What’s So Funny?

A Case for Incorporating Appropriate Humor Into Your Teaching and Why

I’m a funny guy, or, at least I think I’m a funny guy.

I spent a few years in my youth doing stand-up comedy in New York and a few more working with assorted improv and sketch comedy troupes.

While those closest to me might dispute my generous self-assessment, my time on stage taught me a few things. First and foremost: when you get it right, you can fully engage an audience. And most of the time, audience members will have nearly perfect recall of a well-crafted routine, even if it blew past them in a dimly lit bar while filtered through an alcohol-infused consciousness.

Now, while I could write a separate article on the possible educational benefits of mood lighting and Jägermeister, today I want to talk comedy, specifically, the role and value of humor in teaching.

Drawing from both my time on stage and the research of experts across education, neuroscience, and psychology, let’s take a look at three key questions:

1. What Is Funny and What’s Not?

Let’s get this out of the way: not everything you think is funny lands in a classroom. Humor is highly contextual, cultural, and interpersonal. Peter McGraw’s Benign Violation Theory offers one of the clearest frameworks: something is funny when it violates a norm, but in a way that feels safe, not threatening (McGraw & Warren, 2010). For example, joking about the quirks of your syllabus? Probably safe. Joking about a student’s accent, background, or identity? Never OK.

Humor also comes in flavors. Research by Banas et al. (2011) found that affiliative humor (jokes that include others) and self-enhancing humor (laughing with, not at yourself) build community and reduce anxiety. On the other hand, aggressive humor (targeting students, colleagues, or marginalized groups) and self-defeating humor (demeaning yourself for laughs) can backfire, eroding trust and respect.

In short: stick to humor that builds connections and enthusiasm rather than dividing the room or confusing learners.

2. The Neuroscience Rationale: Why Humor Helps Learning

So why is humor useful in education, beyond the fact that it feels good? The answer lies in neuroscience.

Humor is a pattern disruptor. When students anticipate the usual rhythms of a lecture and suddenly encounter a surprising or incongruous twist, their brains light up in recognition. This short-circuits automatic processing, requiring active engagement and increasing the chances that the material will be encoded into long-term memory (Kaplan & Pascoe, 1977; Schmidt, 2002).

Humor also activates dopamine reward pathways, a neurotransmitter crucial for motivation and memory formation (Hromek & Roffey, 2009). A well-placed joke can create a natural “memory hook,” much like an unusual story or vivid metaphor. Sarah Henderson (2015), writing for Edutopia, emphasizes that humor doesn’t simply lighten the mood; it biologically primes the brain to hold onto information.

Additionally, Dr. Louis Cozolino (2013) describes humor as a tool for enhancing neuroplasticity, our brain’s ability to form new connections. When laughter reduces stress and lowers cortisol, learners are freer to absorb complex material without the distractions of anxiety. In this way, humor doesn’t just entertain, it physiologically sets the stage for better learning.

3. Cautions: When Humor Goes Wrong

Of course, even the best instructional comedy can bomb. And when it does, the stakes are higher than a bad night at a comedy club.

While humor can boost engagement and memory, it is not risk-free. Studies highlight several cautions for educators:

• Don’t punch down. Disparaging humor directed at students or marginalized groups is consistently harmful and should never be used (Wanzer et al., 2006).
• Avoid controversial targets. Political, religious, or cultural jokes can divide the classroom and alienate learners (Allen, 2024).
• Keep it clear. Humor that students don’t understand wastes cognitive energy and distracts from the lesson (Allen, 2024).
• Use in moderation. Too much humor can dilute your authority or distract from content. Even self-deprecation, when overused, can erode student perceptions of instructor competence (Gorham & Christophel, 1990).
• Stay on-topic. Only humor that ties back to content enhances learning; irrelevant humor is usually just noise (Banas et al., 2011).

Research warns that misplaced or excessive humor can harm student-teacher rapport, distract from key learning goals, or create a hostile environment if students feel they’re the butt of the joke (Banas et al., 2011; Garner, 2006). Zhou et al. (2024) also note that while humor increases attention, it can just as easily derail focus if jokes feel off-topic or forced.

Bottom line: never use humor to punch down, target, or embarrass individuals. Test-drive humor with caution, check the “temperature of the room,” and always privilege clarity of learning outcomes over clever punchlines.

Wrapping Up

So, what’s so funny? When used thoughtfully, humor is more than a teaching flourish; it’s a pedagogical tool. It can foster belonging, reduce stress, enhance motivation, and boost retention. Yes, it requires good timing and discernment, and no, you’re not auditioning for a Netflix comedy special every time you walk into a classroom. But if you’re willing to experiment with safe, inclusive, well-placed humor, you may find that your students not only laugh with you but also learn, and remember, more.

Or, at the very least, you’ll get a chuckle when you make that joke about APA formatting. (And honestly, who among us doesn’t need that?)

References

• Allen, K. (2024). Risk, reward, and responsibility: Current research on classroom humor. Journal of College Teaching, 95(2), 210–224.
• Banas, J. A., Dunbar, N., Rodriguez, D., & Liu, S.-J. (2011). A review of humor in educational settings: Four decades of research. Communication Education, 60(1), 115–144. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634523.2010.496867 (opens in a new tab)
• Cozolino, L. (2013). The social neuroscience of education: Optimizing attachment and learning in the classroom. W. W. Norton & Company.
• Garner, R. L. (2006). Humor in pedagogy: How ha-ha can lead to aha! College Teaching, 54(1), 177–180. https://doi.org/10.3200/CTCH.54.1.177-180 (opens in a new tab)
• Gorham, J., & Christophel, D. M. (1990). The relationship of teachers’ use of humor in the classroom to immediacy and student learning. Communication Education, 39(1), 46–62. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634529009378786 (opens in a new tab)
• Henderson, S. (2015). Laughter and learning: Humor boosts retention. Edutopia.
• Hromek, R., & Roffey, S. (2009). Promoting social and emotional learning with games. Simulation & Gaming, 40(5), 626–644. https://doi.org/10.1177/1046878109333793 (opens in a new tab)
• Kaplan, R. M., & Pascoe, G. C. (1977). Humorous lectures and humorous examples: Some effects upon comprehension and retention. Journal of Educational Psychology, 69(1), 61–65. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-0663.69.1.61 (opens in a new tab)
• McGraw, P., & Warren, C. (2010). Benign violation theory of humor. Psychological Science, 21(8), 1141–1149. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797610376076 (opens in a new tab)
• Schmidt, S. R. (2002). The humor effect: Differential processing and privileged retrieval. Memory, 10(2), 127–138. https://doi.org/10.1080/09658210143000263 (opens in a new tab)
• Wanzer, M. B., Frymier, A. B., Wojtaszczyk, A. M., & Smith, T. (2006). Appropriate and inappropriate uses of humor by teachers. Communication Education, 55(2), 178–196. https://doi.org/10.1080/03634520600566132 (opens in a new tab)
• Zhou, W., Ding, Y., & Xu, Y. (2024). Instructional humor: Effects and cautions in higher education. Frontiers in Psychology, 15, 11814177. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2024.11814177 (opens in a new tab)