Doing Humor

Abstract

The forms that humor can take in organizations are many and varied. It can be verbal and oral, for example, banter, joke-telling; it can be verbal and written, for example emails, attachments and display board notices; it can be dramatized, for example mimicry, parody, ritual and acted-out storytelling; it can be pictorial, for example photoshopped pictures, drawings and cartoons; and it can be physical, for example practical jokes and horseplay. In this chapter, we review some of the main forms of workplace humor and consider their special characteristics and their advantages and disadvantages.