18 Tips On How To Be Funny

18 Tips on How to Be Funny

What is funny or comedic is both a universal constant across all humanity, and yet paradoxically it is also a historically contextual form. We can find the humor in the plays of the Greek playwright Aristophanes or England’s Shakespeare, yet their comedies do not speak upon the present, and we could easily say the opposite is true. Even now, things that we considered funny twenty years ago are now considered unfunny.

Put simply, comedy evolves reflexively upon itself to find out what is funny and comedic within society at large; and it is a craft that has been developed and refined for as long as humanity itself.

Being funny is an art. No one is born with the “funny gene.” In fact, comedians spend years honing their craft. The same skills can be learned by anyone, even someone just looking to be a little funnier in the breakroom.

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“Genres” of Comedy

Anecdotal: Greek: anecdote: unpublished. Personal stories that may be true/partly true but embellished

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Anti-humor: indirect humor in which the joke teller delivering a joke which is intentionally not funny

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Black/Dark Comedy: comedy involving disturbing subjects like death, drugs, war, or other taboo subjects

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Blue comedy: typically sexual in nature, using profane language, sometimes using gender or race based humor

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Character comedy: derives humor from a persona invented by a performer. Often drawing from stereotypes

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Cringe comedy: comedy of embarrassment, the humor derives from inappropriate actions at inappropriate times. Usually popular in tv and film

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Deadpan comedy: Not really a genre per se, but a method of telling jokes without changing emotions or facial expression

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And that’s not all

Heritage comedy: genre in which a comedian speaks on humourous traits/stereotypes about their own cultural heritage.

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Improvisational comedy: unplanned comic routines, popular in TV

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Insult comedy: a form consisting of offensive insults at the audience or other performers.

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Mockumentary: parody using the conventions of a documentary. Used extensively in TV and Film

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Musical comedy: humor derived from music with lyrics

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Observational: pokes fun at everyday life, inflating the importance of the trivial or the silliness of something that a society accepts as normal

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And there’s more!

One-line joke: joke delivered in a single; usually pithy, concise

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Physical comedy: similar to slaptick, uses physical movements and gestures, influenced by clowning

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Prop comedy: relies on props, everyday objects used in humorous ways

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Shock humour: uses shock value to a strong negative as well as comedic emotion

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Surreal comedy: form of comedy based on bizarre juxtapositions, absurd situations, nonsense logic

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Topical comedy/Satire: relies on headlining/important news/current events. Popular on TV

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Wit/word Play: an form based on clever, subtle manipulation of languages (through puns and being crude)

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Practice Makes Perfect

You may not be the most hilarious person on your first attempt, but if you keep going, you’ll eventually get there. Give yourself permission to fail. Learn to take yourself less seriously. Being funny is an art form, and it requires a lot of time and work!

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