_Humor is something that thrives between man's aspirations and his
limitations. There is more logic in humor than in anything else.
Because, you see, humor is truth._ ~ Victor Borge
Having a funny disposition can prove a positive way of viewing life
and your place in the world. A good sense of humor has many
benefits, from personal happiness to making you the life and soul of
a party, to helping you see the lighter side of life and sharing
your irreverent sense of challenging situations with those more
seriously inclined. Being funny is recognized as an important part
of job hires too – a survey of 737 CEOs found that 98 percent of
them favored hiring someone with a sense of humor over someone who
didn't display such a sense.[1]
Being funny is not about being flippant or frivolous – it's about
being genuinely humorous and encouraging other people to have a good
laugh. And while it might be a little challenging changing your
outlook about the role of good humor in your life, being funny is
something innate, and wanting to be funnier is the first fabulous step
to becoming that way! Shuck off your stern self and tickle your funny
bone with the following fun steps!
!! Steps !!
Funny is innate! Trust in your innate sense of humor. Being funny
doesn't come in "one-size-fits-all"; what makes you funny is unique
to you and the way you observe the world. Focus first on what you
find funny in life and learn from your own reactions to the things
that make you laugh. Trust that you do have a funny bone – as
babies we laugh from 4 months of age, and all children express humor
naturally from kindergarten age, using humor to entertain themselves
and others, with riddles, knock knock jokes, laughing at themselves,
and even using physical slapstick humor.[2] So it's already in you
– you just need to bring it forth again!
* Find the things that make you laugh. Search for books, movies, TV
shows, photos, stories, words, poems, people, work incidents, pet
follies, near catastrophes, etc., that you've found funny. Keep a
note of them.
* Do funny things and enjoy the things that make you laugh more
often. Indulge in reading a comic strip, share jokes with the
kids, give in to "silly things" just because they're funny, and
laugh as often as you can.
Friends are a great source of funny Learn a little about what makes
us laugh. Laughter is generally the desired result of anyone seeking
to be funny, and usually this is because we view laughter as a sign
of happiness or as a release of tension. Laughter itself is
unconscious – while it is possible for us to inhibit our laughter
consciously (although not always successfully!), it is very hard for
us to produce laughter on demand, and doing so will usually seem
"forced".[3][4] Fortunately, laughter is very contagious (we're about
30 times more likely to laugh in the presence of others),[5] and in a
social context, it's easy to start laughing when others are
laughing.[6] Getting people to laugh, therefore, requires genuine
humor, which is definitely about more than reciting hackneyed jokes!
* What makes us laugh foremost includes feeling a sense of
superiority over someone else behaving "dumber" than us, or being
surprised by the incongruity of something, or by feeling a
welcomed relief from an anxiety.[7] And for many of us, seeing our
own frustrations reflected back at us by someone who clearly
understands a familiar predicament or situation and injects levity
into responding to it nearly always improves our mood!
* Keep in mind that while good joke-telling is an art form in and of
itself, it is not a requisite for being funny. Not being able to
remember jokes does not doom you to being humorless! Indeed,
research by scientists at Washington State University has shown
that a joke poorly told can be funny in its own right depending on
who you tell it to; it's possible we have a tendency to find being
let down by bad humor cause for amusement too![8]
* Different things make different people laugh – it's important to
keep this in mind when it doesn't seem that someone is responsive
to your being funny.
Incongruity is funny! Learn the key foundations of being funny. In a
nutshell, as good comedians already know, being funny boils down to
good timing and taking the best advantage of the context. This is why
learning long lists of jokes won't necessarily make you "funny"
because you still need to grasp the levity of a situation as it's
unfolding before you, within the context of those present and the
precise facts of each situation. Here are some of the basic
components of being funny:
_Misleading the mind, surprise, or cognitive incongruity_: Verbal
jokes use this element to the greatest level possible, trying to
misdirect your attention much the same as a magic trick seeks to
do.[9] Basically, this technique relies on cognitive processing
errors, turning assumptions upside down, and word confusion. For
example: "What happens to liars when they die?" Answer - "They lie
still." This joke works because you have to interpret the joke in two
ways, and the brain is temporarily confused by its inability to draw
on usual experience.[10] All of this happens quickly and
unconsciously, and humor becomes your brain's "graceful" way of coping
with the mixed signals; if you "get" the joke, you'll be laughing.
* When writing, you can still use this technique – write something
that appears to be headed in one direction but end up somewhere
else totally, such as Groucho Marx' clever one-liner, "Outside of
a dog, a book is man's best friend. Inside of a dog, it's too dark
to read", or Rodney Dangerfield's line, "My wife met me at the
door the other night in a sexy negligee. Unfortunately, she was
just coming home." The aim is to keep what's coming up a total
surprise![11]
* _Surprise where it's least expected_: On the plus side for you as
an improving funny person, it's good to know that the least funny
a place is, the easier it becomes to spring the element of
humorous surprise (for example, a dour workplace), while it is far
harder to maintain the element of surprise where humor is expected
(for example, a comedian doing stand-up comedy).[12]
* _Timing_: Apt timing is as important as surprise, because if you
give the brain too much time to work out a situation or joke, the
funny moment will pass by. This is probably why jokes people have
heard before don't work, as recognition dulls humor because the
brain is already primed by experience.[13] React quickly and
strike while the humorous moment exists.
* _Serious_: Much humor derives from very serious events and
situations in our daily lives. The sooner you grasp this reality
and learn to bend it to your sense of humor, the better! (See
below for qualifications on making humor out of "serious"
moments!)
Be a little silly sometimes! _Think silly_: This is about taking
serious stuff and being not-so-serious with it. Try to find the
funnier, lighthearted side of what you're observing and think like a
kid.
* _Status change_: Changing a person's status, or the status of
something long held to be true, can be very funny. For example,
having a CEO of a company ask the receptionist for advice on how
to run the company. Or, as Stephen Colbert did, taking a tried and
true saying such as "Be the change you want to see in the world"
and telling people "[P]lease don't do that. Some of us like it
the way it is. Personally, things are going great for me right
now."[14] can be very amusing.
* _Know your audience_: Have a reasonable idea of what those around
you find funny. When you're in a group of people you don't know,
for example, just listen to what subjects they're talking about
and what's making them laugh. Generally the better you know
someone, the easier it will be to make them laugh.
Find funny things in everyday life Broaden your factual
knowledge or joke material. It is much easier to find
funny moments in material you know well – your
workplace attitudes, your amazing knowledge of 17th
century poetry, your familiarity with fishing trips that
went wrong, etc. Whatever the material, though, it also
needs to resonate with your audience, meaning that your
concise ability to deconstruct a 17th century poem might
not hit its mark with somebody not familiar with the
piece! As a general rule, people who are very focused on
one hobby, occupation, or sitcom can be very funny to
other people who are also wrapped up in that particular
pursuit. When they try to be funny around people who are
not "in the loop," however, their humor often falls
flat. In other words, they may come off as "geeks" or
"nerds." How do you avoid this?
* Broaden your horizons so that you are tuned-in regardless of who
you're speaking to. If you can find the humor in physics _and_
Paris Hilton, for example, you're well on your way.
* Work your smarts. In a way, being funny is simply showing that you
are intelligent enough and know enough about something (hopefully
a great many things) to find the humorous nuances that others
miss.
* Be observant. While knowing a lot can increase your capacity for
humor, there's no substitute for _seeing_ a lot. In fact, many
very knowledgeable people fail to see the humor in things. Look
for the humor in everyday situations, and see what others don't.
Use yourself as fodder for the funnies! Be prepared to put your own
foibles in the spotlight. Good comedians tend to use themselves as
the principal target for humor, presumably because they know their
own foibles so well, but also because it is a means by which they
show others the warts-and-all side of their personality which
instantly connects with our own warts-and-all side. George Bernard
Shaw summed it up well when he stated: "When a thing is funny, search
it carefully for a hidden truth." We all spend so much time trying to
be better people, often trying to smother up unpleasant truths about
our appearance/abilities/thoughts, etc., that it's great to use humor
to release the tension this brings about, to let out a collective
sigh of relief that we're all in this crazy rat race together, all
feeling the same inadequacies and all thinking the same thoughts
about things that bug us.
* Don't take yourself so seriously. Remember the most embarrassing
moments in your life so far, the monumental stuff-ups, the times
you refused to make changes, the breakdowns in communications that
you played a major part in, etc. Instead of seeing their serious,
reputation-wounding side, start seeing what was funny about these
moments and how you can share the funny side of it with others.
Being able to laugh at yourself in a healthy, non-defensive way is
good for you.
* Be self-deprecating and humble. These traits can make you appear
_approachable_ and when you're being funny, it shows other people
that you're like them, you've been through the same trials they
have, and that you're a "regular" person. Just make sure to play
down the right things in your life though, and not make yourself
appear self-destructive or low in self-esteem - these do not make
you seem funny but pitiable, and sometimes, pathetic. If you think
your humor is self-mortifying, then it's not funny but painful for
your listeners – and you.[15]
* Be an active listener (and therefore lifelong learner). Listen
carefully to others and really hear them, and understand what
they're about. When you're busy focused on people other than
yourself, you'll get a better sense of how to help others through
humor, and it will also enable you to observe and relate the small
joys of life too – making your funny self more believable and
empathetic.
* Be prepared to make daily adjustments to your perspectives of the
world and of other people. Your own leaps of faith and changes of
heart can be very warming tales of saving face through humor for
others to learn from.
Reading humor can improve your humor! Learn from funny people. This
is a delightful part of seeking to be a funnier person – you get to
watch comedians! Whether they're professional comedians, your
parents, your kids, or your boss, learning from the funny people in
your life is a key step to being funny yourself. Watch the methods
that they use and see what you can adapt to your own situation and
personality. Keep a note of some of the funnier things these people
say or do. And find what you admire most in these people – even if
all you do is cobble together your own funny plan based on one
admired trait from each person, you'll be improving your sense of
funny tremendously. Immersing yourself like this will help you to
develop a toolbox of techniques you can use to be funny:
* Read funny books, comics, poems, etc. Read works by people like
James Thurber, P.G. Wodehouse, Stephen Fry, Kaz Cooke, Marian
Keyes, Woody Allen, Zadie Smith, Bill Bryson, Bill Watterson,
Douglas Adams, etc. – and don't forget children's books by good
authors; they can be a terrific source of good humor! There are
many excellent authors writing funny literature – do a search
online for lists of humorous authors, or check out the authors in
book stores.
* Read joke books. It can't hurt to have a few good memorized jokes
up your sleeve; and reading jokes can inspire you to start making
up your own witticisms. When reading them, try to dissect the
elements that make them such good jokes. Equally, try to work out
why some jokes do not work and you'll be learning what to avoid!
Read one-liners. One liners can steal the show. Dorothy Parker was
brilliant with one-liners; for example, when told that Calvin
Coolidge had died, she replied: "How can they tell?". You need quick
wit and readiness for delivering good one-liners but studying other
people's can inspire your own.
* One liners can be an excellent means for opening and sustaining a
dry presentation – for example, stating "If we are what we eat,
most of us are in danger of becoming French fries", before
proceeding to talk about dry nutritional figures can set the
audience at ease that you're funny underneath all those stats.[16]
* Watch funny shows. There are so many TV shows and movies with
excellent comedians. Just do yourself a favor and watch them,
lots!
* Read speeches by good comedians or people who have a wonderful
sense of humor. Note the ways in which they move or involve the
audience using humor, even for serious topics.
* Watch improvisers. All good comedians are improvisers but some
people choose to improvise for a living and the experience can be
hilarious! Attend an improvisation performance and take part in it
as much as you can – you'll laugh a lot and observe exactly how
they take instant unknown situations and turn them into something
very funny.
Being funny can help with learning Focus on the benefits of being
funny. From a motivational point of view, as you travel along the
path to becoming funnier, it is helpful to understand the extensive
benefits of being a funny person. There are benefits both for
yourself, and to bestow on those amused by your humor:
* Being funny can break down barriers between people and cause us to
bond. Laughter itself is considered to be a "universal
language".[17] Steve Allen said that humor acts as a "social
lubricant and humanizing agent",[18] giving it an important place
during even the most serious of times. For example, during both
World Wars, comedians and cartoonists formed an important part of
maintaining morale among both troops and citizens.
* Humor can energize you and leave you feeling a lot more alert.
It's like a "mind-break" without having to travel.
* Being funny can make you seem a lot less scary. Have you ever
experienced a moment where you've frightened a small child but
you've quickly turned the situation around by telling a joke, or
making fun of your scary height or appearance? It's a natural
reaction when we want to make ourselves seem less frightening to
others.
* Humor can reduce anxiety. Using humor before an exam, test,
presentation to the board, etc., is the ideal way to defuse
tension and reduce anxiety levels.
* Laughter can relieve pain. Numerous studies attest to the ability
of laughter to relieve serious pain and illness for defined
periods of time.[19] Being funny when you visit a friend in
hospital can be a breath of fresh air for them.
* Being funny can help people to learn. Whenever you're in a
position to teach people, using humor can be a fantastic tool for
easing the learning process. Defusing anxiety in a classroom or
workplace so that those learning are more receptive to what is
being taught is an age-old tradition that works.[20]
* Being funny can boost creativity. David M Ogilvy recognized this
when he said: "The best ideas come as jokes. Make your thinking as
funny as possible." Use humor to solve problems creatively.
A little fun at work livens things up See being funny as a positive
way up the corporate ladder. Peter Ustinov made a very insightful
comment that "comedy is simply a funny way of being serious." Having
a humorous side at work is beneficial for you and understanding this
can help overcome any reservations you might feel about not being
taken seriously if you're funny. In fact, if you're known as a good
worker _and_ funny, you'll be the person others want to spend time
around. Being funny at work can help build teams and relieve
workplace stress. In addition, funny people tend to be creative
thinkers, intent on keeping an open mind about work challenges, as
well as seeking new ways to fix them.[21]
* Give a thought to being a funny leader. A leader who loosens up
allows the team to loosen up too. If you're in a leadership or
management role, set a tone that encourages good humor around the
workplace and encourages fun to be a part of workplace life. Find
out from your employees what _their_ idea of fun is and start to
build relationships of trust based on allowing fun into the
workplace.
* Consider creating fun ways of tackling hard problems. Taking
difficult work situations and turning them into funny ones might
seem frivolous at first but it can be an amazing way to turn
around a bad situation. For example, a team suffering from low
morale can be bolstered by adding humor to the solution, as
occurred when a Pennsylvanian bank started a "Worst Customer of
the Week" award, complete with champagne given to the employee who
told the worst tale of customer behavior each week. This resulted
in every teller going out of their way to serve the difficult
customers![22]
Humor about the serious stuff needs careful treatment - know the
context well! Know when not to be funny. Steve Allen noted that
anything could be dealt with humorously, including religion, death,
cancer, oppression, etc., but he stressed that this doesn't make it
socially appropriate to do so.[23] Getting the balance right is
important when you're trying to be funny; there are times when being
humorous about something solemn or tragic will fall flat and insult
people. Rely on your common sense and the fact that your least
favorite member of the family is starting to glare at you with deep
malice.
* Assess and know your audience before treading forth. If they're
likely to take a dim view of your humor under any circumstances,
know this beforehand!
* Do the "how would I feel?" test. Will Rogers once said:
"Everything is funny as long as it is happening to Somebody Else."
Would it be so funny if you were the target of the humor? This is
aside from the fact that all good humorists should be able to
laugh at themselves – know the difference between good, healthy
humor and poor taste, or hurtful insults.
* Be extremely careful about cracking jokes or pulling pranks in the
following situations: workplace, funerals and weddings, places of
worship (or religious events), whenever your humor could be
mistaken for harassment or discrimination, or if your humor might
physically harm somebody (for example, a prank).
* _ Not all funny stuff hits the target - swallow your
embarrassment and try again! Spring back. Every well-rounded,
self-confident funny person knows how to take a failed funny –
forgive yourself. Sometimes a joke will fall flat, or an
observation that cracks you up will just make others groan. Don't
be discouraged. Learn from your comedic errors,_ and keep trying.
Even the highest paid comedians don't always get a laugh, and no
one expects anybody to be funny all the time. If you feel like
you're temporarily off your game, just don't try to force humor.
!! Video !!
!! Tips !!
* Gender matters. Men tend to tell more jokes, tease and disparage
(hostile humor), and enjoy slapstick humor, whereas women tend to
prefer telling a story, usually in a self-deprecating manner, that
elicits a response of group solidarity from other females. [24]
Interestingly, the roles reverse when you stick men and women
together – men tend to tone down the teasing while women turn it
up and target it at men, losing much of their self-deprecation in
the process![25]
* Remember to include non-verbal funny cues, such as doing a funny
dance, or making a funny noise, where these are appropriate.
* Keep it fresh: staying on one subject can grow tiresome quickly;
learn to flip to new topics to keep your humor fresh during an
occasion of repartee!
* Practice callbacks. You may have noticed that many comedians will
tell a joke and then bring it back in one version or another,
usually getting as big a laugh (or bigger) on the second time than
on the first. This is called a callback, and you can use this
technique, too. If you come up with a joke or observation that
gets a big laugh, subtly bring it back a little later. As a
general rule, though, don't try to call something back more than 3
times.
* Fake it till you make it. This adage counts for being funny as
much as for confidence. You can smile even when you don't feel
like it, and the result is an improvement in mood.[26] Try being
funny too, even when you don't feel like it; you'll notice an
appreciable improvement in your mood!
* Practice being funny. Everything improves with practice but it's
important to practice in a low-risk environment first and to build
up your funnier self to wider audiences as you improve. Your
family and friends will be most forgiving, while your staff will
be apprehensive if you're suddenly shape-shifting into a funnier
person, and a large audience will expect you to be good from the
start. Practicing with people you trust and who can give you
constructive feedback is a good way to start.
* The use of sarcasm needs to be treated with kid gloves. If you're
good with the deadpan delivery and humorous cutting remark, by all
means go for it; but for most mere mortals, many a sarcastic
comment falls very, very flat and is not at all amusing!
* Did you know that laughter is not dependent on sight or sound?
Those born deaf and blind know how to laugh instinctively.[27]
!! Warnings !!
* Some people will always take themselves overly seriously – while
they're riper for being a source of humor than anyone else, on the
whole, it pays to not over-target them. All the same, don't let
their arrogance, insecurities, or stubborn attachment to solemnity
bring you down. Recognize that terribly serious people can be very
difficult to work and live with, and keep a good distance from
them if your humor is rubbing them the wrong way. Alternately, if
you're a strong enough person, don't give in and be the perennial
funny thorn in their side!
* Don't try too hard. The harder you try, the more serious it gets,
and the less fun it is. Let down your defenses and be receptive to
whatever may come.
* Be very careful with being funny about sacred cows, from religion
to politics. Everything can be funny but sometimes if you go "too
far" in someone else's eyes, they'll call you on it. Be ready for
that, and be armed with your reasons. All the same, keep in mind
that not all calls on you for "insulting" someone or "beliefs" are
good calls – sometimes your humor will have a touched a raw
nerve that deserved to be exposed – remember that humor often
exposes truth.
* Don't laugh at your own jokes until everyone else is laughing. It
will not only make it seem you're trying too hard to be funny, but
it can also spoil the funny moment and nobody else will feel
inclined to laugh. Avoid "canned laughter" for individuals.
* Don't repeat jokes. If you think your friends might have heard it
before, find something else to be funny about.
* Avoid overloading people with jokes or funny quips. Sometimes you
can overdo a good thing.
* Don't linger over people who don't get your sense of humor. They
might be attuned differently because of culture, gender,
interests, etc., and you're marching to a different beat. Just
respect it for what it is – a difference of humor!
* If you wait too long, even very funny comments will lose their
impact. For example, if someone says something to you and you
think of a witty comeback two hours later, you're probably better
off just keeping it to yourself. It won't be funny anymore, and
you'll look slow, and possibly daft.
* What is funny has cultural overlays. Something funny in the USA
may be perplexing in France, for example. Keep this in mind, and
try to find universally shared funny stories.
* As stated previously, there are times when humor is socially
inappropriate: not only could someone be offended, but they could
also become hostile. As a general rule, avoid being funny at
funerals, places of worship, and memorial services, or during
conversations about terminal illness, race, or rape
!! Things You'll Need !!
* Humorous books, DVDs, TV channels
* Theater tickets for comedies and improvisation performances
!! Related WikiHows !!
* How to Have a Witty Conversation
* How to Socialize, Be Funny and Make Friends
* How to Be Funny Without Telling Jokes
* How to Be Fun to Be With
* How to Analyze a Joke
!! Sources And Citations !!
!! Article Tools !!
* Read on wikiHow
*
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