[AlwaysRock]

Well for comedy its patterns. You hear something once and its just a thing, the second time you hear it you remember the first time and you might chuckle, the third time your brain recognizes it as a pattern and building off the first two times you heard it and its, "funny".

I'm over simplifying but that is really the basis of a lot of comedy. Stand up less so. Most improv runs on the rule of threes though. It's an easy way to make something not funny at least a little funny.

Try it in a meeting or presentation sometime. Start with some goofy line or joke. Mention it again in the middle. Close with it. You'll probably get laughs. Even if its not that funny and got crickets the first time.