They are concise. For example, like 'The fish went to school. It got an A in swim class.' It gets the humor across quickly without a lot of extra words.
A man went to the dentist. The dentist said, 'You need a filling.' The man replied, 'No, I don't like fillings. I only like ice cream.' The dentist was so amused that he almost dropped his drill. Then the man added, 'Can you put ice cream in my tooth instead?'.
Sure. A magician was walking down the street and turned into a grocery store.
A man goes to the doctor. He says, 'Doctor, you've got to help me. I keep thinking I'm a deck of cards.' The doctor replies, 'Sit down and I'll deal with you later.'
Often, they have a strong emotional core. Whether it's about love, friendship or courage. In a one - paragraph story about a lost cat being reunited with its owner, the love between them is the main focus. Also, they usually have a clear beginning, middle and end. In a story of a man climbing a mountain in one paragraph, we can see his preparation (beginning), the climb (middle) and reaching the top (end).
A man was staying in a supposedly haunted hotel room. He heard strange noises all night. In the morning, he found out it was just the old radiator making those spooky sounds. Turns out the 'ghost' was just a creaky old heating system.
Once upon a time, a magician was performing on stage. He said he could make a rabbit disappear. He waved his wand, said the magic words, and opened the box. But instead of the rabbit disappearing, his assistant was gone. The magician was so shocked that he accidentally turned himself into a carrot.
A group of friends decided to explore an abandoned mansion. They heard eerie moans. As they tiptoed towards the sound, they found a leaky pipe. The water dripping was making the moaning noise. They all had a good chuckle at how scared they had been over a simple plumbing issue.
There was a man who thought he could fly. He climbed up on his roof and flapped his arms as hard as he could. Of course, he didn't fly but instead tumbled down into a bush. Luckily, the bush was thick and soft, so he was only a bit scratched. His neighbors saw the whole thing and couldn't stop laughing for days.
A little boy asked his father, 'Daddy, how much does it cost to get married?' Father replied, 'I don't know son, I'm still paying for it.'
One characteristic is simplicity. They are usually straightforward in plot so that the humor can be quickly grasped. For example, a simple joke like 'Why don't scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything.' is short and clean. Another is universality. Most of these stories can be understood by people from different cultures. Like the story of the clumsy bear that tries to dance and always falls over. It doesn't require much cultural background knowledge to find it funny. Also, they often have an unexpected twist. A story might start with a normal situation like a cat chasing a mouse, but then the mouse suddenly starts chasing the cat for a funny reason, which catches the reader or listener off - guard.