There is a certain kind of humor that makes absolutely no sense.
A watermelon is running a business out of a sewer. A banana is involved in a relationship scandal. Somebody is having a serious argument with a talking piece of fruit. A completely normal situation suddenly takes the most ridiculous turn imaginable.
And somehow, it’s funny.
This kind of humor is often called absurd humor, surreal humor, or sometimes just “what the hell am I watching?” humor. It has become especially popular online, where creators can turn almost anything into a character, a story, or a completely ridiculous situation.
For me, though, absurd humor isn’t really something I discovered on the internet.
I’ve always been like this.
I’ve Always Found Weird Things Funny
Even before making videos, I noticed that my sense of humor didn’t always line up with everyone else’s.
I’d see something completely ordinary and somehow find the situation hilarious. Sometimes it wasn’t even an obvious joke. It might have been somebody’s strange reaction, an awkward moment, an oddly specific comment, or something that was funny simply because of how unexpected it was.
Then I’d tell somebody about it and get that look.
You know the look.
The look that says:
“What exactly is funny about that?”
And honestly, sometimes I couldn’t explain it.
That’s one of the strange things about absurd humor. The person laughing doesn’t necessarily need to be able to explain why something is funny.
The absurdity is the explanation.
What Exactly Is Absurd Humor?
Absurd humor takes something recognizable and pushes it somewhere completely unexpected.
Imagine a normal situation:
Someone goes to a restaurant.
That’s not particularly funny.
Now imagine the waiter is a watermelon, the chef is an angry banana, and the customer discovers that the restaurant has been secretly selling peanut butter made in a sewer.
Now we’re getting somewhere.
The basic ingredients of the story are still recognizable. There is a restaurant. There is a customer. There is a problem.
But the details have been twisted so far away from reality that the situation becomes ridiculous.
That’s the basic appeal of absurd humor.
It takes something normal and asks:
“What if this were completely insane?”
Absurdity Doesn’t Have to Make Sense
One of the biggest misconceptions about absurd humor is that there has to be a logical explanation for everything.
There doesn’t.
In fact, explaining the joke too much can ruin it.
That’s part of why absurd comedy can work so well in short-form videos.
The audience doesn’t necessarily need an elaborate explanation of why a talking fruit is running an underground business.
The fact that a talking fruit is running an underground business is enough.
The viewer accepts the premise and waits to see how far the creator is willing to take it.
And that’s where things get interesting.
The More Serious the Situation, the Funnier the Absurdity Can Become
One of my favorite things about absurd humor is the contrast between a ridiculous situation and a completely serious reaction.
Imagine two characters having an extremely serious argument.
The lighting is dramatic.
The music is intense.
One character looks devastated.
Then you realize they’re arguing over who ate the last banana.
That contrast can make the scene much funnier than if everyone were obviously acting silly.
The characters don’t necessarily have to know they’re in a comedy.
They can treat the ridiculous situation like it’s the most important event in human history.
That seriousness makes the absurdity even stronger.
It’s basically the comedy equivalent of watching someone bring a briefcase to a water-balloon fight.
Why Does Absurd Humor Work So Well Online?
The internet is particularly suited for absurd comedy because there are fewer creative limitations.
Traditional television has production costs, actors, sets, schedules, networks, and approximately seventeen committees deciding whether something is “too weird.”
The internet has considerably fewer committees.
A creator can make a video about almost anything.
Take a look at our most popular reel to-date:
It’s completely absurd, impossible, and just plain outrageous. But that’s the beauty of it.
An ordinary object can become a character.
A random thought can become a story.
A joke can become a recurring series.
And if people respond to it, the creator can keep going.
This has created an environment where strange ideas aren’t necessarily a disadvantage.
Sometimes being strange is the entire point.
The Internet Has Its Own Language of Absurdity
Online audiences have also developed a taste for humor that is intentionally chaotic.
That’s where terms like “brainrot” have become common.
The word gets used in different ways, but generally it refers to highly repetitive, ridiculous, surreal, or intentionally nonsensical internet content.
Some of it is incredibly simple.
Some of it is bizarre.
Some of it makes you wonder how thousands of people collectively decided this was worth watching.
And then you watch it too.
That’s the important part.
Absurd humor doesn’t always require a sophisticated setup. Sometimes the joke is simply the fact that everyone understands the ridiculous premise.
The audience becomes part of the joke.
Why I Think Dry Humor Fits Into This Too
Absurd humor isn’t necessarily loud.
That’s something I’ve always appreciated.
There is a difference between being funny and constantly trying to look funny.
Dry humor can take a ridiculous situation and treat it with complete indifference.
Someone might say something completely insane with a straight face.
There is no dramatic reaction.
No explanation.
No “Hey guys, isn’t this hilarious?”
The joke just sits there.
And somehow that can make it even funnier.
I’ve always gravitated toward that kind of humor because sometimes the funniest response to something ridiculous is acting like nothing unusual happened.
Sometimes the Joke Is That Nobody Reacts
Picture a character walking into a room and announcing:
“I’ve been secretly living in the sewer for six months.”
Everyone looks at him.
Then someone casually responds:
“Did you bring the mail?”
That’s absurd.
But it’s also dry.
The audience expects the characters to react appropriately to the ridiculous revelation.
Instead, they behave as though it’s completely normal.
That mismatch creates the joke.
It’s almost like the characters are refusing to acknowledge how ridiculous their own lives have become.
That’s Part of What I Like About Making ReelsOfThings
This is one reason I enjoy creating ReelsOfThings.
The concept gives me an excuse to take the kind of strange humor I’ve always found funny and actually turn it into stories.
A fruit doesn’t have to behave like a fruit.
It can have a job.
A relationship.
A criminal record.
A terrible business idea.
A family problem.
A secret.
A ridiculous scheme.
Basically, once you decide that the characters can do anything, the possibilities become pretty ridiculous.
And that’s the fun part.
A simple idea can suddenly become a whole story.
Absurd Humor Can Still Have a Real Story
The fact that something is ridiculous doesn’t mean it can’t have substance.
That’s another thing I’ve come to appreciate about this type of comedy.
Underneath the absurd characters and ridiculous situations, you can still tell stories about jealousy, relationships, money, insecurity, ambition, family, friendship, or just everyday life.
The characters might be bananas and watermelons.
The problem might be completely insane.
But the emotion underneath it can still be recognizable.
That’s probably why absurd stories can work better than random nonsense.
There is usually something familiar hiding underneath the ridiculousness.
You Don’t Have to Understand Someone’s Humor
I’ve also learned that humor is incredibly personal.
Something can make one person laugh until they can’t breathe and leave another person staring at the screen wondering whether their phone is broken.
That’s normal.
Not everybody is going to understand the same jokes.
Some people like observational comedy.
Some like dark humor.
Some like slapstick.
Some like sarcasm.
Some like dry humor.
And apparently some of us like watching animated fruit commit increasingly questionable decisions.
Humanity contains multitudes.
Maybe That’s Why Absurd Humor Feels So Free
There is something freeing about humor that doesn’t have to follow normal rules.
You don’t need a realistic setting.
You don’t need a believable character.
You don’t need a logical conclusion.
You just need an idea that makes you think:
“That would be ridiculous.”
Then you take it one step further.
Then another.
And eventually you have a story.
That’s probably the biggest reason absurd humor continues to work online. The internet gives creators a place where weird ideas can find an audience without needing permission from anyone else.
And sometimes the weirdest idea is the one people remember.
The Best Absurd Humor Still Has a Point
For all the nonsense, there is one thing that separates a memorable absurd story from random chaos.
There has to be something underneath it.
Maybe it’s a relatable relationship problem.
Maybe it’s a ridiculous take on everyday life.
Maybe it’s an unexpected twist.
Maybe the entire point is simply to make somebody laugh after they’ve had a terrible day.
The characters don’t have to make sense.
The world doesn’t have to make sense.
But the audience should feel something.
That’s where absurd humor becomes more than just randomness.
It becomes storytelling.
Why I’ll Probably Keep Making Weird Stuff
I’ve spent enough time realizing that my sense of humor doesn’t always work the way everyone else’s does.
I’ve always thought certain strange, awkward, dry, or completely ridiculous situations were funny.
Now there’s a whole internet built around that exact kind of thinking.
So I might as well put it to use.
Maybe the next story will make perfect sense.
Probably not.
There might be a banana involved.
There might be a watermelon.
There could be a sewer.
At this point, I’ve learned not to ask too many questions.
Sometimes the best comedy starts with an idea that makes absolutely no sense and ends with somebody watching it thinking:
“Why the hell did I just watch that?”
And then watching it again.
