Among funny things, some things are funnier than others. Why? Because more is better. In terms of complexity, pleasure, familiarity and intensity, the elements of humor presented in this theory may be present in greater numbers and magnified emotional intensities, in all cases increasing the intensity of the perceived humor in the situation.
First, complexity seems to increase the degree of perceived humor, so that if a joke is seen to contain several hidden violations, it will be more funny than if fewer were noticed. On the other hand, if a humorous situation is elaborated, by pointing out further violations or further instances of the same violation, the humorous interpretation may be intensified or prolonged.8 Added Normal interpretations can also increase humor; this is a regular feature of the last frame of the Doonesbury cartoon, for example, where the final development of the situation or story line presents a dead-pan perspective where the moral violation of the previous frames is interpreted as being normal; thereby building and developing the humor of the cartoon.
Second, if a violation is itself pleasurable, as in cases where for example a joke points out a violation of some person, group, or practice which is disliked, it seems more funny. Some Catholic-school graduates who have had unpleasant experiences at the hands of nuns may find the offensive nun joke below to be violently hilarious, due to their dislike for them. Sexist jokes are especially funny to misogynists. Jokes at former Vice President Dan Quayle's expense were especially funny to those who disliked his politics. In general, dislike for those who are discomfited in a joke makes it more funny. Why? Evidently, dislike for another creates a detachment from violations of their dignity or comfort, so that the strong attachment that gives rise to offended interpretations is absent. Further, a violation of the dignity, comfort, etc., of a disliked character seems to be acceptable, gratifying, and positively pleasurable to humans. This pleasure seems to account for the increased intensity of the hilarity, in that the dislike strengthens the interpretation, N, that the situation is acceptable or normal, which in turn increases the intensity of the perceived humor.
Third, familiarity with and intensity of the violation have an important role. People sometimes find a situation or a joke more funny when it evokes an experience they have had before, or when the audience has had personal encounters with the violations evoked in the joke. This is because they have a vivid understanding of the violation that is occurring in the (described) situation, since they have experienced that violation in an immediate and personal way. This enhances the intensity of the ``violation'' interpretation.
When a situation arises in which a previously-experienced violation occurs, but where the predominating interpretation is that everything is actually fine, the greater intensity of the evoked pain contributes to the intensity of the laughter. Just as another person's pain is hardly as vivid as one's own, the description of a violation that one has never experienced brings less of a V interpretation than one with which one has intimate experience. So familiar experiences are more funny, because there is a greater perceived violation involved. This is a special case of the general principle that the greater the affective commitment to a principle being violated in a situation, the more emotional intensity is involved in transforming it into (or seeing it simultaneously as) something normal and acceptable.
In all these cases, more of any of the elements of humor makes for more intense humor. Multiple violations, vividly understood V interpretations, pleasurable or gratifying N interpretations, all can make the humor more intense.