Deadpan vs Absurdist Humor
Deadpan is how you say the joke. Absurdism is the joke's relationship to meaning. They overlap — but a deadpan delivery does not make something absurdist.
Deadpan as style
Deadpan means delivering humor without any signal of amusement — flat tone, no smile, no laugh track. The performer treats the ridiculous as ordinary. Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg are famous for deadpan delivery.
Absurdism as worldview
Absurdist humor does not need deadpan delivery — it can be loud and silly. What makes it absurdist is the structural relationship between the work and meaning: the deliberate embrace of meaninglessness or the refusal of rational explanation.
When they combine
The most distinctive absurdist humor is often delivered deadpan — the combination amplifies the effect. Presenting a 261-page one-word novel in a straight-faced, serious editorial presentation is both absurdist (the concept) and deadpan (the tone).