Most people would think a party with 150 people is not small. Therefore, to be surprising, all you have to do is build up people’s expectation to be the opposite of what that number suggests. (Please forget the last sentence, but the first two are true). Numbers are your best friend when it comes to being funny. But how?! One way to be surprising is to play with numbers.įor those of you who dread numbers: fear not. Uncle Google says that “be surprising” is the way to be funny. Just throw out a “yes” or “no,” and there you go. The best part? You don’t need to be naturally funny to come up with any clever stuff. Otherwise, neither “Yes” nor “No” is gonna be funny for questions such as, “Is the weather good?” Special Note: Give the opposite answer for yes/no questions when there is a strongly expected answer. Raucous laughter! Of course, I’m probably not. Knowing that I’m a scholar from China, a guy teased, “So you must be one of those one-in-a-million smart Chinese students selected by the government, huh?” I tried this technique myself the other day.Īt a dinner, a group of newly acquainted friends were talking about each other’s background. The magic is that the moment you give the opposite answer, you have surprised your audience, so they laugh. Then, of course, laugh and give your real answer, which is what Jennifer did after pausing for raucous laughter. Jennifer went on to talk about why it was difficult immediately afterward.Ī ‘How to Be Funny’ Tip: When people ask you a yes/no question where you think they already know your answer, try giving the opposite first. Seeing Stephen’s shocked face was when I fell in love with this tactic. So, Stephen Colbert asked Jennifer about her first-time experience of being a talk show host: “Not that easy, huh?” Jennifer was the guest host on The Jimmy Kimmel Show, interviewing Kim Kardashian. Let’s see another example of J Law - you will know how much she loves this tactic! When people expect you to say yes, trying saying no. You expected Jennifer Lawrence to answer with “No.” So, when she didn’t, it became funny. I bet 99 out of 100 people would have answered Ellen’s question with “NO! It’s overwhelming/amazing/crazy,” with their head shaking, modesty taking control, and giving you chapter and verse about how lucky they are and who they want to thank. Given all these factors, the reasonable and expected answer to “Are you used to it (all the attention and publicity)?” is a big fat “No.” Don’t forget, at that time she was only around 20 years old. This clip was filmed just after Jennifer shot to fame with The Hunger Games. This is Jennifer Lawrence’s go-to strategy. If people are expecting you to say yes, you say no if people are expecting you to say no, you say yes. The easiest way to be funny, even if you are not, is to give the opposite answer to yes/no questions. Give the opposite answer to yes/no questions If you want to know how to get funnier in your personal and business life, here are the exact lines, formulas, and practical strategies. Using the research just mentioned, I have put together a post on how to be funnier. I wanted to go beyond the vague instructions that still leave me wondering what to say. My goal was to uncover exact lines and formulas ANYONE can use to be funny in daily conversations. My friend, comedian David Nihill, who spent more than a year interviewing and studying comedians for his book, Do You Talk Funny? 7 Comedy Habits to Become a Better (and Funnier) Public Speaker.Claire Siyan Li, after analyzing 600+ talk show videos (Yes, she admits to having mild OCD tendencies.) packed the easy-to-use humor hacks into her book Become Funny in 14 Days: Humor Hacks for Those Who Weren’t Born Funny, for anyone to be funny and witty, fast.I set out to find actionable and easy-to-use-by-anyone ways to be funny. I’m sure those funny tips are all true, but HOW EXACTLY DO YOU USE THEM? Things such as, “Listen carefully,” “Appreciate irony,” and “Be surprising.” I’m sure he thought I was boring–heck, I thought I was boring!įeeling stupid, I asked Uncle Google “How to be funny?” I got some interesting, but not all that helpful, answers. The next day, I woke up knowing I had blown it completely. I wasn’t able to come up with anything clever on the spot. My inner self was mocking me, “Such a loser!” And yet, all I had been saying was, “Wow…Cool” and “OMG, that’s SO amazing…” with overly dramatic dropped-jaw expressions. But I hadn’t said anything remotely funny in the last hour. Let me tell you a story.Ī year ago, I was having dinner with my favorite person. Learning how to be funny can make everything easier.
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