The strength of humor’s clash is driven by the closeness of the two elements. The closeness is both static and dynamic.

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Static closeness is driven by what the clashing elements are. When they are words, they look similar and sound similar. Monkey and mon-key look similar and sound similar.

Sometimes a single word or phrase has multiple meanings. This can result in a special case of static closeness as the two elements are perceptually identical.

Q. Waiter, this coffee tastes like mud.
A. You asked for fresh ground.

The word ground means crushed as an adjective and dirt as a noun. The kernel of fresh ground vs. fresh ground exploits the two meanings.

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Dynamic closeness is closeness in time.

In humor examples that rely on a perspective clash or a perspective shift, the dynamic clash strength is maximized by having the shift happen at late as possible. Consider this alteration:

Waiter: You asked for fresh ground coffee.
Waiter: This is why it tastes like mud.

The information conveyed is the same as in the earlier version, and the clash produced is identical. But the humor is less intense (and therefore less funny) because the elements are perceived at slightly different times.

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