Why is it funny (and it often is) when one character knows something, that others don't? For example, the character might be peeking around a corner to see something happening, unobserved. Is it that it makes the audience feel they have privileged knowledge, to put themselves in this character's place, do they feel the sense of danger at being discovered, or is there more to it than that?
Many people talk about surprise being the thing to aim for these days and I agree but a whole vein of comedy from Laurel and Hardy through to today (Frasier / Fawlty Towers / etc ) relies on teasing out the anticipation of the audience waiting for the "Here it comes" moment.
The technique has survived because it's a way of extracting more humour from a situation. The classic Frasier farces (with the gay station manager that thinks he's on a date with Frasier and the episode of swapping ski lodge rooms at the resort) are great because we (and other characters) see the approaching dilemma and the tension of the anticipation is released in the final awful realisation for the protagonist.
Another great ploy is to subvert the anticipation. Laurel and Hardy were the kings of setup and anticipation but they also knew how to catch an audience off-guard.
Good points.
It's nice to hear Laurel and Hardy get namechecked. Up until the end of the 70's , you could see them on TV all the time, then they suddenly disappeared from our screens, just about when alternative comedy came in. Maybe there weren't enough knob jokes in the old B&W movies, for the 80's.