How to make a joke - What is funny and what is not
How to make a joke
Have you ever made a joke that nobody laughed at ? Have you ever found yourself saying something hilarious only to find out that your buddies are still waiting for the funny part ?
While most people can learn how to do complicated tasks as designing computers, solving differential equations and communicating with the other sex, humour seems to be even more elusive than rocket science: everybody can tell a good joke from a bad one but nobody seems to know how to construct one ...
What if someone could come up with a scientific way for producing jokes ?
Thomas C. Veatch from Standford University came up with exactly that: a method for constructing jokes scientifically. According to him, laughter is produced when two conflicting realities co-exist in our head for a very short period of time. In his theory of humour, all it takes for making someone to laugh is to superimpose one perception of reality with its direct violation. The keyword here is 'simultaneous: if one makes the mistake and presents the two realities slowly one after the other, not only he will not produce laughter but he may even win a very strange look from his listener.
This is why you laugh when you see something stepping on a banana and falling: in your mind the reality was that he or she should be walking and people do not fall often. When he instantly falls down the two conflicting realities collide and the product is laughter. However, having seen the same scene several times the violation becomes reality and the joke evaporates.
The game peekaboo offers a great insight on the above mechanism: in a very young age children think that when a person or object disappears from their view it seizes to exist. When mommy hides herself the reality of her child becomes that she no longer exists. By re-appearing suddenly ("Peekaboo") the reality of mommy existing and mommy not existing collide instantaneously and thus produce laughter. As the child grows up and understands that mommy doesn't disappear, the game seizes to be funny.
How to make a joke - the scientific way.
1. (N for Normal reality).Think of a reality that your listener is keenly aware of. There is no point of making a rugby joke to someone that hasn't ever seen a rugby ball in his life. The more relevant is that element to the lifestyle of the listener, the stronger the laughing effect will be. This is why it is good to make jokes tailored for the person.
2. (V for violating reality). Now find something else that may violate the above reality. Any image that contradicts the previous reality can be funny e.g for a tough guy it may be presenting him wearing a skirt. However, there is a catch: the violation should not be too big such that it makes someone feel awkward e.g. making a joke about one's parents sheldomly produces anything more than a well served punch.
A way to find V is to search for some aspects of the normal reality (N) that could be:
a. Horrible
b. Difficult
c. Stupid
d. Strange
By iterating the above thought two or more times you can arrive at interesting violations: what is there difficult with someone playing tennis ? That he sweats and may smell in all sorts of ways. What could there be scary with someone that sweats and smells ? That he would may want to kiss you after the match.
3. (N+V=Funny). Find a way to deliver this combination in such a way that the two realities are presented simulatanously. Black powder burns when left on the open air but detonates when contained in a small place.
A final word on humour
A joke is funny if the person listening to it has something that he or she can connect to. It must present a certain reality that the person understands. If that is the case then two persons laughing with the same joke must share some form of common experience. This is why you feel close to someone that shares the same humour with you and why you may feel alienated to someone that tells jokes that you do not understand. In some way, humour serves as a filter revealing lifestyle commonalities.
The last point about humour is that by using the above mechanism one can see a situation under different perspectives. This can help you get out of situations that most people would find psychologically challenging.
Humour is a tool for seeking truth even in places that most people would find untrespassable.
Have fun with it !
A well-developed sense of humor is the pole that adds balance to your step as you walk the tightrope of life.
~ William Arthur Ward
If you want to use humour in female seduction and you want to learn how to make women laugh you can have a look here!
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