Reading: People Smart Humor (Video Slides)

People Smart Humor

By Henry Reyenga

People Smart Humor

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Location 317). Kindle Edition. 

General humor dangers. Do not mock God or his creation: ie marriage, family

Humor And People Smart

From personal interactions to sermons.

"Laughter is the best medicine," so goes that aged old maxim that has been used countless times in inspirational pieces.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 50-51).  . Kindle Edition. 

Careful With Humor

Now this is the humor you may want to avoid: Bland jokes that are dark and thus considered immoral by society's standards. Although, some may take these jokes like a good sport, leniency is still the number one rule when you are not sure you can offend anyone. 

There is a time and place to make jokes and laugh. And a funeral is not one of them. Neither is a fresh terrorist attack.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Location 100) Kindle Edition. 

Types Of Humor To Avoid

Racial stereotyping, suggestive humor outside of your married relationship, down putting, cheap cursing, God invoking, sarcastic, intellectually exclusive, and insider humor.

Smile And Laugh A Lot

No matter how absurd that sounds, it's actually a good idea. Your smile communicates positive feelings. It also molds you into a person who can receive flowers from strangers that witness your positive attitude. In short, people are drawn to a smile that says, "Life is good!”

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 112-113)Kindle Edition. 

Choose To Be Positive
No Matter What! 

So what am I getting at here? Humor can be found in the most unlikely places. And the trick to discovering it is to take life with a pinch of sugar. Do not be sour and take life too seriously, everything that is happening has a bright side no matter how hidden it may be. So go about your day and focus on finding a reason to smile and make people smile in the process. These points have one common message to relay, and that is to be positive. Never let your problems press you down. Laugh and smile, and hope for the best in life.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 125-129).  . Kindle Edition. 

Confidence

To be funny, one has to be confident. You can have all the sense of humor in the world, know all the jokes and have all the punch lines down but if you don't have the confidence to deliver, you will never become the funny person you know you are. It only takes one second of hesitation or one stuttered word to ruin a funny line. So develop the confidence to deliver the joke. Allow your sense of humor some freedom of expression. Do not focus on your fear of failing, or your fear that no one might laugh, who cares if no one finds your joke funny, the fact that you have delivered it seamlessly is a great factor that can make people smile.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 133-138).  . Kindle Edition. 

Take Yourself Less Seriously

There is a type of person who needs things to be perfect. This means things have to be exactly the way they want them to be. They become so fixed in this idea of perfection that they always find fault in everything you do. They will tell you how to do things right, in excruciating detail, step by step. They have to be in control of every single detail that goes into the plan.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 152-155)Kindle Edition. 

Take Yourself Less Seriously

Be the fun aunt or uncle. This doesn't mean that you let the kids do everything they want, even if it will put them in danger, but give them some breathing space to explore who they are and what they want to do. Play games with them, it does not hurt to break away from your busy schedule once in a while. Besides, you wouldn't want to be remembered as someone who is so serious and is difficult to approach, right?

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 165-168)Kindle Edition. 

Listen To People And Be Observant

Listening is important to developing a sense of humor and hitting the punch lines on the right note. You may have observed that stand-up comedians often take up conversations with their audience and then inject funny snippets in their discourse.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 179-180).  . Kindle Edition. 

Be A Little Unpredictable 

Always take your audience by surprise. Catch them off-guard. This is especially easy to do since you're new to being funny. Or at least trying to be. Your friends and family would not expect this from you so you have the element of surprise on your side. Take advantage of this and have the self-confidence to take a whack at it. You might just be the next hilarious act of the year!

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 192-194) Kindle Edition.

Research Humor And Jokes

Collecting a pool of jokes will be helpful for you to have ready materials whenever the occasion calls for it. Expose yourself to different comedic materials. While you're immersing yourself in this, your perspective will also shift. Your outlook on life will be more positive. Surrounding yourself with funny things will reprogram your brain to look for the same things in your life and the humor will become your second nature as well.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 210-212)Kindle Edition. 

. 

Research Humor And Jokes

If you haven't gotten the knack of coming up with your own funny materials, just always keep a notepad at hand, or you can even use your cellphone. Develop the habit of putting down all the funny things you come up with.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 220-222) Kindle Edition. 

Learn Improvising

The thing is, even improvising requires hard work and preparation. Yes, improvising needs to look fresh, spontaneous and personal, but that doesn't mean that they can just go up the stage and think all the right things come right out of their mouths.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 228-230).  . Kindle Edition. 

Learn Improvising

Summon all your experience and knowledge. It could be a silly situation you got yourself stuck in before, a particular physical feature you'd rather not have, a striking character you met, or hobbies you may want to explore. These are just some of the resources you can use for your material.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 230-232).  Kindle Edition. 

Learn Improvising

Begin working on your script. Anticipate what could possibly happen on the actual event. Being ready for any circumstance will help you act out the scene as if you're pulling a witty line after witty line from the top of your head without any effort at all.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 233-235). Kindle Edition. 

Learn Improvising

Don't be afraid to make mistakes. The simplest way to recover from one is to just a make a joke out it, laugh about it and brush it aside. It is part of the show and would definitely give the vibe of a live and unpracticed scene. Because the truth is, it is part of the show. Mistakes don't have to ruin anything. Just keep your cool and play along with it.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 238-240) Kindle Edition. 

Learn Improvising

Make eye contact with your audience. Talk to them and make it a conversation. They are an important part of the show. By including them, you're getting their attention and extracting reactions from them. Lastly, remember that even if you have a script, you still have to be on your toes. After all, it is still an improvement and being spontaneous is still the key to a successful piece.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 240-244).  Kindle Edition. 

Tips To Be Humorous

Learn from funny people. Your research on different funny pieces will find you a comedian role model, or many of them in fact. Watch them perform and observe what makes them funny. Take their experiences and use these to beef up your own pool of jokes and techniques.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 246-248).  Kindle Edition. 

Tips To Be Humorous

Make fun of yourself. We often find comedians making fun of the audience. There's a fine line that separates what's funny and offensive. But if there's anything that will make them feel at ease it is if you yourself are comfortable enough to make fun of yourself! They would know that it's nothing personal. Let your confidence shine through. Look in the mirror and note the particular features you can make a funny story out of. Don't be afraid to be judged. Hey, if it's your face, then the crowd will already know. It's no secret you look the way you do.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 249-253).  . Kindle Edition. 

Tips To Be Humorous

Be ironic. This is a good tool for being unpredictable. Twist the convention of reality and turn it into a funny ironic story. Craft ironic snippets to describe your situation, your friend's features or what you see in your environment.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 253-255).  Kindle Edition. 

Tips To Be Humorous

Exaggerate. Sometimes, it doesn't even have to be a funny story. Exaggerating the way you pronounce or do things. Or better yet, exaggerate the way your companion mispronounced a word. This makes it easily laughable. Aside from getting a good laugh at it, this also eliminates the embarrassment because you acknowledge it but didn't judge him for it.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 259-262).  . Kindle Edition. 

Tips To Be Humorous

Use props. Some stories just can't be told. Some things can't be described. Cut a shortcut through the tedious and boring explanation. Use props so that you and your audience will be on the same page easily. Act out the sequence and exaggerate on your movements for an added touch.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 262-265).  Kindle Edition. 

Practice!

As the saying goes, practice makes permanent. Practice will help you get the hang of this new thing in your life. At the beginning, it will be a grueling and conscious effort on your part. But through constant practice, having a sense of humor and being funny will be natural to you. 

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 268-272)Kindle Edition. 

Practice!

Delivery and timing are both important. So are non-verbal cues such as your body language, hand gestures, and facial expressions. These are not things you will learn to apply if you do not practice them. Apply what you've learned and exercise diligently. See how well you will be received by your friends and family. Note their reaction and identify what worked and what did not. Along the way, you will find out how you can better improve your approach.

Korman, Adam (2014-04-08). How To Be More Funny: The Guide To Having A Great Sense Of Humor (Social Skills) (Kindle Locations 271-274)Kindle Edition.