Knowing how to make people laugh is a fantastic skill that helps us make friends, lighten up a tense atmosphere, woo a girl, or enjoy life in general. Nothing is more rewarding than telling a joke or making a comment that make others laugh. Nothing is worse than telling a joke or making a comment we think funny and hearing the silence that follow.

Sometimes is very difficult for some of us to be funny. Some times we forget what’s funny about the joke we intended to tell, or we simply don’t have a clue how to create a joke, or how to create a funny comment.

To this day we don’t know why human’s laugh. Some people think it’s probably the surprise connection of two illogical thoughts which causes a neural misfiring in the higher cortex—the frontal lobes of the brain—creating a unique reaction in the limbic system resulting in an intense feeling of enjoyment, but that doesn’t even sound funny so what do they know.

Here is the shocking truth. There are only seven situations, or elements, that make us laugh and which constitute the basis of all jokes. Every joke is derived from these seven situations. Identify what make the joke funny (situation or element) and you will remember the joke. Remember what makes the joke funny and you’ll remember how to tell it or be able to create your own jokes or funny comments. These seven elements are what makes us laugh.