Humor Skills - HOW TO BE FUNNY!!

Hocus Pocus!! You’re funny!!

It doesn’t happen that way. I wish it did…it would make my job of teaching people how to be funny easier. It is not an overnight process. You’re going to have to work hard, it’s always going to have to be on the tip of your mind, and you’re going to have to get used to being laughed at…not in the good way.

Have you ever heard a baby laugh? It is one of the most delightful sounds in world. I recently heard a man say that babies laugh when they make new connections with their brains…but it got me to thinking that it’s not just babies. We all laugh when we make a new connection with our brain. We hear or see something that has a twist, changes our perception of the way we were looking at it normally, or it is something completely different (as Monty Python would say) and it catches us off guard.

With that in mind, it’s time to teach you the process of being funny!!

First the outline:

I- FIND YOUR AUDIENCE
II- GET THE RIGHT MATERIAL
III- DON’T JUMP RIGHT IN…START LITTLE, START SLOW, AND START WITH A SHORT STORY.
IV- THRUST AND PARRY, THRUST AND PARRY…

Now the meat!!

I- FIND YOUR AUDIENCE

You, and only you, know the kind of people you want to hang out with, the ones that make you laugh…the ones who you want to make laugh. Start with people you know and love. You’ve probably already made them laugh before, now you’re just going to focus your efforts. If you don’t know your audience, do everything in your power to get to know them. How are you going to be funny if you don’t know how to catch them off guard? Most good comedians, when they hit a comedy club in a town that they aren’t familiar with, will ask around…”what’s the popular hangout…what ______________ (part of town, rival school, politician, etc.) does everybody around here joke about…what is this town famous for?” The comedian will integrate that stuff into the act and the audience will laugh and be impressed. You can do that…it just takes some getting to know your audience…oh yeah, and practice.

II- GET THE RIGHT MATERIAL

A few years ago, American Express did a commercial during the Super Bowl where Jerry Seinfeld was trying to do comedy in England and fell flat on his face. He used his American Express card to get to know the English people better…going to local pubs, hanging out in the neighborhoods, and attending the sporting events. When he knew their style of humor and their esoteric ways, he was a hit on stage with his humor!!
This is not only “finding your audience”, but it shows that he went out and “lived” the material…he didn’t just write it. Yeah, I know it was a commercial and not even real, but it perfectly conveys the message I want to get across here. The best material for you is the stuff that you can relate to. Your stories…your humor…your writing.
Let’s delve a little more into that category…YOU!!…your best source of material.
Let’s make a short list of things that are funny in your life:

*Your most embarrassing moment – For me, this was the 8th grade Christmas Concert (a future blog)
*Your idiosyncrasies – Unless you’re trying to fit in, be normal, or be average, you have idiosyncrasies that can be used to draw on your powers of humor. Some comedians even use these as their trademark…Sam Kinison, Howie Mandell, Steven Wright to name just a few.
* Your fears – if you go to my entertainer website, www.SEntertainer.com and go to the “Comic” page, you can listen to a sound byte of some stand-up that I did about some of my fears. Everybody has fears so they can relate.
* Truth is Stranger than Fiction – I’ll tell you the whole story sometime, but for now I will tell you that this is all true: A clown was signing a contract in a casino lounge during 2 conventions (a convention for “little people” and a convention for “quadriplegic people”) while sitting next to a balloon skeleton. Very funny…and you can’t make up that kind of stuff!!
* Make your life more interesting by making normal = abnormal. For example, I tell people that I have been married 2 ½ times. I also tell people that I’m only 6 years old (which is true…in doggy years).
* Times when you were witty or clever. If you have started following my advice from the how to be quick-witted article, you may have some great material wherein you were quick and witty.
* Ask people you know if they can think of a time that they thought you were funny. You may be surprised how many times people have laughed at you…in a good way!!

III- DON’T JUMP RIGHT IN…START LITTLE, START SLOW, AND START WITH A SHORT STORY.

One of the most painful, yet memorable episodes of The Brady Bunch is when Peter is feeling like he had no personality, so he decided to become “funny.” As a result, he was telling jokes (one-liners) and doing impressions (“pork chops and applesauce”). He went about it all wrong. He tried to tell jokes that had been written already and every time he did, someone else told the punch line…(one of the reasons you should draw from personal experiences). Finally Mike Brady (the dad) told him to be himself…that’s what I’m telling you to do. But now I’m telling you start small…don’t create a whole routine, just have a couple of funny stories about yourself ready for the right moment (don’t tell jokes, tell short stories…there are some people who can get away with telling jokes, but they are usually seasoned humorists and they know the right time and the right place). In a conversation, slip it in (your story) and wait for the reaction. Either, they didn’t laugh because they weren’t your right audience or maybe your story wasn’t as funny as you thought it was (don’t worry, that happens to everybody), OR they DID laugh…meaning you were in the right place at the right time, with the right audience.
IV- THRUST AND PARRY, THRUST AND PARRY…

This just means practice, practice, practice… You should know and expect the fact that you are going to fail sometimes…more times than not. But after a while you’re going to get the hang of it and you’ll be able to keep up with a crowd of people or blow someone away in a one-on-one conversation.
Get in there and get messy and bloody…say to yourself, “Even if I go down in flames, I’m excited that I went through it…I feel the rush of adrenaline running through my veins because I did it.” (This, by the way is one of the life skill lessons that I will be writing about soon). Then go back and try it again!! It’s thrilling!!
Now you know how to be funny!! Maybe now would be the time to say, “Hocus Pocus, you’re funny,” but until you go through these steps to make yourself funny, it will probably just backfire and get me!!

Good luck, break a leg, and make ‘em laugh!!