History Main / AntiHumor

* The writers of ''WesternAnimation/BojackHorseman'' love this kind of humor, often giving elaborate and obvious setups to jokes, who's punchlines then simply don't arrive.

---->'''Danny:''' A man walks into a bar. [[SurprisinglyRealisticOutcome His alcohol dependency is tearing this family apart]].\\

* In ''WebVideo/HellsingUltimateAbridged'', Walter pulls this on Alucard in Episode 9 while they're fighting and bantering.
-->'''Alucard:''' ''(unleashes his Hellhound)'' Hey, ever heard of "Updog"?\\
'''Walter:''' ''(slices the Hellhound in half)'' Not much. How are you?\\
'''Alucard:''' First you kill my dog, then you ''anti'' my ''fucking joke?!''

[[folder:Web Original]]
* ''WebOriginal/TwentyThousandTwenty'': Juice's retelling of [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sad_clown_paradox#Pagliacci_joke the Pagliacci joke]]. In the classic version being referenced, a depressed man goes to a doctor, who suggests he go to see the performance of a clown named Grimaldi; the man then reveals that ''he'' is Grimaldi. Juice's version lacks the ironic twist; instead, "Grimaldi responds, “that is also my name! what a coincidence! i’ll go see him tonight!” and he goes and has a great time and feels a lot better".

* [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/anti-joke-chicken The Anti-Joke Chicken.]]
* [[http://knowyourmeme.com/memes/buzzkilling The BuzzKilling meme.]]

* ''WebAnimation/TheLazerCollection'':
** The first skit of Part 2 is simply a guy eating a red pepper.
** One of the skits of Part 5 is a guy popping a kid's balloon. In both cases, no lazers are fired.

* [[http://anti-joke.com/ Anti-Joke.]] This is the whole point of this site.
* BrunchingShuttlecocks once did an article called [[https://web.archive.org/web/20150906021708/http://brunching.com/lightbulb.html The Lightbulb Exemption List]], which was in essence about doing this to lightbulb jokes.
* When the ''WebVideo/GameGrumps'' play ''VideoGame/{{Castlevania|I}}'', Arin delivers this memorable quote:

** Dan tells a slew of these types of jokes in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eFoPcp2uz_g Part 17]] of ''VideoGame/ShovelKnight''.
*** This was preceded by their playthrough of ''VideoGame/KirbysEpicYarn'' -- [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LPFTeHEsAS4 both have been compiled into one video]].

* The New Yorker Anti-Caption Contest, which begun on [[http://www.radosh.net/archive/001326.html this blog]] and transitioned to [[http://alinla.blogspot.com/ this one]], is won by the "worst" caption that could go with that week's official New Yorker Cartoon Contest. It naturally veers into this territory, but not always. The winner of the first first one is a good example: A monster truck crashes onto the stage of a classical music concert, a sure recipe for hilarious culture clash, and the winning caption (spoken by the conductor) is: ''"There is a man pinned under this truck who requires immediate medical assistance. Someone please call for an ambulance. Please, before it's too late."''
* In ''Website/{{Cracked}}'''s [[http://www.cracked.com/article_19213_7-animals-that-are-evolving-right-before-our-eyes.html 7 Animals That Are Evolving Right Before Our Eyes]]:
-->'''Q:''' What did the elephant say to the poacher?\\
'''A:''' Dear God in heaven, please don't kill me for my ivory.\\
Sorry about that. Sometimes we get "joke" mixed up with "tragic imagined dialogue that could be happening at this very second if elephants had the power of speech."

* "[[https://www.reddit.com/r/CroppedNorrisJokes Cropped Norris Jokes]]", a variant of Website/ChuckNorrisFacts that consist solely of the traditional overdone Chuck Norris jokes with half the joke removed. The result changes the joke from MemeticBadass to TriviallyObvious or casually bizarre "facts" about Norris's life with no followup, such as "I eat soup" or "A snake bit me." Many people have pronounced them funnier than the originals.
* There's a meme going around ([[https://www.reddit.com/r/SequelMemes/comments/7omtl4/when_you_accidentally_open_up_chat_in_the_middle/ Example]], ''Film/TheLastJedi'' spoilers) that goes something like this:
## Take a captioned screenshot from some movie or show
## [[QuoteMine Selectively black out bits of the caption until it says something completely irrelevant]]
## Post it on your favorite social media with a title to the effect of "How I react when [mundane event relevant to the new caption]"
* ''Podcast/WelcomeToNightVale'': In "The April Monologues", Michelle Nguyen tells the listeners a joke: "I listen to Bach often, but never The Beatles."[[note]]Supposed to be "but not [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jacques_Offenbach Offenbach.]][[/note]]

* Facebook group [[https://www.facebook.com/memeswithoutbottomtext Memes Without Bottom Text]] relies on people's familiarity with memes to create an [[OrphanedPunchline Orphaned]] [[InvertedTrope Setup]].

A SuperTrope is meta-humor, like the joke found in this [[http://www.irregularwebcomic.net/1087.html Irregular Webcomic.]]

Obviously these work best when the audience is thoroughly familiar with the standard version of the joke/humorous situation or the formula the joke/humorous situation normally follows, though this is not always necessary. Any situation where the audience is expecting humor or something light-hearted and gets something straight, dry, and/or darker in tone instead can potentially work. Formats where a humorous twist is always expected, such as in stand-up, cartoons, sitcoms, and sketch comedy, have more latitude for this sort of humor.

A standard Anti Joke without the bait and switch punchline tends to have a blatantly obvious punchline. An example of the most common type of anti-joke is

* [[http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Anti-humor Uncyclopedia]] has an article that, for Wiki/{{Uncyclopedia}}, counts as a SelfDemonstratingArticle as it delivers a straightforward (if very dismissive) description of what anti-humor is.

[The averted punchline is "I see food, I eat it"]

Anti-humor is about ''intentionally'' avoiding a punchline. Certainly not all anti-humor ends up being funny, but it should be clear that the writer is trying to create humor from avoiding a punchline or humorous twist. For example, when [[Film/BackToTheFuture Biff Tannen]] says "that's as funny as a screen door on a battleship" he's not trying for anti-humor, he is simply screwing up the traditional punchline.

-->Let's talk about language. [[CatchPhrase Cause yeah]], they do say that [[SeparatedByACommonLanguage Britain and America are two countries separated by]] the Atlantic ocean. And it's true.

* ''Film/RoboCop1987'' has a RunningGag where people are always watching the same brainless television show. We see nothing of the show except the same OrphanedPunchline where a man turns to the camera to deliver his hackneyed CatchPhrase, "I'd buy that for a dollar!" This always causes the person watching to laugh uproariously.

* Fozzie on ''WesternAnimation/MuppetBabies'' once pulled one, which, naturally, lead to him getting [[ProducePelting pelted with tomatoes.]]

* "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bAaVzX32slY Steamed Hams but the roast wasn't ruined]]" is a WebAnimation/YouTubePoop of the "[[Memes/TheSimpsons Steamed Hams]]" scene from ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'', but nothing goes wrong and Skinner and Chalmers have a pleasant, if not unforgettable, luncheon.

* The AxCrazy Jan Valentine's first onscreen appearance in ''Hellsing Ultimate'' -- when he'll ''go on'' to be a LaughablyEvil profligate with a loose trigger finger and a weird sense of humor -- is to tell what sounds like a long, disturbing setup for a joke ''as if'' he's telling a joke and if it has a point he never gets to it.

* ''Comicbook/{{Horndog}}'' by Creator/IsaacBaranoff had a strip where Bob the Dog is telling his friend that "God is 'dog' spelled backwards. I'm a dog, therefore I'm God."
* ''Comicbook/{{Watchmen}}'': Rorschach's [[TerseTalker hyperminimal recitation]] of an old groaner veers into this:

* The Gotcha episode of {{Countdown}} contained [[https://youtu.be/zD0VSJlKXEY?t=2m58s this]] gem:

* ''Radio/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'':

** From the same people, [[http://unrelatedcaptions.com/ Unrelated Captions]] is a site that subverts caption humor by taking pictures and... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin well, guess.]]

* Occurs early on in the ''Series/FatherTed'' Christmas special when Ted finds a baby [[DoorstopBaby left on the parish doorstep]]. Before Ted can bring the baby in the mother appears, takes the baby from his hands, and heads off to leave the infant with someone else. Ted muses on the [[HilarityEnsues hilarious hi-jinks]] the priests and the baby would have gotten up to, but stops when Dougal reminds him it wouldn't be funny.

* An episode of ''Machinima/{{Smashtasm}}'' had the two villains speaking with each other. When one remarks that it's time to get serious, the other one says something along the lines of:

[[folder:Film]]

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'' is just an episode of the original ''WesternAnimation/Sealab2020'' with the 2021 cast giving the voices (and some footage removed to fit 2021's shorter episode length.) The only joke in the entire episode is at the very end, when the nuclear submarine they spend the whole episode fixing crashes into Sealab, [[RunningGag causing it to explode.]]

* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/{{Sealab 2021}}'' is just an episode of the original Sealab 2020 with the 2021 cast giving the voices (and some footage removed to fit 2021's shorter episode length.) The only joke in the entire episode is at the very end, when the nuclear submarine they spend the whole episode fixing crashes into Sealab, [[RunningGag causing it to explode.]]

'''A:''' [[BlackComedyRape Being raped.]][[note]]The normal punchline is "Finding ''half'' a worm in your apple."[[/note]]

* ''Rage Quit'' is a weekly segment by ''Creator/RoosterTeeth'' where Michael, a gamer with a very short temper and vocal personality, expresses his... well, you can guess. When he played the game ''VideoGame/{{Rage}}'' he was serene and polite for the entire video.

** In the BadFuture of ''WesternAnimation/SouthParkPostCovid'', Jimmy's become a comedic TalkShow host but isn't allowed to tell any ''actual'' jokes due to PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad. It becomes a RunningGag where he seemingly sets up to tell an offensive joke but replaces the punchline with a compliment.

->'''Q:''' Why are T-Rex's unable to clap their hands?\\

* John Thomson used to do a character called Bernard Righton who as a [[PoliticalCorrectness Politically Correct]] stand up comedian (but in the style of an old-fashioned "club comedian") whose anxiousness to avoid offense resulted in this trope.