People who pun for sport also have a very high probability of having a narrow view of comedy. It's as if comedy were simply an expression of the wit of the spea

People who pun for sport also have a very high probability of having a narrow view of comedy. It's as if comedy were simply an expression of the wit of the speaker. That leaves the audience with little other than the facile verification of the speaker's wit. Yes, we confirm that word X has a double meaning. The groan is verbal confirmation that the speaker has essentially wasted their time. Besides, there are other types of low-hanging comedic fruit-- crowd work, street jokes, musical parodies-- which don't get groans. Those typically involve skills other than wit-- like relating to other human beings, improvisation, vulnerability, etc.-- which I think is the reason why.