except perhaps in the case of stand up comedy: which for me usually elicits the loudest laughter.
There's nothing more tense than a showdown between a stand-up comedian and their heckler. It's like a being in the saloon in one of those Western movies when a some tike speaks out of turn to the local gunslinger.
The article ignores, however, the fact that an awful lot (the vast majority?) of joking takes place between social equals. Now I come to think of it, jokes between social equals are the only ones which are actually particularly funny -- jokes told across different social levels tend to elicit a good-natured chuckle, not uncontrollable guffawing.