Jokes are any paragraphs or phrases which are intended to be funny.  It generally comes in written and oral form but sometimes it is achieved through actions. All jokes contain a punch line which is the phrase or word that would make the people laugh.

Some may wonder why jokes exist. Well, there is a saying that laughter is the best medicine. People love to laugh. Recent studies show that laughter reduces the amount of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.  Besides the fact that hearing a humorous joke is healthy it is just fun to be happy. That is why efforts were needed   to achieve that goal. Thus, jokes were born. According to a research, the oldest form of joke that people know of is a practical joke. That one is called the fart joke. It is done by making a fake sound that sounds like a fart.

There are many types of jokes. There are simple yet hilarious one-liners. Some jokes appear in question type. You might have already heard of the ever famous "why did that chicken cross the road?" joke. Most jokes are stories which contain characters that do funny things.  These characters are from which people can relate to. It may involve characters with different occupations, races, religion, and political views. It is because there are a lot of funny things you could see from people's differences. A funny story between a man and a woman would be hilarious because of their differences. That is why there are a lot of jokes that contain a husband and a wife.

The most famous type of joke is the "knock-knock joke." A knock-knock joke is a joke that contains word play. This is different from other jokes because it requires the participation of the joker and the other person. It has a protocol that the one who made the joke must knock first and the second person would ask "who's there". The joker would then introduce the punch line which is relation or irony of words.  You often hear knock-knock jokes because they are simple to create.

Another category is the practical jokes or "pranks" which involve physical actions to make people laugh. Practical jokes generally involve two or more persons. One intends to put the other in a situation where they could be laughed at by the prankster himself or by other people. Stuff like, putting sugar in the salt dispenser, putting glue on your brother's shoes, dropping a water balloon on somebody, pretending to be someone else over the telephone are all practical jokes.  Most practical jokes humiliate the victims. Practical jokes are funny. But you have to place it in a proper place and a proper time. April fool's day would be a good day to device pranks.