My Creations

My Creations is my blog to share my thought with the world. Sometimes a new idea to write something strikes my mind and I want to share that with the world, I post that here. I guess there are a lot of people of similar thinking out there. Hope, to connect with more such people and gain and share what we think of different aspects of our lives.

Thursday, August 11, 2011

How to Be Funny - wikiHow





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!

EditSteps

1.                                                   
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 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!

o                                                        Find the things that make you laugh because they will probably make others laugh as well. 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.
o                                                        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.
2.                                                   
2
 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!
o                                                        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!
o                                                        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]
o                                                        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.
3.                                                   
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 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:
o                                                        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]
o                                                        Surprise where it's least expected: On the plus side for you as an improving funny person, it's good to know that the less 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]
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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!)
o                                                       

 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.
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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.
4.                                                   
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 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?
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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. Make it seem effortless.
o                                                        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.
5.                                                   
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 Use yourself as fodder for the funnies!
Be prepared to put your own foibles in the spotlight. Good comedianstend 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.
o                                                        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, and maybe even the time you tried to be funny around your friends-but no one laughed but you. 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.
o                                                        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]
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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.
6.                                                   
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 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:
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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!
o                                                        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]
o                                                        Hang out with funny people. Their humor will rub off on you. However, if their humor is at the expense of others, you may need to find other friends.
o                                                        Watch funny shows. There are so many TV shows and movies with excellent comedians. Just do yourself a favor and watch them, lots!
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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.
7.                                                   
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 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:
o                                                        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.
o                                                        Humor can energize you and leave you feeling a lot more alert. It's like a "mind-break" without having to travel.
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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]
o                                                        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.
8.                                                   
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 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]
o                                                        Give a thought to being a funny leader. A leader who loosens up allows the team to loosen up too. If you're in aleadership 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.
o                                                        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]
9.                                                   
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 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.
o                                                        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!
o                                                        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.
o                                                        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).
10.                                               
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 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.

Regards,
Nikhil

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Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh, India
I love to travel and share my experience in the blog as well as my YouTube channel for the benefit of the people who also love to travel and would like to know a certain place better.

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