The humour in expectations
Humour is this: Something is going somewhere where you expect, and then that expectation gets subverted.
We believe we are in one context, and then the context shifts on us. Or the story is going one way, and then it twists in unexpected ways. And all of that is funny and delightful.
Humour is when our expectations are being violated in a way that is almost pleasant: Benignly.
This is the Benign Violation Theory.
When I have hard and concrete expectations of life, all violations feel malignant. My life is humourless.
When my expectations are soft and pliable, I delight in the benign twists that life offers.