How to Add Humor and Be Funnier + Fun to Your List?

thanks..

fyi the best books I've found are Judy Carter's

http://www.amazon.com/Comedy-Bible-S...dp/0743201256/

looking at situation/premise/what's odd/unique/twist/punchline format

Three - one to ask where to get the joke for free, one to spam their PLRJokes sig and one to report it.

Ken,

Sarevok nailed what I find to be the most important part. Once you settle into your own authentic voice, the rest becomes easy.

If you're good at humor in person, doing it in writing is just a matter of letting go of the image concerns and talking with the reader, rather than to or at them. That eliminates the tension a lot of people feel when writing for an audience.

Performance anxiety: It's not just for the bedroom any more.

I find it useful to write to a specific person. It doesn't have to be a real person, mind you. That helps, though, if you know someone who typifies your audience and with whom you have a connection.

If not, you can use what are now called avatars. (No connection to the Blue Man Group.)

You'll need to practice. At the start, write the meat of the thing, including all the detail and hard core info you intend to convey. Then go back and "zip it up." As you mix in some ooomph, you'll find yourself noticing the gaps where you could lose your audience. Those are prime opportunities for humor, and they're usually where it will work best.

It's also useful when you find yourself (or your audience) taking the topic so seriously that they lose their sense of proportion.

Years ago, I was reading a discussion between some "high volume email deployers" about bulk email filters. A few people took over the conversation, complaining that they had no idea this stuff was going to be such a problem for them, and bemoaning their inability to adjust and get their mail through.

They had started down the paranoid path, and one of them asked how anyone could expect to "run a business with these cyber-terrorists lurking in the shadows." I jumped in with the single line, "No-one expects... the Spammish Inquisition!"

The lessons to be learned from this story?

1. Some jokes are only funny at the time, and
2. Monty Python references work best when you're dealing with geeks and the over 40 crowd.

What? You expected profundity?

Down the hall, 3rd door on the left.

It helps to read funny writing or watch comedy on a regular basis. I second John's recommendation of Dave Barry, by the way. Who else could win a Pulitzer for talking about car-jackings and tobacco company executives?

If you're REALLY uptight, watching schlock comedy is good. Something like "The Big Bang Theory" or "How I Met Your Mother," which are full of zippy lines and snappy patter, work too. Watch how they fit those into the conversations.

At the risk of Yet Another Gratuitous Plug, I also recommend subscribing to This is True. Weird news stories, with a humorous and thought-provoking twist. Randy is a great example of using humor in print, and making you smarter by showing how dumb people can be.

One of my favorites.

Another thing to keep in mind...

You know those times when, 3 days after you said something lame, you suddenly think of the perfect retort or clever bon mot?

As a writer, you can go back and fit it in, right where it will do the most good. It can completely change how your reader views your subject. And, more importantly to some of us, it can make you look far more clever than you really are.


Paul