Subject Matter is the humor event component that collects all of the topics, subjects, and ideas brought up in the context surrounding the humor kernel. The subject matter can also help fulfill any other context role, but over and above this it’s the mental scaffolding the ties humor context and kernel together.

The next joke is one Rodney Dangerfield helped make famous as part of his ‘lovable loser’ comic persona.

Girl says to me, "Come on over, no one's home."
I went over.
No one was home.

The primary humor kernel involves two alternate meanings of the phrase ‘no one’s home’. The sense is the conversational idiomatic meaning of ‘no one ELSE is home’, and the nonsense is the literal meaning ‘no person is in the house’. The initial sense in the setup is switched to nonsense by the punchline.

Let’s alter this joke a tiny amount.

My friend says to me, "Come on over, no one's home."
I went over.
No one was home.

This alteration is noticeably lower quality despite virtually all components staying exactly the same. The static and dynamic clashes are equally strong but the resonance of both elements is weaker. Why is Rodney’s original version superior? Because of the subject matter.

The subject matter is a vague promise to combine hanky and panky. This happens to be noticeably more interesting than a story of some feeble friendship. Before the humor even happens, observers are much more disposed to pay attention to whatever comes next. Some observers may perceive the innuendo in the original as an additional risqué nonsense element, but isn’t required for humor as the main ATYPICAL kernel can be detected in any case.

Successful humorists gravitate towards subject matters that maximize response among a wide audience. Observational humor finds its subject matter among common everyday experience.

Some historical attempts to categorize humor have pointed to subject matter as a key distinguisher. Humor about marriage, humor about work, etc. Within the structure of Clash Theory, these kinds of distinctions are not fundamental. But that doesn’t mean they aren’t valuable. A quality joke about extended family resonates with more people than one about picked asparagus. Subject matter is a key concern for anyone seeking to create humor.

Return to Context

Return to the third Humor Context component Setup

Continue to the fifth Humor Context component Distraction