A good pun is a bad pun. You know a pun is working at max capacity when you let out a full-throated groan after hearing it. A good pun should not make you chuckle, titter, or glow with appreciation of the teller's intellect, it should make you emit a sound from the deepest part of your gut, a sigh of frustration, ennui, and recognition of pun genius. I wonder why puns make us react this way. Is it because we see them as a lower, more base form of humor? Has comedy advanced so much that we only see observational humor as the true path?
I think we don't realize how much we like puns. Some of our favorite TV shows are full of them (e.g. the whole Lucille/ Loose Seal plotline in Arrested Development) We think we should hate puns, but really we love them. Good thing there's a list of them right here for you.
