Surreal humour is a form of humour based on violations of causal reasoning with events and behaviours that are logically incongruent. Constructions of surreal humour involve bizarre juxtapositions, non-sequiturs, irrational situations, and/or expressions of nonsense.

The humour arises from a subversion of audience's expectations, so that amusement is founded on unpredictability, separate from a logical analysis of the situation. Often, surrealist humor gets its appeal from the fact that the situation described is so ridiculous or unlikely.The genre has roots in Surrealism in the arts.

We can speak of surreal humour when illogic and absurdity are used for humorous effect.^{[citation needed]} Under such premises, we can identify precursors and early examples of surreal humour at least since the 19th century, such as Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass,^{[citation needed]} which both use illogic and absurdity for humorous effect. Many of Edward Lear's children stories and poems contain nonsense and are basically surreal in approach;^{[citation needed]} for example, The Story of the Four Little Children Who Went Round the World (1871) is filled with contradictory statements and odd images intended to provoke amusement,^{[non-primary source needed]} such as the following:

Mitchell Lee "Mitch" Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 29, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and unconventional comedic delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes, mixed with absurd elements and non sequiturs.

Hedberg's comedy and on-stage persona gained him a cult following, with audience members sometimes shouting out the punchlines to his jokes before he could finish them.

Mitch Hedberg was born February 24, 1968, in Saint Paul, Minnesota, the son of Arne and Mary Hedberg. He graduated from Harding High School in Saint Paul.

Hedberg began his stand-up career in Florida, and after a period of honing his skills moved to Seattle and began to tour. He soon appeared on MTV's Comikaze, followed by a 1996 appearance on Late Show with David Letterman which brought him his big break. He won the 1997 grand prize at the Seattle Comedy Competition. The following year he appeared in one episode of Fox's series That 70's Show.

In 1999 he completed his own independent feature film Los Enchiladas!, in which he wrote, directed, produced, and starred. He recorded three comedy CDs entitled Strategic Grill Locations, Mitch All Together, and Do You Believe in Gosh?, which was released posthumously. He also appeared at the Montreal Just For Laughs comedy festival in 1998 and 2001. According to Hedberg there had been talk of creating a TV series around him, but plans never came to be.^{[citation needed]}