Why is Chaucer is so funny?

Today we broke into groups and studied the various characters of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. My group was given the Friar, and needless to say we were easily entertained by his persona.  Dr. Bear asked us a very though provoking question, why is Chaucer so funny?  This made me think a lot about why I laugh and what exactly makes humor so amusing.  The only conclusion I could come to was that Chaucer saw elements about society that would never be subject to change.  This immutable subject would be expectation, which is present in any society.  No society lacks delegation to some person or organization, which expects them to fulfill some kind of duty.  Though some of Chaucer's characters are not immediately recognizable in purpose, some were completely obvious.  The Friar to the common man should be one who is one with humility, peace, compassion, and overall commendable character.  However, Chaucer used this character to express pure rebellion to both expectation and responsibility.

"In towns he knew the taverns, every one, And every good host and each barmaid too-Better than begging lepers, these he knew."

The Friar is completely out of his realm of duty, and makes a theology major like myself cringe in disgust of his outward ridiculousness. Sure, the Friar has some positive things about him like, "His throat was white as lily of the May," but by what standard does this affirm a great Friar?  The only way the Friar could be more out of line is if he had a mobile confession box.  My point is this, the reason why Chaucer is so funny is because he knows the level of expectation and responsibility our world has.  It is funny because the ones who try hard to meet those expectations are always sacrificing to the good of society.  In response to this, there are those who outwardly rebel against hierarchy, but never see the fruit of its reform.  So many lay off responsibility in order to please themselves, which squanders reputation and good character.  This misfortune, with the addition of positive reflection of oneself is what causes humor.  The acknowledgement of ones stupidity with idea of (I haven't been that stupid) bring the idea of laughter in Chaucer's work. This idea is not relative to all forms of humor, but is obvious in the Canterbury Tales. I personally loved Chaucer's work, and I think that if anyone wants to see brilliance from the Medieval era, this is an irreplaceable piece of literature.  

P.S. I commented on Tyler Cofield's "A whole New World!" 

Seriously. Enough said.