Man, this is a great post. Really made me think. I'm not sure what I actually have to say about it without just talking about myself a bunch, which I'm probably going to do anyway -- but it really resonates with me because I was I guess the class clown, or that's not right, it was more like I had just the right attitude throughout school to get laughs whenever I talked. I'm pretty good with stories, my friends always told me to go into standup but I never liked the medium because nothing comes up organically. Today I made a room of 30 people who barely know me laugh hard during a meeting with a bit of improv'd back and forth. I think it's all timing and delivery, really, not content. If you look at the things every day that make you laugh out loud, how many of them are funny because they're clever? Clever things make people grin or nod, not laugh. It's all situational and contextual humor. For every funny thing I say in a group setting, I swallow a dozen, which is hard, and takes practice, and is the number one thing people don't understand I think. You can always tell when someone's trying too hard to get a joke in, right? And it sucks? Yeah. A lot of it is knowing your audience. If you're midway through a story and you can tell it's shit -- we've all been there -- a) you misjudged your audience to begin with, probably, and b) for god's sake don't finish the story, find some way to defy expectations. You've also got to know when to laugh along with what you're saying and when to deliver it straight-faced. Both can save jokes that seem headed to hell. It never really occurred to me how much of a science humor is. I've never deconstructed it before, I usually just act this way. People always talk about how much they hated 6th through 12th grades because they were way too self-aware. Humor is the best -- only? -- way to combat that feeling. Laughing at yourself is part of it, being able to laugh at the world is vastly more important. I think that's enough of me rambling about humor for tonight. EDIT: I just read what Kaius wrote and it made a ton of sense to me. Very similar. I wonder if I consciously forced myself to be funny at an early age and just can't remember. My parents both have what I consider to be excellent comedic timing so if I did it was probably to be more like them. EDIT2: I also agree bigtime with onehunna and @rezzej@ -- observation and a wide range of experience can only help. A witty 13-year-old is a rare thing; they simply haven't ingested enough comedy themselves to understand how human humor works.
I've always wondered how true this really is. The kids I observed getting bullied in middle school or whenever didn't really seem to react this way. I think you have to be naturally extroverted to an extent and a lot of kids that get bullied tend to be introverts.
If you are lucky it triggers a survival mechanism which drives you to become funny as a form of defense. This powerful response will push you from a beaten, defeated child into a broken, insecure adult who uses a thin veneer of humor to disguise the gaping void within... Or if you are one of the unlucky ones the beatings continue until you grow up to become a well balanced adult, never achieving your humor potential.
Tell me Kaius, how did you arrive at that conclusion. One very funny, formerly-beaten-up, former best friend of mine sadly has a deep gaping void within and definitely struggles with mental stability issues. I enjoyed the humour, but eventually could not deal with the gaping void. I miss him.If you are lucky it triggers a survival mechanism which drives you to become funny as a form of defense. This powerful response will push you from a beaten, defeated child into a broken, insecure adult who uses a thin veneer of humor to disguise the gaping void within...
This is so true.
I seem to remember that traumatic events that happen at a certain age can cause teenagers to use humour/sarcasm to cover up their feelings. Its similar to Disassociation. Someone can correct me but I think its a known trend seen in pre-teenage males whose parents divorce... Way out on a limb there so shoot me down if that's not correct but I remember hearing it somewhere. The gaping void I used above was an extreme exaggeration of course but the best comedy (for me) comes from a dark place. I think if you interviewed some of the funniest comedians you would find that many suffer with some form of depression. Its the gallows humour, the desperation, the frustration that hits home with people. Slapstick doesn't have the same range. That's pretty interesting though isn't it. A tragic event can result in someone who uses humour to cover their inner hurt, which in itself is tragic. Its like the circle of life.
A lot of it is knowing your audience. If you're midway through a story and you can tell it's shit -- we've all been there -- a) you misjudged your audience to begin with, probably, and b) for god's sake don't finish the story, find some way to defy expectations. You've also got to know when to laugh along with what you're saying and when to deliver it straight-faced. Both can save jokes that seem headed to hell. This is huge, knowing your audience if you are dealing with a small group of individuals is fundamental to getting a real laugh (not to be confused with a pity laugh; you know those chuckles people throw at the guy who is trying too hard). If you are dealing with 1 or 2 individuals I stick to safe ground jokes until I get more familiar with them. This comes from experience, I have seen people go in hard with jokes early, misjudge the audience and it just doesn't work... The opposite of this and one of the easiest places to get a laugh (IMO) is when you are in a large group of strangers and there is that awkward early phase (i'd love to try stand-up but I cant write jokes). As an example, I recently attended a training session in a different country and we had to do some silly task on the first day involving company logos. One of the trainers (formally dressed, strict woman with a goal on running a 'tight' training course) approached me and asked: "I just wanted to ask are you familiar with that company logo? Do you guys have Starbucks in Ireland?" My response: "We have Starbucks, we also have running water and electricity, indoor toilets are planned to arrive next year" pretty much ground the room to a laughing halt for the next 5 minutes. It was an easy joke to deliver as the room, audience, trainer and context all worked together to help me. Reading that it might sound very sarcastic but I softened the delivery and presented it as a semi self deprecating joke complete with apple eating grin. If I went with a straight sarcastic delivery then the trainer would have felt awkward, the room may have divided in support for her and the moment would be lost. Its fluid, you have to take a chance sometimes but sticking a warm smile and being friendly will keep you out of trouble when you get it wrong. Don't be a smart ass taking pot shots, that's just getting cheap laughs and anyone can do it. Break with convention, spot the story being put forward and undermine it but do it with style, charm and a warm smile. The goal is to come off like a funny, relaxed person who wants everyone to enjoy themselves; everyone will get on-board with that and laugh with you. If you sit back and make smart ass comments and you do it from a bitchy place then you will run out of audience patience very quickly.