Comedy sound effects

Two snare hits and a small cymbal, gone in two seconds. This is the one most edits reach for, because it tells an audience a joke has finished without anyone having to laugh first.

A hard backwards drag that falls in pitch and stops dead. It works as a full stop rather than a punchline, which is why it sits under a freeze frame so well.

Two flat nasal honks with a wheeze on the release. The reed gives it a rude, unserious edge that a car horn never has, so it reads as clowning rather than traffic.

One hollow burst with a short rush of air behind it. Small enough to punctuate a caption or a title card, where a drum hit would feel like too much ceremony.

Ten unbroken seconds of dry chirping. The joke here is the length: it has to run long enough to become uncomfortable, which is exactly what a two-second clip cannot do.

Eight overlapping voices in one warm burst that settles into scattered chuckles. The settling is what sells it, because a laugh that stops all at once sounds switched on.