Joking cultures: Humor themes as social

in group joking you have to know one another to understand. joking creates comfort in a group and gives the chance for commonalities. is it a general rule that joking doesnt go on between strangers, it is from and on going relationship with a person or group. having the background information, prior knowledge and past experience affects the way the humor goes and is interpreted by the group members. jokes must be precieved as being useable within the group. joking must be responsive to group norms. being an outsider trying to be in on jokes is very difficult when that isnt your normal group and you are outside their norms. the joke must be appropriate with the groups status. joking is not to be serious. in some cases it lightens the mood of things or takes pressure off certain things. groups tend to create traditions to connect the members with each other. and sometimes you joke to ease embarrassment. one is truely a member of the group when they can joke easily with other members and understand and share jokes.when one doesnt have social control they movew their way closer to leaving the group. there were two situations explaining people playing jokes on others, then coming forward about it. those situations showed the tension between securing social control and sharing cohesive culture. joking brings people closer rather than apart