suddenly turning that thinking around. 

"Shock and surprise are needed for that turn, but there must be a destination too. The reason dead baby jokes are so unappealing is that the same ingredient providing the shock also leaves us with some unfortunate imagery once the joke is over."

So, listen to the scientists guys and try not to take it too far with dead baby jokes this International Joke Day.

Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock/Pixabay
Frankie Golding
Frankie Golding

Multimedia journalist and reporter who loves writing about local news, human rights, LGBTQ+ issues and rock music. Instagram: @frankiegolding_

X

@frankiegolding_

Recommended reads

Tesla fining customers up to $50,000 for selling their cars(Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)Everything that changes when you use Omega-3 Fish Oil taken by millions for 30 daysGetty Stock ImagesScientists reveal what happens to tattoo ink inside your body and there's a worrying cancer risk(Getty Stock Images)Top Gun 3 officially announced with Tom Cruise returningParamount Pictures

Advert

Choose your content:

9 hours ago
12 hours ago
  • (Photo by John Paraskevas/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
    9 hours ago

    Tesla fining customers up to $50,000 for selling their cars

    Tesla is fining certain customers for selling off their vehicles – why is this happening?

    News
  • Getty Stock Images
    9 hours ago

    Everything that changes when you use Omega-3 Fish Oil taken by millions for 30 days

    Research shows that three-quarters of the world are not getting enough Omega-3

    News
  • (Getty Stock Images)
    9 hours ago

    Scientists reveal what happens to tattoo ink inside your body and there's a worrying cancer risk

    There is a growing field of research into tattoos and the possible link to skin cancer

    News
  • Survival International
    12 hours ago

    Update on tourist arrested after illegally sailing to ‘world’s most isolated tribe’ to leave them can of coke

    Content creator Mykhailo Viktorovych Polyakov, 25, was arrested last year after illegally visiting North Sentinel Island

    News
  • The maximum age humans can live to has been revealed by scientists
  • The exact age people are considered 'old' by Gen Z has been revealed in new survey
  • Taylor Swift has been dethroned as world's youngest self-made billionaire
  • How much each The Celebrity Traitors star get paid has been revealed