An area that requires a lot of thinking (funnily enough, pardon the pun) is humour! Jokes often use a combination of literal and figurative language so comedic devices builds on the learning you have done in the previous checkpoint.

On the outset, many people think that to be funny – you’re either born with it or not. But, crafting a good joke, and understanding it – is a serious creative and critical thinking activity!

Many of the world’s best comedy writers have degrees in serious ‘thinking’ areas. For example, David Cohen, the writer of “The Simpsons” has a degree in physics. Rowan Atkinson, famed for being “Mr Bean” has a degree in electrical engineering and Australia’s own Rebel Wilson, has a law degree – but her first career choice, it was reported, was mathematics!

Humour requires a lot of thinking – and that’s why, in many respects, it is tested in competitive exams.

And that’s also why we’re going to learn about comedic devices.

What kind of thinking is involved in humour?

Learning about comedic devices is like learning how to use a tool, however, a tool has to be used for something right? Comedic devices are used for humour.

To understand humour better, let’s look at the mental operations involved and apply this to the below representation of a similar exam question (watch video for detailed explanation):

1. Mentally represent the set-up of a joke and activate what we understand the world ‘to be’.
2. Detect the mismatches in interpretations or mental representations.
3. Suppress the literal and not-funny interpretation and appreciate the funny one/s!

Common comedic devices

It is important for you to recognise when a comedic device is being used and what type it is so that you can answer questions about how humour has been used. Here is a list of common comedic devices:

• Irony - a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result. A pilot has a fear of heights.
• Sarcasm - the use of irony to mock or convey contempt. Studies have shown that exposure to sarcasm enhances creative problem solving, for instance. [Sees a messy room] “How do you keep this room so neat?” Jodie says to her daughter.
• Parody - a literary or musical work in which the style of an author or work is closely imitated for comic effect or in ridicule wrote a hilarious parody of a popular song. Your friend is imitating the drama teacher and when you ask her a question about how her weekend was, she starts acting out a scene where she missed the bus and it ruined her weekend.

Both text and/or visual images can be used for humour – e.g., cartoons (visual only or with text), jokes (text).

How to analyse cartoons / humour

Here’s guidance on how you can approach your thinking around humour.

1. Identify parts that are already there – for a written joke, it may be one word and another, for cartoons, it may be parts of an image e.g., two characters that interact.
2. Associate parts with broader aspects if required.
3. Find mismatches between your parts compared to how they would normally interact.

These mismatches are often the comedic devices being used to create humour!

Let’s see it in action now with a worked example.

Example Question/s

Watch video for explanation of the following question/s:

Why does the boy with glasses wish to “live on the edge”?

A. To try something new and exciting.
B. As an alternative to his existing life.
C. To re-live his exciting past.
D. To play out his desire for an adventurous life.

To the boy with glasses, “not doing one’s homework” is seen as:

A. Something that’s important to do.
B. A bad decision for one’s education.
C. Unimportant to show that one is “living on the edge”.
D. Too daring.

Key Rules to remember

• Identify parts in your stimulus material be it text, image or both.
• Look at the links and how parts interact with each other – how does the interaction not match up with the standard mental representation.
• Focus on this mismatch as the part that is humorous!

Practice time!

Now, it's your turn to practice.

Here’s a thought experiment #10.

Remember, there is no formal answer and this experiment is provided to help stimulate your creativity and critical thinking (a ‘thought experiment’ is provided at the end of every checkpoint except checkpoint 18).

Thought experiment 10:

Does infinity really exist? Or does everything have a beginning and an end but we may not be there to witness it?

Take your time to work through this thought experiment as it is not assessed and provided to help develop your deeper thinking skills. Think about various components of the question. What questions will you ask yourself and how do you answer your questions?

Now, let’s turn to the checkpoint questions.

Click on the button below and start your practice questions. We recommend doing untimed mode first, and then, when you're ready, do timed mode.

Every question has two solutions videos after you complete the question. The first is a quick 60 second video that shows you how our expert answers the question quickly. The second video is a more in-depth 5-steps or less explainer video that shows you the steps to take to answer the question. It's really important that you review the second video because that's where you'll learn additional tips and tricks.

Once you're done with the practice questions, move on to the next checkpoint.

Now, let’s get started on your practice questions.

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