This is not a book of jokes. It is about how people make rules about humour: rules about what humour is, what it is not, what it should and should not be, when it should and should not be used, what type of humour is permissible and what type forbidden, what is good and bad about humour, what should be considered funny and what should not. The book offers a framework for a general understanding of why and how societies make rules about the use of humour, and how those rules affect patterns of communication and the development of humour and comedy.