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Plato was not a fan of humor and comedy, for the most part. In fact, he considered it amoral due to what he saw as its reliance on hierarchies of power and the need for someone (less powerful) to stand in as the fool or "butt of the joke." He had a point!–this idea eventually developed and became what is now known as the "superiority theory" of humor.

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Shakespeare's most popular comedies, such as "Much Ado About Nothing" and "The Merchant of Venice," were/are rarely lough-out-loud funny. However, they are riddled with clever wordplay, metaphors, and insults and their plot is often driven by a case of mistaken identity, a trope that we see often in the American television sitcoms of the 1960s-2000s (think "Three's Company" or "Night Court").

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The minstrel show, or minstrelsy, was an American form of theater–and racial derision–developed in the early 19th century. The shows were performed by mostly white actors who put on performances of “blackness” by using exaggerated costumes and blackface makeup. Each show might have included wisecracks, songs, pun-filled monologues, and/or slapstick-type skits, all of which served to enact harmful stereotypes of African Americans for the sake of "comedy."

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Silent comedians like the "Big Four"–Charlie Chaplin, “Fatty” Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, and Buster Keaton–entertained millions by using visual humor to tell a story during the early days of film, before there was sound. This humor went far beyond the typical easy laugh brought on by "pies in the face" or "slipping on a banana peel." Rather, these comedians helped develop the technique of using gags to reveal character and to tell a story. Many of these techniques can also be seen in many popular American cartoons of the 1930s-1950s, including Looney Toons, Disney's "Silly Symphonies," and Tom and Jerry.

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One of the most beloved sitcoms (situation comedies) of all time, "I Love Lucy" changed the history of television forever due to Lucille Ball's vaudeville-like portrayal of a scatterbrained, yet marvelously clever, housewife to her real-life husband, Cuban bandleader Desi Arnaz. The show was one of the first to be shot with three cameras on 35mm film in front of a live studio audience, paving the way for many popular sitcoms that followed.

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While comedians have recorded and assembled their material into audio format for over a century, the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s brought about a renaissance of comedy albums, many of which gleefully pushed against societal norms and popularized stand-up comedians including Don Rickles, Steve Martin, George Carlin, Lily Tomlin, and later, Robin Williams, and Whoopi Goldberg. While not all comedians during this era did so, many Black stand-ups, like Richard Pryor and Redd Foxx, used their platforms to call out racial stereotypes in provocative ways, earning them accolades across Hollywood.

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While NBC's "Saturday Night Live" premiered in 1975, many consider the late 1980s/early 1990s the skit comedy show's heyday. Due to the comedic genius of both its writers and actors, this era of SNL brought audiences such iconic characters as the Church Lady (Dana Carvey), the Caveman Lawyer (Phil Hartman), Mary Katherine Gallagher (Molly Shannon), and Hans & Franz (Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon), as well as famous recurring sketches like Wayne's World, Deep Thoughts with Jack Handey, and Coffee Talk. A worldwide hit, SNL's character- and situation-driven comedy spawned many international likenesses, including the BBC's "French and Saunders" and Canada's "SCTV," which helped launch the careers of such beloved comedic actors as John Candy, Eugene Levy, and Catherine O'Hara.

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Humor that poked fun at politics–and politicians in general– became a comedy juggernaut in the 2000s and 2010s, with shows like Jon Stewart's "The Daily Show," Bill Maher's "Real Time with Bill Maher," "The Colbert Report," Australia's "The Jim Jeffries Show," and "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee" topping the late-night television charts. An interesting fact about these shows is that most of them leaned liberal/progressive, and many studies show that their comedy actually had an influence on voters during national elections–particularly on those who were college-age at the time.

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Viral digital images or videos, known as internet memes, have gained tremendous popularity over the past decade due to their ability to quickly deliver a humorous message. Most memes today relate to a current event or pop culture reference and are widely used to share a joke, express an opinion or poke fun at a trending topic. While some memes are created merely for entertainment purposes, others aim to convey an opinion or sentiment about a particular issue. A dark side of this form of humor? Current research shows that memes are more and more frequently becoming a popular and effective tool for political extremist groups to use in recruiting young people–particularly young white men–into their ranks.