visual joke vs laugh

visual joke and laugh both are nouns.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
visual joke	Yes	No	No	No
laugh	Yes	No	Yes	No

As nouns, laugh is a hypernym of visual joke; that is, laugh is a word with a broader meaning than visual joke:

visual joke: a joke whose effect is achieved by visual means rather than by speech (as in a movie)
laugh: a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter

Other hypernyms of visual joke include gag, jape, jest, joke.

visual joke (noun)	laugh (noun)
a joke whose effect is achieved by visual means rather than by speech (as in a movie)	the sound of laughing
	a humorous anecdote or remark intended to provoke laughter
	a facial expression characteristic of a person laughing

visual joke (verb)	laugh (verb)
	produce laughter