NEL Blog

Anything to do with the mind can be taught. Playing an instrument, a foreign language and of course picking up women. Weirdly though there’s a view – even in the community – that being funny is something you are born with or “just have”. Considering these are forums teaching you how to be good with women, you gotta love the irony.

Yes, you can be learn to be funny, I’m proof of this. I used to boring and unfunny, now I bring tears of laughter and joy to millions of children everywhere.

I’ve got a little something planned down the line that’ll completely cover this whole area of humour, for now though we’re gonna cover some principles you can apply straight away to become a funny guy, refine it, and develop your own humour.

Never try to make people laugh, instead make them think in new ways

This is an awesomely simple, yet simply awesome principle. You all know guys who try too hard to be funny and just come off as awkward, like they’re trying to make you laugh. Then you get guys who are naturally funny and have a charisma about them, they say one funny thing effortlessly after the other.

Don’t try to make people laugh. Don’t look for a reaction or to check your joke’s hit, don’t worry about how you’re going to make people like you through being funny.

Being funny is none of the above. It’s about offering a unique perspective, sharing your view on the world.

Take a show like Harry Hill’s TV Burp (watch it if you don’t already, it’s awesome), it illustrates this brilliantly. The reason it’s funny is because Harry notices things that people miss, and shares it with you. He isn’t necessarily trying to make you laugh, just giving you an insight into his world.

And because we all have unique insights, anyone can be funny.

So next time don’t try to make people laugh, make them think in new ways. What unique view or perspective can you offer?

Fun beats fact

Emotion beats logic when it comes to humour. I’m not necessarily talking technical stuff (you should hear my jokes about programming), more cold hard facts. When you’re sacrificing having fun and focusing on being logical, correct or “right”.

Incidentally, this is why even though I’m writing about how to be funny, there aren’t that many jokes. I’m being factual and logical, getting a point across. If I were to write a post for shits and giggles that was just entertaining, I’d leave nearly anything logical out.

This is typical pickup stuff. How many guys blast girls with interview style questions instead of having fun:

“What do you do?”
“Where do you work?”
“What’s that like?”

This is being factual instead of having fun. Why not ask a nurse if she can win a wheelchair race in the hospital, or a policewoman how she gets away with all those robberies.

Half of comedy is just in having fun and playing round with what you’re told. Don’t go for a boring answer, make it fun. Tying it in with the first point:

“I’m a nurse”
“Okay, so let’s say a…friend gets carried away with a sex toy and it end up, I dunno…in his ass. What the best excuse I…I mean he can use when they those awkward questions. Because erm, the last 2 times were really embarrassing”

Beats fact right?

90% of anything funny involves the setup of a story and how it’s played out

When I realised this, it all clicked. Think of anything funny said, whether it’s a one-liner, a rant, a sketch from a comedy show, anything. It involves setting up some story or scenario and then how you play it out. Take this gem from Frankie Boyle:

“I was watching the footage the other day of Saddam Hussein being executed and it made me think…It made me think, ‘is there nothing I won’t masturbate to?’ “

As a side note this shows how things like unpredictability can make something funny. Notice though that he sets up a scenario and plays it out. This is where things like exaggeration come in.

In fact exaggeration and sarcasm are two things I love playing round with. You’re taking this idea of setting up some scenario, then playing it out more and more, adding layers, building up the story as you go.

“Wow you look dodgy…been on the crack again?..Told you before not to try your own goods…..you’ll have nothing to sell”

Again I set up a scenario (the person being a druggie), play on this a little, then exaggerate to make them a fill blown dealer. I could expand on this further, make a joke about them selling drugs to kids, or the 12 kids they have to support etc. You can have a ton of fun with this.

Another point to notice, what you start with doesn’t have to be relevant or even make sense, you can literally pull something out of thin air and run with it. One girl I know is quiet, small and shy, and I have a running joke that she’s the ‘Tony Soprano’ of the town. It started from some random comment I made ages ago that came from literally nowhere.

So those are the basic principles. Go watch some funny videos on YouTube or wherever, see how these principles apply (mainly the first and third). Also, pay attention to how things like unpredictability, delivery and brevity (keeping it short and simple) affect how funny a joke is.

Delivery especially. On paper some of the stuff I say in clubs sounds shit, but the delivery carries it.

There’s a ton of little points like this. Don’t get too bogged down in them (the 3 basic principles are enough), but do be aware of them.

Author Bio-
Having been a professional bitch of 19 years, Ty discovered the community in 2006. When not drunkenly sleeping with girls from his work, his interests include computer games, movies and colouring-in books. Ty prefers a more natural style of game, with a strong emphasis on fun and a healthy dose of cocky-funny.