Introduction

Although it may seem hard to believe for a non-Muslim observer, such jokes have attracted strong public attention in contemporary Iranian society, especially in the past decade. Indeed, humour plays a significant role and holds a long-standing tradition in Iranian culture. Previous studies have explored different manifestations of joking or witticism both in Persian literature and in Iranian folklore (Javadi, 1988; Halabi, 1998; Behzadi Anduhjerdi, 1999; Salahi, 2003; Zarooee Nasrabad, 2010).

Iranians are very fond of laughter and humour, tending to enjoy their time laughing and telling jokes in many aspects of their lives, whether at the workplace or in family gatherings. In Iranian culture, laughter and humour are highly praised as positive entertaining features. As a very famous Persian poem says: ‘I asked God how I could serve the people. My heart told me secretively: What is better than making people laugh?’ (Mohammad Khoramshahi, 1911– 2017).

On the one hand, humorous or comic characters have always been very popular in Iran: Bohlul and Nasreddin Hodja are well-known examples of Iranian comical characters, featured in countless funny stories or anecdotes in Iranian folklore. Also, jesters and fools were present in the courts of several Iranian royals to entertain the king, including in the court of Mahmud of Ghazni (c. 971– 1030), Abbas the Great (c. 1571– 1629) and Naser al-Din Shah Qajar (c. 1831– 1896). Such figures usually had implicit permission to criticize the king and other officials through humorous speeches and comic performances (see Javadi, 1988; Nourbakhsh, 1992). Moreover