It seems to me that humour is everybody's way of keeping sane and standing off from the situations so that they can see it intellectually, as well as emotionally, and I don't know whether you've noticed, but if somebody tells a joke, it's nearly always a mini fantasy.
“My first encounter with Buddhist dharma would be in my early 20s. Like most young men, I was not particularly happy.”
“The fact is, almost every year since the founding of these United States, our government has lived beyond its means.”