How Can I Be Funny?

How Can I Be Funny? by Martin

How Can I Be Funny?
The essence of comedy and humour, why we perceive certain things as funny and what actually makes us laugh, has been studied and mused upon for decades, with no real definitive conclusions. But the question most commonly asked by the man on the street, which appears to largely have been overlooked is, can I LEARN to be funny? Is it possible to take an average Joe and turn them into the life and soul of the party, by teaching a variety of principles and techniques?
The desire to learn comedy is obvious. The craving for laughter is inherent in every human, no matter how much some people may try to suppress it. Laughter provides us with about the most positive emotional state a human is capable of, so it stands to reason that the man or woman able to regularly induce this emotion will be in high demand. The ability to make people laugh can grant you instant popularity, and the social and potential reproductive value of such a gift is obvious.
But this brings us to another interesting question. Do you really want to be funny, or do you just want to make people laugh? There's a difference. Whilst comedy and laughter are evidently linked, it is certainly not necessary to say something funny in order to induce laughter. People laugh for a variety of reasons, including embarrassment, nervousness, communicating playfulness, or simply as a result of hearing someone else laugh. Understanding this distinction is important, as it can actually help you to be perceived as funnier than you are.
So, let's come back to the original question. Can you learn to be funny? It is my belief that everybody, no matter how socially inept or solemn in demeanour, has the ability to intentionally come up with something 'funny'. What actually constitutes 'funny' is subjective of course, but clearly it is creating humour that appeals to the maximum possible audience and with the greatest impact that is most desirable, and some people have a more inherent gift for this than others. With this in mind however, the question should really be 'can you learn to be funnier?'
Comedy, like pretty much every human ability, is a learned skill, and as with any skill, it can be worked upon and improved. Some people may have a more natural affinity than others, and may be capable of achieving a higher level of mastery in a given field, but any person is capable of attaining a superior level of ability by virtue of persistence, determination, application and guidance. Nobody is born a concert pianist; an international football player; a movie star. Granted, most people couldn't be a concert pianist no matter how hard they tried, but if they practised daily under the guidance of an experienced teacher, would they ultimately become a very proficient piano player? Yes. Comedy is no different.
Whilst I can't snap my fingers and turn you into the next Chris Rock, I can give you some tips on how to start down the path. Here's my top 10:
1. Judge your audience. The subjects you joke about with your friends will likely be very different to what you joke about with your partner, which in turn will be different to family banter. Always be mindful of the people you are with and the environment you are in. There's no hard and fast rules, it's really just intuition.
2. Know when to turn it off. Don't try and be the 24/7 comedian - firstly, because you can't be, and secondly, because no-one would want you to be anyway. You run the risk of becoming the 'class clown', which is not where you want to be.
3. Don't try and make every line a 'funny'. Comedy is about peaks and troughs. You need the lulls to make the high points (ie: the funny lines) work.
4. Comedy requires confidence. You need the confidence to try and be funny in public, and sufficient self-esteem to not be dragged down when one of your attempts at saying something witty backfires (which it will from time to time). There's no easy way to gain confidence, but there's plenty of resources out there that can help you develop it over time.
5. Try some storytelling. A good story, laced with moments of humour, is a great low-risk way to build your comedy confidence up. Ideally, you want to come up with your own, based on a real situation that happened to you (don't tell me nothing funny has ever happened to you!) and then work it over in your head and see how you can dress it up a bit with some comedy touches. Just make sure the story has an interesting point, and it won't matter so much if your funny lines don't come off. If they don't, simply rework them, then tell the story to someone else and see if you get different results. This form of exercise is good for getting your brain into comedy gear.
6. Learn some basic principles. Many people have tried to categorise jokes, with the size of the lists varying enormously. There is simply no definitive way to pigeon hole a particular funny line, but there are certain recurring themes that you can fall back on again and again. Exaggeration is one of the most commonly used methods. The "Your momma's so fat..." jokes maybe a crass example, but serve as a good reference for this principle. Exaggerating something can create a mental image that people find funny. Other useful tools are misinterpretation - taking something someone said deliberately out of context; misleading - taking the listener in a particular direction, then deliberately changing course (many 'classic' jokes are based on this concept); referencing - if something has made everybody in the group laugh, simply referencing it in some way an hour or two later can produce great results, even if your reference isn't particularly funny in its own right.
7. Analyse your favourite comedians. Whatever sketches you're particularly fond of, break down each funny line and ask yourself what it is about the line that made it funny. You'll be amazed how often the exaggeration technique mentioned above crops up, for example. Do not, however, attempt to outright copy the style of your favourite comedian, as it will be incongruent with who you are.
8. Stay out of your head. Don't spend too much conscious thought on trying to be funny in social situations. The jokes come from your unconscious mind. Let it do its work.
9. Don't force it. Comedy should never be forced in public. The only time to force it is when writing comedy or doing exercises to improve your comedy skills. Under these circumstances, quantity is better than quality, because you can always edit your work to remove any deadwood later. It's much better to have a page of bad jokes than a blank page - at least you're working your comic mind, and the chances are, there'll be at least one gem in there somewhere.
10. Learn and practice. There's not many books out there on the subject that aren't geared at wannabe comedians, but it's worth looking around. Absorb all the information you can, then just keep trying stuff out until your confidence builds up. It can take a while, but it can be done.
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About the Author
Martin is an avid student of comedy, and has been for in excess of 10 years. He has experience of both writing and performing comedy in a variety of media. If you found this article useful, and would like to know more about how you can enhance your life by improving your comedy skills, please follow this link