Density in humor measures the number of visible humor kernels and how frequently they appear. Other things being equal, a greater number of visible, non-fatiguing kernels leads to increased perception of overall humor quality. Adding lots of extra words to a verbal humor event may increase resonance or exposition or be useful for many other reasons, but if the kernel numbers stay the same then the humor becomes less dense. As Shakespeare wrote, brevity is the soul of wit.

A term for short duration dense humor is ‘pithy’. Density increases naturally when humor is fast-paced, as with snappy patter or rapid comic dialogue. Edits in sitcoms happen more frequently than those in (non-action) dramas.

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A large quantity of detectable kernels, visible within a short amount of time, increases the overall perceived quality level. Sample comic from Scott Meyer.

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Continue to the second Full Context component Humor Percentage