Kids saying the funniest things and toddlers accidentally dropping a naughty word (39%) also featured highly in the top 40 list of things guaranteed to make people chuckle
Gumball, Darwin and Anais take pranking to the next level
Watching people trip over, mischievous pranks, and funny animal videos top the list of things guaranteed to make someone laugh – whether they are eight or 80. A poll of 2,000 adults in the UK found 22% can’t help but giggle when a bird poos on someone’s head
Kids saying the funniest things and toddlers accidentally dropping a naughty word (39%) also featured highly in the top 40 list of things guaranteed to make people chuckle, alongside pulling silly faces (19%). And 17% admit toilet humour gets them every time, while 12% find someone talking in their sleep or snoring really loudly particularly hilarious.
Top pranks include hiding behind doors to jump out at people (15%), confidently sharing fake facts (13%), and playing random sounds like cat meows from hidden speakers (13%). The research was commissioned by Cartoon Network to celebrate the launch of The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball, back from a seven-year hiatus, with even more pranks and pandemonium.
British comedian and professor of laughter, Dr. Oliver Double, who has teamed up with the TV channel and programme, said: “Our nation’s favourite jokes and pranks show we’re a bunch of good-humoured pranksters. From inventive pranks to witty one-liners, our humour thrives on quick thinking, surprise, mischief and clever wordplay.
“That’s why shows like Gumball land so well, it’s full of cheeky antics, playful silliness, and wonderfully absurd unpredictability.”
The average Brit laughs out loud three times in a typical day, and 36% often laugh at things they probably shouldn’t. Over a third (35%) claim to have done something silly that felt like it belonged in a cartoon episode.
Among the most favoured jokes were “Why don’t eggs tell jokes? They’d crack each other up” (17%), and “Why don’t skeletons fight each other? They don’t have the guts” (15%).
The study found 85% believe laughter is the best medicine, with TV shows, family, and pets providing the biggest laughs. And 48% think adults should be more childlike, embracing silliness and harmless pranks.
Almost eight in 10 Brits (78%) who took part in the study by OnePoll.com say they laugh more when they’re with certain people. And 37% even admit they like the sound of their own laugh.
Monika Oomen, spokesperson for, Kids EMEA at Warner Bros. Discovery, and The Wonderfully Weird World of Gumball said: “This research confirms what we’ve always known – families love to laugh together. Gumball, packed with fast-paced chaos, and sheer unpredictability, brings generations together in one gloriously weird comic universe, often around the comedy of everyday chaos.”
40 things that make us laugh
1. Funny animal videos
2. Kids saying the funniest things / Toddlers accidentally dropping a naughty word
3. A comedy TV show
4. Being tickled
5. Babies reacting to their own reflection
6. Watching someone try not to laugh
7. Someone getting the giggles in a serious situation
8. Dad jokes
9. Trousers splitting / or falling down
10. A perfectly executed prank
11. A bird doing a poo on someone’s head
12. Someone’s chair breaking underneath them
13. Seeing someone slip, trip or fall over
14. Silly faces
15. Dogs getting the ‘zoomies’
16. Someone breaking wind
17. Overenthusiastic dance moves at weddings
18. Someone getting stuck in a revolving door
19. Someone misusing a common phrase with total confidence
20. Toilet humour
21. Comedy typos
22. Watching back old videos of being out with friends
23. Someone accidentally waving back at someone who wasn’t waving at them
24. Ridiculous dance-offs
25. People attempting famous accents
26. People doing impressions of their friends
27. Fart machines
28. Whoopee cushions
29. Someone talking in their sleep or snoring really loudly
30. Jump scaring someone by saying Boo / someone being made to jump
31. People getting hit in the head by a football
32. Someone’s voice cracking when saying something serious
33. Play fighting/ pillow fights
34. Toilet roll stuck on someone’s shoe
35. People trying to whisper but failing miserably
36. Fake spiders/bugs to freak people out
37. A mime with wild expressions
38. Witnessing someone accidentally replying to all / messaging someone they were talking about
39. Someone having a bogey hanging out of their nose
40. The game ‘bogeys’ where people have to shout the words increasingly loudly
Top pranks to have Brits laughing
1. Hiding behind a door to jump out at someone
2. Telling someone a fake fact with confidence
3. Hiding a small speaker and played random sounds
4. Putting a whoopee cushion under someone’s seat
5. Changing someone’s ringtone to something absurd or silly
6. Putting googly eyes on everything in the fridge
7. Changing your voice on a phone call
8. Putting a fake spider somewhere
9. Swapping sugar with salt
10. Sending someone to find a “long stand” or “tartan paint”
