Just briefly rewatching TFA’s intro and it really highlights the difference in humor used. While the humor is vastly different from the OT, I think it still works well, though I cannot exactly nail down the exact reason but I’ll try. So in TFA, Poe is brought to Kylo Ren and Poe says that “Who talks first, I talk first, you talk first?” but Kylo doesn’t really play along with it. He keeps his composure and serious demeanor all the way through until he’s frustrated with Poe’s last line of, “It’s hard to understand you with that apparatus” and sends him off to the transport. Maybe it’s similar to Han in ANH where Han is having that intercom chit-chat with that Imperial officer. It plays out funny because we know Han is trying to convince and sell the fact everything is fine right after clearing that room, but of course that officer picks up on the fact that something is off. In either case, each gag works because one side is goofing off a bit, but the other side is completely serious.

So come TLJ’s opening gag bit between Hux and Poe, it falls flat to me because it’s as if both parties are pretty much in on the gag. It’s completely over-the-top to me that Hux goes along with it and keeps asking, "Can he really hear me?"
I don’t know, maybe I’m saying complete non-sense here, but it’s just a thought that hit me when I just loaded up TFA again and noticing how different it feels. The serious moments are able to linger and consistently maintain the tone. Then once the tension is gone, then the humor when it comes is more appropriate.

I wonder if someone can better explain this.