Trust that you do have a funny bone; as babies we laugh from four months of age, and all children express humor naturally from kindergarten age, using humor to entertain themselves and others. It's already in you — you just need to bring it out! Part 2. Take yourself less 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, and maybe even the time you tried to be funny around your friends and only crickets chirped.
These things can be hilarious. Telling other people about very embarrassing moments in your life is a great way to get them to laugh. Take a page from famous improv comic Colin Mochrie, who said: "He had the kind of face only a mother could love, if that mother was blind in one eye and had that kind of milky film over the other Put yourself under the spotlight. Tell self-depreciating jokes rather than making jokes at the expense of others.
More people will be more willing to laugh. Rodney Dangerfield made fun of both his sanity and his looks with this one: "I went to the psychiatrist, and he says 'You're crazy. He says, 'Okay, you're ugly too!
Know your audience. Different things make different people laugh. Some people find that sensationalism causes them to laugh; others find that satire does the trick.
Learn which is which, and deliver your jokes and anecdotes so that they apply to many different categories of humor and emotion at once.
Not everyone knows what it's like to ride in a helicopter or be a millionaire or have a baby. But most people know what it's like to go fast, fantasize about money, and love another person deeply. So make your jokes cover more ground by utilizing really basic, but profound, human emotions. When you're in a group of people you don't know, listen to what subjects they're talking about and what's making them laugh. Are they the witty banter type?
The slapstick, or physical comedy type? The better you know someone, the easier it will be to make them laugh. Mislead the mind. Misleading the mind is what we referred to earlier as surprise. This is when you create a difference between what someone expects to happen and what actually happens.
Verbal jokes use this element to the greatest level possible, trying to misdirect your attention in the same that magic tricks do. Consider Groucho Marx's 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. Strike while the iron is hot. Good timing is really important, 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 the humor because the brain is already primed by experience.
React quickly and strike while the humorous moment exists. One liners, or comebacks, can be good fun. Someone says something that, by itself, isn't funny. And you whip back with something that makes what they said really funny. Timing is crucial here. Your humorous statement needs to come out quickly and fully-formed.
For example, your friend is thinking about hair, for some reason, and he says: "Isn't it weird that we only have hair on our heads and in our pubic areas? You say: "Speak for yourself. The worst you can do as a funny person is try to deliver a joke after your window of opportunity has passed.
Don't worry, you'll have plenty of opportunities to crack through the silence with your whip of a wit. Know when not to be funny. Be especially careful about cracking jokes or pulling pranks during funerals and weddings, places of worship or religious events , and whenever your humor could be mistaken for harassment or discrimination, or if your humor might physically harm somebody, as in a physical prank. Be observant. Jerry Seinfeld and other comedians have made millions of dollars deploying a basic style of comedy known as "observational" humor, making observations about everyday occurrences and experiences.
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. Often, the unnoticed humor that is standing right in front of our eyes has the most impact. Memorize some 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? Or think of Calvin Coolidge himself; a woman came to him and said: "Mr. Coolidge, I made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you.
Part 3. Learn from funny people. You can expand your reach a good deal by listening to other funny people. 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. Keep a note of some of the funnier things these people say or do. Look for 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 comment skills tremendously.
Immersing yourself like this will help you develop a toolbox of techniques you can use to be funny. Comedy has taken the podcast world by storm in recent years.
Comedy podcasts by people like Marc Maron and Joe Rogan are available for free online and feature hilarious interviews, jokes, and stories you can upload to mobile devices. Ride the bus while listening to a comedy podcast and weird everyone out when you laugh suddenly in your headphones.
Watch funny shows. There are many, many TV shows and movies packed with excellent comedy. The British, for example, have a very dry, witty sense of humor that concerns itself primarily with cultural matters, whereas Americans have more of a slapstick, physical humor that often involves issues of sex and race.
Getting a good helping of both will help you understand different cultural attitudes towards humor. Watch improvisational comedians. All good comedians are improvisers, but comedians choose to improvise for a living and the experience can be hilarious.
Attend an improv show and take part in it as much as you can — you'll laugh a lot and observe exactly how they take vague, unknown scenarios and turn them into something instantly funny. Broaden your factual knowledge for 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! Proyer, R. Strengths-based positive psychology interventions: A randomized placebo-controlled online trial on long-term effects for a signature strengths- vs.
Frontiers in Psychology 6 : How do positive psychology interventions work? A short-term placebo-controlled humor-based study on the role of the time focus. Personality and Individual Differences 96 : Even just reflecting on the day seems to be a good thing, but focusing on funny events makes you feel good and smile. I started having my students young adults in Special Education share one funny thing from their weekend on Mondays at the beginning of class.
I think there are too many students both students in Special Education, and in General Education who spend a lot of time overwhelmed by negative thoughts. We always emphasize the purpose of practicing noticing something that makes you laugh is good for your mental health - and I think some of them have even noticed a difference!
Especially those who always say they "never do anything fun" - helping them notice things like funny YouTube videos they watched, a video game they enjoy, funny pet antics, etc. I did this challenge because it looked different than others. If you search "humor" on this site, you only get this one result! I always knew that humor is important, but when I am feeling down it seems intimidating to try and have a sense of humor and be funny.
What I forgot is that having a sense of humor doesn't necessarily have to mean you are the life of the party - you just have to laugh! At first it was difficult, but I am still going strong with this exercise two weeks later. Now I often find myself even writing more than three things! Made in collaboration with Holstee, this tookit includes 30 science-based practices for a meaningful life.
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Three Funny Things Get happier by seeing the humor in life. Is cereal soup? How many chickens would it take to kill an elephant? What sport would be the funniest to add a mandatory amount of alcohol to? Would you rather have no nose, or no arms? What is your spirit animal? Which sport do you think they'll invent next?
Do you think cavemen had nightmares about cavewomen? Who would win in a fight between Superman and Batman? What animal is the biggest party animal? If animals could talk, which would be the most boring? What would be your weapon of choice in a zombie apocalypse? Where did the name Pina Colada come from?
If animals could talk, which would be the smartest? Which would you prefer to have as your room-mate? A goat or a bird? If you were an artist, what would you paint on your first day?
If you could be a fly on the wall, who would you want to listen in on? If you could be in any movie, what would it be? If you were a fruit, what fruit would you be?
What is the worst song ever? What is the most boring sport? Which musician do you think would make the best teacher? What instrument do you think is the most annoying? If you could be a fictional character, who would you be? What is the most annoying color? What Disney princess would make the best spy? What fictional character do you think you are most like? What's the most useless word?
What sound would be the scariest if you could hear it? What is the coolest sound? What body part would you like to add? What body part would you like to remove? What was your favorite TV show growing up?
What is the most useful invention of all time? What song would you play if you were at a party? What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten? What's your favorite fruit? Who was the worst teacher you've ever had? Who's the most interesting person you've ever met? Who's your favorite superhero? What is your favorite holiday? What do you do on your spare time? Which smells better, fresh cut grass or bread baking in the oven?
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