According to the founding editor of The Onion, there are 11 categories of comedy: Irony- Intended meaning is opposite of literal meaning Character- Comedic character acting on personality traits Reference- Common experiences that audiences can relate to Shock- Surprising jokes typically involving sex, drugs, gross-out humor, swearing Parody- Mimic a familiar character, trope or cliché in an unfamiliar way Hyperbole- Exaggeration to absurd extremes Wordplay- Puns, rhymes, double entendres, etc. Analogy- Comparing two disparate things Madcap- Crazy, wacky, silly, nonsensical Meta Humor- Jokes about jokes, or about the idea of comedy Misplaced Focus- Attention is focused on the wrong thing