“It is the duty of the comedian to find out where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately.”
— George Carlin
Violation: The DNA of Humor
At its core, every laugh is a broken rule. Comedy doesn’t thrive in order – it erupts when someone smashes it. The rules of politeness. The rules of logic. The rules of reverence. The rules of “what you’re allowed to say in public.” As the Carlin quote above suggests, comedians are professional violators. They get paid to trespass on the invisible fences that keep the rest of us in line. But not all comics seek the same form of violation. Each has a preferred hunting ground – a corner of human order they love to topple.
Conveniently, those patterns align with our world of cognitive preferences and temperaments. This is the Unified Type Theory of Comedy: every great comic can be understood by the kind of violation they specialize in, and their likely underlying type.
Note that I have done the best I can to keep the comedy “clean” so please understand that some of the violations below may still push boundaries. The goal here is to illuminate, not upset anyone.
1. Violating Propriety (ESTP - The Taboo Breakers)
These comics say the things you’re not supposed to say. ESTPs stomp gleefully on the rules of decency, dragging taboo topics – sex, race, financial status, bodily functions – into the spotlight. The laugh comes with a twinge of guilt: we know we shouldn’t laugh… which makes it even more irresistible.
Examples:
- Eddie Murphy: “The ice cream man is coming! And you ain’t got no money, ‘cause you’re on welfare!”
- Amy Schumer: “I wake up looking like a raccoon in a dumpster.”
- Ron White: “I believe that if life gives you lemons, you should make lemonade… And try to find somebody whose life has given them vodka, and have a party.”
- Richard Pryor: “I’m not addicted to cocaine. I just like the way it smells.”
- Chris Rock: ““I used to work at McDonald’s making minimum wage. You know what that means when someone pays you minimum wage? […] ‘Hey if I could pay you less, I would, but it’s against the law.’”
- Sam Kinison: “If I get married again, I want a guy there with a drum to do rimshots during the vows.”
- Roseanne Barr: “To expect life to treat you good is foolish as hoping a bull won’t hit you because you are a vegetarian.”
- Ali Wong: “I’m addicted to picking my nose. In a world of red tape and bureaucracy … it’s so instant to just stick your finger up there and go for something your own body produces.”
- Wanda Sykes: “Why do they lock gas station bathrooms? Are they afraid someone will clean them?”
- Joan Rivers: “I’ve had so much plastic surgery, when I die they’ll donate my body to Tupperware.”
They break the rule that “polite company” exists at all, turning guilty cringes into cathartic belly laughs.
2. Violating Coherence (ENFP - The Chaos Makers)
If ESTPs smash propriety, ENFP comics smash logic itself. Their sets are manic rollercoasters of free association, surreal tangents, and voices colliding midair. The violation is of coherence – you expect a straight line, and instead you get fireworks. Notably, they tread lightly on others; the only person who comes out having been harmed is the comedian themselves.
Examples:
- Robin Williams (on golf): “Whack it in a gopher hole! Oh, you put a flag there to give you hope!”
- Ellen DeGeneres: “My grandmother started walking five miles a day when she was sixty. She’s ninety-seven now, and we don’t know where the hell she is.”
- Tina Fey:
- “I was a little excited but mostly blorft. ‘Blorft’ is an adjective I just made up that means ‘Completely overwhelmed but proceeding as if everything is fine and reacting to the stress with the torpor of a possum.’ I have been blorft every day for the past seven years.”
- “Living a lie will eat you up inside. Like that parasite I got from eating sushi on Amtrak.”
- “Lovers? Oh that word bums me out unless it’s between ‘meat’ and ‘pizza’.”
- Pete Holmes: “I’m not a caffeine person, I run on anxiety.”
- Billy Crystal: “Good news, they found Nemo! The bad news is, they found him in one of Wolfgang Puck’s puff pastries.”
- Dana Carvey: “You know, sometimes you can’t just take an armadillo, put it in the barn, light it on fire and expect it to make licorice.”
- Steve Martin: “I love money. I love everything about it. I bought some pretty good stuff. Got me a $300 pair of socks. Got a fur sink. An electric dog polisher. A gasoline powered turtleneck sweater. And, of course, I bought some dumb stuff, too.”
- Mike Myers (as Dr. Evil): “You’re the Diet Coke of evil. Just one calorie. Not evil enough.”
- Steve Carrell: “Everyone said to Vincent van Gogh, ‘You can’t be a great painter, you only have one ear.’ And you know what he said? ‘I can’t hear you.’”
- Woody Allen: “I don’t want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying.”
ENFP comics invite us into nonsense that still, somehow, feels profound.
3. Violating Normalcy (INTP/ENTP - The Observers)
These comics make the ordinary feel alien. Instead of filth or chaos, they zoom in on everyday life until the cracks show — or expose cultural hypocrisy until it collapses under its own weight.
Examples:
- Jerry Seinfeld (INTP): “A two-year-old is kind of like having a blender, but you don’t have a top for it.”
- Michael McIntyre (ENTP): “I’ve got a little baby, I made him … He doesn’t speak, he’s 2 … He’s a slow learner, he’s only got 2 words … car and map … I’m slightly worried he’s trying to escape. If his next word is passport we are in serious trouble!”
- Garrison Keilor (INTP): “They say such nice things about people at their funerals that it makes me sad to realize that I’m going to miss mine by just a few days.”
- Kevin Nealon (ENTP): “I have a wandering eye and a lazy eye so they cancel each other out. It’s a push.”
- Larry David (INTP): “Anyone can be confident with a full head of hair. But a confident bald man – there’s your diamond in the rough.”
- Paula Poundstone (ENTP): “The wages of sin are death, but by the time taxes are taken out, it’s just sort of a tired feeling.”
INTPs dissect with precision; ENTPs critique with force. Together, they turn “normal life” into absurdist theater.
4. Violating Reverence (ENTP - Social Critics)
Where others play nice, ENTP comics attack power itself. They strip presidents, priests, celebrities, and even audiences of their protective aura.
Examples:
- George Carlin (ENTP): “Think of how stupid the average person is, and realize half of them are stupider than that.”
- Jon Stewart (ENTP): “I celebrated Thanksgiving in an old-fashioned way. I invited everyone in my neighborhood to my house, we had an enormous feast, and then I killed them and took their land.”
- Bill Maher: “We have the Bill of Rights. What we need is a Bill of Responsibilities.”
- Mark Twain: “There is no distinctly native American criminal class except Congress.”
- Ben Franklin: “The Constitution only guarantees the American people the right to pursue happiness. You have to catch it yourself.”
- Trevor Noah: “The weirdest thing about politics is that honesty is considered a gaffe.”
- John Oliver: “If you want to do something evil, put it inside something boring. Apple could put the entire text of ‘Mein Kampf’ inside the iTunes user agreement, and you’d just go agree, agree, agree – what? – agree, agree.”
This is comedy as commentary: nothing is sacred, and nobody is untouchable.
5. Violating Reality (INTP/ENFP/INFP - The Surrealists)
Some comics break not manners or logic, but existence itself. They deliver dream-logic, deadpan, or surrealism that feels wrong and yet perfectly right.
Examples:
- Steven Wright (INFP): “I spilled spot remover on my dog. Now he’s gone.”
- Mitch Hedberg: “An escalator can never break. It can only become stairs.”
- Andy Kaufman: Mighty Mouse lip sync, dead serious.
- Maria Bamford: “I love the drama of the office: ‘Don’t touch Donna’s label-maker.’ … ‘Why? Because she bought it with her own money.’ … ‘Enough said, sister. Why don’t you tell Donna to keep her mitts off my freakin’ tape dispenser? She knows it’s mine ‘cause it’s clearly labeled with my name – Oh…’”
- Norm McDonald: “The depressing thing about tennis is that no matter how good I get, I’ll never be as good as a wall.”
- Monty Python: “Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!”
They violate the rule that comedy must reflect reality, bending it into stranger – sometimes truer – shapes.
6. Violating Self (ISFJ/ISTJ - The Self-Deprecators)
Performers are supposed to project confidence. These comics break that expectation by dismantling themselves.
Examples:
- Rodney Dangerfield:
- “I don’t get no respect. When I was a kid, my parents moved a lot – but I always found them.”
- “With my old man I got no respect. He told me never take candy from a stranger … unless he offered me a ride.”
- Phyllis Diller: “I never made Who’s Who, but I’m featured in What’s That?”
- Tig Notaro: “Hello, I have cancer. How are you?”
- Bob Newhart:
- “I was going to buy a copy of The Power of Positive Thinking, and then I thought, ‘What good would that do?’”
- “I told my wife I’d like to die in my sleep like my grandfather – not screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car.”
- “I don’t drink much anymore. Not since I found out I’m allergic to floors.”
- “I’ve never been good at confrontation. My idea of standing up for myself is writing a strongly worded thank-you note.”
- “Someone once told me I have a face for radio. I said, ‘That’s fine, I’ve got a voice for mime.’”
Self-deprecators violate the rule of self-presentation – and win us by losing face.
7. Violating Mundanity (ESFP/ISFP - The Storytellers)
There are comics whose gift is spinning ordinary life into gold – family chaos, regional quirks, embarrassing errands – showing that life itself is hysterical.
Examples:
- Kathleen Madigan: “I always give homeless people money, and my friends yell at me, ‘He’s only going to buy more alcohol and cigarettes.’ And I’m thinking, ‘Oh, like I wasn’t?’”
- Nate Bargatze: “I bought a glue stick instead of ChapStick. My wife hasn’t talked to me since.”
- Jim Gaffigan:
- “I’m what you’d call… indoorsy.”
- “If camping is so great, why are the bugs always trying to get in your house?”
- “You know what it’s like having five kids? Imagine you’re drowning. And someone hands you a baby.”
- John Mulaney: “I was once on the phone with Blockbuster Video, which is a very old-fashioned sentence.”
They violate our expectation that “ordinary is boring.” In their hands, it’s riotous.
8. Violating Composure (ESFP/ESTP - The Physicals)
There’s an unwritten rule of adulthood: keep your cool. These comics explode that rule with their whole bodies. They hurl themselves down stairs, through tables, and into humiliations so huge they become heroic. The laugh is primal and compassionate: when dignity detonates, humanity shows up.
Examples:
- Chris Farley (ESFP): Pure kinetic sincerity. Matt Foley, Motivational Speaker turns flailing, furniture-crushing chaos into a plea for belonging: “I live in a van down by the river!” The body says what the heart can’t.
- John Candy (ESFP): The gentlest bull in the china shop. In Planes, Trains & Automobiles, his physical stumbles are wrapped in warmth; the pratfall always reveals a bigger heart.
- Lucille Ball (ESFP): Industrial ballet of disaster. The chocolate conveyor belt scene is physical panic conducted like symphony – grace converted into hilarious mayhem.
- Melissa McCarthy (ESTP): Full-commit slapstick with volcanic confidence. She turns “I shouldn’t” into “watch me,” reclaiming power through impact.
- Jack Black (ESTP): Exuberant self-parody. Rock-god theatrics in a mortal body; every leap dares gravity (and coolness) to keep up.
- John Belushi (ESFP): Swaggering wrecking ball. Whether smashing a guitar in Animal House or dancing in a suit that shouldn’t move, composure never stood a chance.
This group connects first, thinks second – sensation, presence, and shared emotion lead. Their violation isn’t taboo or rhetoric; it’s the public sacrifice of poise. They choose to look ridiculous so we can feel less alone in our own daily stumbles. Where “Self-Deprecators” break the image of the self, Physicals break the posture of the self. They topple the social commandment “don’t make a scene” – and in the rubble, they build a communal cheer.
The Charm License
Some comedians aren’t just funny – they’re dangerously funny. They cross lines of propriety, timing, or tone that would end anyone else’s career, yet somehow, they walk away with applause. What protects them isn’t restraint or apology; it’s charm – a social force field powered by Extraverted Feeling (Fe).
It’s primarily the ESTPs and ENTPs of the comedic world who wield this Charm License like diplomatic immunity. Their Fe acts as a sonar system, reading a room’s micro-reactions in real time and adjusting milliseconds before offense turns into outrage. They know exactly how far to go – and if they go too far, they have the charisma, warmth, and timing to pull the crowd back in. It’s not manipulation; it’s empathy in motion, paired with the thrill-seeking confidence of high Extraverted Sensing (Se) or Intuition (Ne). These are the comics – and leaders – who test social boundaries live, trusting their connection to the audience more than the safety of convention.
At their best, they remind us that laughter is an act of forgiveness – that we can be startled, even provoked, and still stay in the room together. At their worst, they gamble too freely with other people’s comfort and discover the limits of charm the hard way. Either way, they keep the rest of us honest about where the true lines are – not the ones written in etiquette books, but the ones drawn in real time by courage, empathy, and risk.
Wrap Up
The beauty of this framework is that once you hear the sound of each violation, you can’t un-hear it. See if you can spot your favorite comedian’s style of humor and guess their likely type…
And, naturally, I haven’t been able to cover everyone here or even all styles of comedy so I’ve added a bunch more to the Appendix below, but feel free to put your favorites into the comments section and I’ll offer a guess!
Appendix: Expanded Roll Call of Violators
Violating Propriety (ESTP – The Taboo Breakers)
Vince Vaughn, Whoopi Goldberg, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock, Dave Chappelle, Jim Carrey, Richard Pryor, Roseanne Barr, Sam Kinison, Andrew Dice Clay, Tim Allen, Rosie O’Donnell, Joan Rivers, Bob Hope, Dane Cook, Kevin James, Kevin Nealon, John Belushi, John Cleese, Chevy Chase, Sammy Davis Jr., Ron White, Amy Schumer, Ali Wong, Wanda Sykes
Violating Coherence (ENFP – The Chaos Makers)
Robin Williams, Billy Crystal, Ellen DeGeneres, Jay Leno, Lily Tomlin, Sarah Silverman, Woody Allen, Albert Brooks, Dudley Moore, Sacha Baron Cohen, Mel Brooks, Rita Rudner, Gene Wilder, Dana Carvey, Mike Myers, Steve Carell, Tina Fey, Pete Holmes, John Cusack
Violating Normalcy (INTP/ENTP – The Observers)
Jerry Seinfeld, Demetri Martin, Wanda Sykes, Paula Poundstone, Larry David, Garrison Keillor, Michael McIntyre, Kevin Nealon
Violating Reverence (ENTP – The Social Critics)
George Carlin, Jon Stewart, Bill Maher, David Letterman, Steve Martin, Jackie Gleason, Dennis Miller, Paula Poundstone, Bill Cosby, Will Smith, Groucho Marx, Tina Fey, Stephen Colbert, Mark Twain, Benjamin Franklin, Trevor Noah, John Oliver
Violating Reality (INTP/ENFP/INFP – The Surrealists)
Steven Wright, Mitch Hedberg, Andy Kaufman, Maria Bamford, Norm Macdonald, Monty Python
Violating Self (ISFJ/ISTJ – The Self-Deprecators)
Rodney Dangerfield, Phyllis Diller, Tig Notaro, Bob Newhart
Violating Mundanity (ESFP/ISFP – The Storytellers)
Kathleen Madigan, Nate Bargatze, Jim Gaffigan, John Mulaney
Violating Composure (ESFP/ESTP – The Physicals)
Chris Farley, John Candy, Lucille Ball, Melissa McCarthy, Jack Black, John Belushi
