Learning To Be Funny

For some people, being funny can be a bit of a challenge. As a matter of fact, I used to be one of them. When I would try to tell a joke that wasn't made up by someone else, people would look at me with an expression that said, "Would you like... a straight jacket!?!"

Most humor contains an element of surprise. One way to create this is putting things together that don't go together. This could be as simple as something like: "I wanted to go girl hunting tonight, but I ran out of ammo." Words that can have more than one meaning are especially helpful for making or writing jokes.

Some words are inherently funny. Using words like booger, fart, and poop can make people laugh even when you aren't trying to make a joke. If you put them together in ways they shouldn't be. Imagine a comic book superhero called the Amazing Farting Booger.

Most jokes also contain a part that is believable. A comic book superhero is believable. A farting booger isn't. Another example of jokes having a portion that is believable: