Methods to use your artistic writing talents to get your audience laughing.
What makes us giggle?
Many nice minds have requested this question. Socrates, Hobbes, Freud, and even Woody Allen have tried to elucidate the aim of humor. Clearly, humor has played an important position in human historical past for thousands of years, however no one appears to know precisely what makes people snort or what laughing actually means. What is the purpose of joking? And why do some issues make some individuals giggle whereas others don’t? That is the only thing that has been agreed on: Humor is so subjective that no single concept about humor can realistically be true on a regular basis (Helitzer and Shatz).
Methods for writing humor
1. Puns are plays on words. These are sometimes called the lowest form of humor and wit, however they are usually very intelligent and very funny. William Shakespeare relied heavily on puns in his comedic plays. Puns usually contain phrases with comparable sounds but different meanings (homophones) and words that can have a number of meanings while retaining the identical spelling (homonyms). Puns also can use innuendo—when a phrase has a literal that means and a figurative one as nicely—and double entendre—when a phrase has two which means, and the speaker or writer intends for his viewers to take both into consideration. Mostly, puns are sexual in nature, however they don’t have to be.
Fools in Shakespeare’s plays are the masters of puns.
Viola: They that dally with words might quickly make them wanton.
Fool: I might due to this fact my sister had had no title, sir.
Viola: Why, man?
Fool: Why, sir, her name’s a phrase, and to dally with that word may
make my sister wanton.
Twelfth Evening III.1.14-20
Right here, Viola is saying that when folks play with the exact meanings of words, they make the words wanton or ambiguous. The fool takes the choice meanings of dally, to flirt with playfully, and wanton, impure, to make a joke. He says that if somebody flirts playfully together with his sister, he would possibly make her impure. Those that perceive the language would get amusing out of the line.
Right this moment, the phrase “that’s what she stated” has grown common. It typically places a sexual connotation on regardless of the particular person said.
“I can’t wait to try this again,” John said.
“That’s what she mentioned!” Peter replied.
One other common phrase that’s tacked on to the tip of a sentence is “if you know what I mean.”
“Well, I trimmed the hedges if you understand what I mean.”
“I can fix that if you understand what I mean.”
A pause is commonly placed between the sentence and the phrase to create a more humorous tone. Like “that’s what she stated,” “if you realize what I imply” gives probably the most mundane statements a sexual connotation.
Each of those are straightforward and effective ways to bring out the double entendre or to create an innuendo in writing or speech.
2. Reverses
Reverses occur when the punch line is totally different than what the audience expected from the set-up.
“How do you cease a child from crawling in circles?”
“How?”
“Nail its different hand to the floor.”
Whereas this is ugly, it will get amusing as a result of no one expects the baby’s hand to be nailed to the floor within the first place. It’s unexpected.
But reverses can’t just be random. They have to be humorous with a purpose to work, and whereas many of the humor comes from the surprising twist, the remainder of it comes from the truth that the reversal makes sense. If the child had one hand nailed to the floor, it could crawl in circles, and if one were to nail its other hand to the ground, it wouldn’t have the ability to crawl anymore. It was sudden, but it nonetheless made sense. This makes it funny.
If you’ve ever had that oh!-I-get-it moment ten minutes after a joke has been informed, you notice how intelligent these kinds of techniques are.
3. Exaggeration
What makes a fish story an excellent story is that it’s exaggerated. This can also work by doing the opposite—understatement. By stretching or understating the reality in the correct manner, you may get amusing from your audience.
Louis C.K. makes the joke that since he’s married, he hasn’t had a blow job in so long that he doesn’t even know if he’s ever had one—that’s how long it’s been. It’s humorous as a result of his audience knows he is aware of whether or not or not he’s ever had one—it’s the way he says it that makes the exaggeration funny.
Louis C.K. additionally makes use of understatement in his routine when he talks about children interrupting grownup conversation. He says that children don’t perceive endurance and ready, so he has to have the ability to say to them that he’s not doing something necessary and that he’s got on a regular basis on the planet for them. He’s understating the significance of the adult dialog whereas exaggerating the significance of whatever youngsters need to say.
4. Foul Language
The fitting curse phrase positioned in the right place could make a boring statement funny and a funny joke hilarious. The shock and connotation of these words evoke laughter from many individuals so long as they’re not offended by it. Typically even implying the curse phrase—placing it within the viewers’s head with out really saying it—is enough to get a few laughs.
“What’s the distinction between Tiger Woods’ girls and Cirque du Soleil?”
“What?”
“Cirque du Soleil is a cunning array of stunts…”
The joke ends there, and the audience has to be smart sufficient to flip the first letters in “crafty” and “stunts” in an effort to get the joke.
Suggestions for comedy writing
A very powerful thing about humor writing is knowing your audience. In the event you’re performing for a bunch of fifth graders, they may not perceive extra advanced jokes, and they’ll most likely lose consideration easily. And also you don’t want to bore adults with a bunch of kids’s jokes. You most positively don’t want to perform dirty jokes for a church event. If you don’t know your viewers, you will fail.
What can you do along with your writing?
1. Perform it as stand-up, sketch comedy, or improvisational comedy.
2. Sell it within the form of TV, film, or play scripts.
3. Promote it to late night reveals or comedians with TV shows.
4. Sell it within the type of a e book and let readers have it.
Humor is a troublesome factor to grasp, but in the event you do, you’ll have a plethora of alternatives once you get your self out there.
February 7, 2012
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Posted by Jam Man
Categories: Arts and Entertainment
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