For Christmas among tons of amazing presents I got a wonderfull book by Bob Mankoff and Mort Gerberg called From Think To Ink. It is about how to get a good idea for a cartoon and then follow it through. It has sketch paper, drawing tools and a little book called How To Cartoon. It is (as it says on the cover) A guidebook for creative navigation. The reason I'm talking about it is it says what they think the basics for funny cartoons are. So I want to add to the list, and change the question. The question started out as, What makes People Laugh? Then changed to What makes People Laugh Certain Kinds of Laughs. Now I'm changing it to What Makes People Laugh Certain Kinds Of Laughs and Why Is It So Funny?  Now I have elaborted and cut out some of their ideas, but these ideas of the basics of funniness of cartoons are all from Bob Mankoff and Mort Gerberg in the How To Cartoon Book.

1.  Exaggeration. Sometimes when things are exaggerated it can make things more funny. 

2.  Exposing the truth. Sometimes we say things to be nice, or tell a white lie. If you say what you really mean it can be funny (as long as it is not happening to you!) For example in a cartoon by Mankoff it says "No, Thursdays out. How about never-is never good for you?" Instead of saying, "No, can't do it then. I'm sorry." He told the truth and it was funny!

3.  Clash of context. When things obviously don't go together but are put together anyway. For example a cartoon by Mankoff where a boy is saying to his father 

"Dad, here's the update on my childhood as you requested." Its a clash of context because the child is acting like the adult.

4. Surprise. When you are just not expecting something. Like in a cartoon by Mankoff A table of executives and the man at the head saying

"And, with no reason yet to panic, I think it's only prudent that we make preparations to panic." We do not expect him to say that. If the caption had said.

"While it is prudent we make preparations to panic, There is no reason to." It wouldn't be funny. A lot about comedy is that its a slap in the face. Something we are not expecting.

5. Counterfactual. Wen you just know that something is wrong, and impossible.

6.  Conflict. Need I add more.

7. Cliche manipulation.   Like a cartoon done by BEK.  A man in a throne that looks like God talking to an angel with a note pad saying

"Oh, and C.C to the devil."