I never thought of humor to be a subject that you can break down into a more-or-less scientific method. After all, laughter is a very basic mechanism, so what could be so complicated about it? It turns out that humor is quite the serious topic, and it gets even more serious once you dive into the world of stand-up comedy. Construction, execution, timing, laughter and more are all part of a well rehearsed formula designed to manipulate our basic laughter mechanism.

Over the years, I’ve learned a few things about humor:

• Timing is everything. A short pause or facial expression can be just as powerful as a harsh social criticism.
• Style is subjective. Not everybody likes Jeff Foxworthy, Larry The Cable Guy, or George Carlin.
• Humor can be your godsend, or the devil in disguise. You can use laughter to get yourself out of a bad situation, but if your joke doesn’t tickle everyones funny bone, then you might be in big trouble.
• Stand-Up Comedy is an unforgiving mistress.

I’m very happy that I’ve practiced being funny: it helps to break the ice with women, and keeps parties moving along at a good pace. If I know how to be funny, I’d be a dry, lifeless D&D dork.

So, how can you learn to be funny? Well, you could do what I did: write some original material down that you think is funny then get up on stage and tell your jokes to a bar full of drunks. After you fail at that, you go back the next night and do it again, get no laughs, and do it again until you get good or get sick of it.

Or, you could download How To Be Funny and learn:

• What exactly a joke is.
• What makes them funny.
• How humor actually works.
• The keys to successful humor.

Tags: how to be funny, learn to be funny, get people to laugh, humor is a science