Humor is great. Being a funny person is attractive and generally makes a person’s life less stressful. There is some help if you want to be funny. A dump of stuff below…
The TED TALK talks about benign vs violation. The second video talks about setup-and punchline. The setup of a joke is to illustrate the norm, then the punchline brings in the violation. The setup and punchline are contrasted to create the violation amount. A violation can break an expectation, go against reason, norms, etc. Where do expectations come from?
They all operate off the same foundations. The flavoring or style is what is put on top. British humor would just be a flavor or style of humor.
Tension is built between benign and violation. Without them in tension, there is no elation.
There is the thesis or premise then its antithesis that contrasts against it.
The first video has a website as well: http://humorresearchlab.org/
They have a book too which can be purchased here: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1451665415
https://youtu.be/bgiX7CjV910