Professional  Humor  Tricks  for  Writers,  Speakers  &  Other  Misfits  

Lesson  One  Cheat  Sheet:  The  Art  of  Being  Funny  
 

Anyone  can  become  a  great  writer  and  a  great  humorist  if  they  practice.  Far  more  than  they  
are  gifts,  writing  and  humor  are  skills.  If  you  write  and  rewrite  as  much  as  possible,  welcome  
constructive  criticism  with  an  open  mind,  and  exercise  patience,  you  can  succeed  at  both.  

Find  a  virtual  mentor.  Choose  one  of  your  favorite  humorists  Spend  some  time  reading,  
listening  to,  or  watching  their  work,  and  pay  close  attention.  When  something  makes  you  laugh,  
ask  yourself  why.  How  did  they  set  up  their  jokes?  What  came  before  the  funny  part?  

Try  writing  in  the  style  of  humorists  you  like.  Ask  yourself  how  they  would  phrase  something  
and  try  to  recreate  their  tone.  (Do  not  ever  steal  another  person’s  joke,  however.)    

The  secret  to  professional  comedy  is  learning  how  to  spot  “premises”  –  ideas  that  have  the  
potential  for  humor.  Then  you  twist  the  situation  in  creative  directions,  playing  with  words  and  
ideas,  using  trial  and  error  until  you  find  the  funny  part.    

“Humor  is  what  happens  when  something  goes  wrong,”  according  to  Bill  Stainton.  

If  you  can’t  find  anything  “going  wrong,”  look  for  an  element  of  surprise  or  incongruity.  That  
element  of  surprise  is  the  key  to  virtually  all  humor;  you  lead  your  audience  down  a  path,  then  
yank  them  in  a  direction  they  aren’t  expecting.  

Once  you’ve  found  a  punch  line,  keep  playing  with  it.  Test  your  choice  of  words,  your  timing,  
the  order  in  which  you  present  various  parts  of  the  story.  Tweak  your  sentences  until  you  
stretch  them  to  their  full  potential.  If  something  is  “kind  of  funny,”  with  a  little  more  work,  we  
can  usually  make  it  “really  funny.”  

Potential  humor  surrounds  us.  Once  you  start  looking  for  ideas,  you’ll  spot  them  all  over  the  
place.    

Always  carry  a  pocket-­‐sized  notebook.  Write  down  ideas  as  soon  as  they  come  to  you  or  you  
are  likely  to  forget  many  of  them.  You  can  also  use  the  “notes”  app  on  a  smart  phone,  or  a  
digital  audio  recorder.  Write  down  key  words  to  trigger  your  memories,  lists  of  potential  topics,  
and  even  partial  columns.    

Trial  and  error  is  a  big  part  of  creating  humor.  You  must  take  risks.      

©  2015  Dave  Fox  /  Globejotting.com