This paper proposes two ways of enhancing the complicacy of the description of humour. The first one is an intricate assay of humour phenomena based on central humour theories, which employs the wealth of models and categories already extant in linguistic disciplines. The second way is the integration of aspects covered by different theories of humour in an intricate model of communication, where some connections between theories may be systematic. In this paper, it is seen as a pivotal task of linguistics to provide other disciplines involved in humour studies with the detailed insights that linguistic assay can present.