A video it's worth having a look at

There is a interesting point in this interview with Ricky Gervais on the importance of empathy in comedy:



Ricky Gervais is one of my personal favourites when it comes to comedy. He really knows the importance of creating characters we identify with to make the jokes funnier, whether it's slap-stick, dialogue or just people randomly falling over, he always adds that little moment of embarrassment to make us really feel for the person.
For instance: A character making a fool of him/herself makes us feel sympathy for the person, but what Ricky does a lot in his shows (The Office, Extras & Lifes too short) is make the character try to hide the fact that he just made a fool of himself. This causes us to emphasise with the character, we feel the tension, the embarrassment of it all.
- And that's the clue to making a scene or joke funny and more real to the audience.