How to learn to joke well in society. Quotes from famous people about a sense of humor

Do you want to learn how to joke in any situation? You need to understand how jokes work. As you'll see, comedic conflict and humor are not entirely inseparable. A joke is simply a structure () that is intended to create comedic conflict. All jokes create comedic conflict, but not all comedic conflicts are created from jokes.

Understanding comedic conflict greatly enhances your repertoire as a comedian. The audience is not passive in stand-up comedy. As you'll learn in this article, it takes a lot of effort to get a joke. This is why comedy is usually only about 90 minutes or less. Additionally, the audience will have more difficulty maintaining because they will have low energy.

When someone "makes a joke," he or she goes through three steps to: construct (understand the setting), count (recognize the problem or inconsistency), and solve (fix the problem).

How to learn to joke: building a joke

Framing is how the audience creates an understanding of the joke. This is especially important if you want to learn how to make great jokes in any situation. When the audience listens to jokes, they take in all the information (the comedian's words, gestures, voiceovers, situation, etc.). And they try to connect it all in a meaningful way. For example, take this setting (we'll add a punch later):

The bus driver says:

While you were reading this joke, you were "building" an understanding of this in your mind. You did this by selecting information that seemed important. Since you (presumably) didn't know what the punch was, you can't be sure what information will actually be important until the joke is over. What you consider important might look something like this:

Woman sits in bus with his child.
The bus driver says:
“Ugh, this is the most birth baby, which I have ever seen!
A woman walks to the back of the bus and sits down, smoking. She tells the man next to her, "The driver is just insulted me!" . Man says: “Then go to him and hit me hard.
Come on, I’ll hold yours for now...”

Just by remembering the highlighted words in a joke, you could probably turn around and tell someone that joke. You yourself wanted to learn how to joke in any situation. Of course, you can switch to multiple words, but the highlighted words carry the entire important information for a joke.

How to learn to make funny jokes in any situation

As you made jokes, you also started making predictions. These are the predictions that create the comedic conflict that we will look at a little later. While you were reading the last line, you probably automatically filled in the last sentence to say, “Go ahead, while I hold your baby,” because that’s what we expect from that person. Understanding the structure of a joke and comedic conflict will help you learn how to write funny things and make jokes in public or on stage.

How to learn to make great jokes: payback

The payoff, the second phase of the joke, is what makes a joke a joke. The audience recognizes an inconsistency or problem with their original understanding of the story—their prediction was wrong. A wrong prediction forces the audience to rethink the setting.

A woman boards a bus with her child.
The bus driver says:
"Ugh, that's the ugliest baby I've ever seen!"
The woman walks to the back of the bus and sits down, smoking. She tells the man next to her, “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “Then go to him and hit him well.

The word (or words) that cause the shift are the keywords. This joke is "chimpanzee". If you replace the word "chimpanzee" with "child" then that's pretty simple story. It doesn't become a "bad joke", it just stops being a joke. But you wanted to learn how to joke funny, and not just make jokes in any situation. The guy offers to hold the baby while the woman screams at the bus driver. IN best case scenario This story is mildly interesting, but certainly not funny.

How to learn to make great jokes

But when you get to the word "chimpanzee," you have to figure out why the man said "chimpanzee" instead of "child." This causes a shift. Now you must search new way understand a story that makes sense.

Note that if you go back through the ugly kids joke a few times and change the way you say each line, nothing changes. It doesn't matter whether you deliver it as if you're excited or sad. It doesn't even matter if you or I tell this joke. The keyword steals the show. Humor is entirely based on words. This is important to learn in order to immediately write jokes correctly and make funny jokes under any circumstances.

Keywords are an instant joke. There's a very clear before and after. Once you get to the keyword, there is nothing to do. The audience has all the information they need to laugh.

You'll notice that the keywords almost always appear at the very end of the joke, often like the last word. Keywords always come at the end because they cause a shift. Addition new information after the punch it will kill the joke. Note how to continue after the keyword drains the humor from the joke.

A woman boards a bus with her child.
The bus driver says:
"Ugh, that's the ugliest baby I've ever seen!"
The woman walks to the back of the bus and sits down, smoking. She tells the man next to her, “The driver just insulted me!” The man says: “Then go to him and hit him well.
Come on, I’ll hold your chimpanzee for now.”

Come on, I'll hold your chimpanzee so you can go.
and tell this guy how rude he is.

Technically these are the same jokes. But when you continue after keyword, the audience's attention moves with you. You hit the keyword, but instead of letting the audience connect the pieces to get the joke, the audience is still listening for more information. By the time additional words finished, the word “chimpanzee” is no longer a surprise.

How to learn to joke: a resolving situation

While creating a regular joke, we collected information about the joke and created a prediction. When we entered the calculation phase, we learned that our prediction (or perception) was wrong. Solving this joke is the final step. It answers the question: “If my first idea was wrong, then what is right?” Think of it as the moment when you think, “Oh! I get the joke." During the resolution stage, you understand the second joke.

How to learn to joke well

The word "skating rink" is the key word. You decide to change the understanding of the word skating rink” Now the pun makes sense.

Again. To learn how to tell funny jokes and write jokes, you must start by building an understanding of the story. You select ideas that seem important...

Now all the pieces fit together and your new understanding of the joke makes sense. If you didn't move on to a new performance, you would be very embarrassed when the joke ended. Once you realize there is no other line, you may be thinking, "Wait, what did I miss?"

How to learn to joke well: click point

The time it takes for the audience to leave the construction stage, go through settlement, and end at the resolution stage is called the “click point.” This is the time when everything “clicks.” This is important to remember if your goal is to learn how to joke well in any situation and generate humor quickly.

If all goes well, the click point should occur about 0.3 seconds after the keyword (though the physical laugh comes much later). All other things being equal, the shorter the click point, the greater the surprise and the better the laugh.

A long click point creates fewer surprises than a short one. Have you ever misunderstood a joke and had someone explain it to you? You hear a joke for the first time but don't quite understand it, then your friend slowly explains. However, when it is explained, there is never anything funny about the joke. This is because the click point is too long. Instead of putting everything together in 0.3 seconds, it might take three full seconds... And that's plenty of time for your brain to jump ahead of you and kill any surprise.

So here it is. There are many more subtleties in how to learn to make funny jokes in any situation, how to create killer jokes and how to develop your sense of humor. And I willingly share them on Leave a request right now and continue to comprehend the depths of this outrageously interesting science.

Everyone is attracted to people who know how to joke well, defuse tensions in tense situations, and enter into new company with a good-natured smile on his face. Such people are always expected, invited to holidays, respected by their peers, remembered by teachers at school and bosses at work. But not everyone is lucky enough to master this subtle art from birth, so sometimes you have to ask yourself the question: how to develop a sense of humor?

From the very beginning, it must be said that it is possible to learn how to joke well, because wit, in fact, is inherent in each of us. But don’t expect that just books and a few tips will help you develop a sense of humor - a person will have to really work to develop a sense of humor and understand what is called wit.

Wit is the ability to find bright, successful or even caustic expressions at the right moment and in right time. You could even say that the main thing in a joke is its timeliness, and if you decide to joke about what you were talking about ten minutes ago, then this impulse is unlikely to be appreciated. Now let's get down to business.

Humor and laughter: basic principles

The very first thing you can do to develop a sense of humor is to master the basic principles. The funny thing is that everyone has known for a long time. Tell me, who doesn’t laugh at children who distort words, change letters in places and unknowingly make funny puns? Try to remember, perhaps, at a more conscious age, you made a successful slip of the tongue and it caused others to burst into fits of laughter? Do you remember? So take this phrase into service and use it. For better understanding Here's an example of a random joke:

• You can’t spoil porridge with butter - You can’t spoil Masha with butter;
• Romina's mother - mother's Roma

It’s slips like these that help you learn to develop wit. Whether a person writes them down, memorizes them or remembers them is up to everyone, but they must be appropriate and fit the topic of conversation.

• The following rule is for those who want to make friends with a sense of humor: in a phrase that is familiar to everyone, throw out one word and replace it with another that is close in meaning, but which will sound fresh. Let's say, in the aphorism “glue fins together”, replace these notorious “fins” with, say, skis or roller blades. “Glue the videos together” sounds completely different and more interesting.
• Whatever books a person reads in order to improve his wit, each of them will talk about cliches. This is a change for everyone famous sayings And catchphrases. We just looked at a similar method, but this one is more complicated, since it’s not the word that needs to be changed, but the whole sentence: "I'm ready to give right hand, as long as no one understands that she is also a leftist.”
• You can and even should use hyperbole in your arsenal of humor. It has long been noted that what is exaggerated is funny. So a person should not be afraid to use phrases like “I’ve been waiting for you since the fall of 1993”, “I had such a headache that even my mother (sister, dog, neighbors) had to take a headache pill.” A similar formula involving another person can be quite useful for creating a successful joke.
• Eat special exercises, helping to cope with the problem of a poorly suspended tongue. For example, Associations, which involve writing down on paper five words that are associated with what has already been proposed. You can’t think while doing it, just write down what comes to mind. This practice will help at the right moment to “take out” a few words from the subconscious, which can easily be combined into an interesting mini-story. Anti-Associations will also help in the same way, which are performed according to the same principle and are repeated every day until problems with the speed of imagination disappear.

Such activities can cause certain difficulties for a beginner; puns are unlikely to pop into one’s head on their own, although this is not a reason for a person to stop. Therefore, find suitable books about humor.

For example, Yuri Tamberg’s work “How to Develop a Sense of Humor” will be an excellent assistant for beginners, as he delves into the history of the creation of the comic, talks in more detail about the qualities of a real comedian who cracks jokes like nuts.

Another book, “School of Wit,” belongs to Viktor Billevich, who will teach you not only to joke, but also to stay creative personality overcoming all obstacles life path.

How to improve your sense of humor

Not everyone is completely lacking in wit - some people just need to improve it. For such “comedians” you can also choose several effective rules, which are used in any humorous situation.

• First of all, you should not repeat the same joke in a group. A person will not laugh for the fifth time at the phrase “the bun hanged himself,” especially considering the age of this saying. So in order to gain fans, a person should think for a minute about how fresh and interesting the joke will be for others.
• In order for the wit to be of high quality and cause a sincere smile, you need to tell such jokes that you don’t have to explain unclear words. Understand that your grandmother should not tell jokes about superheroes, the Internet, goths or emo - this will only result in a puzzled look. After all, humor should be understandable, and not make you think about things that a person does not understand.
• And note, the one who jokes never warns that he is about to reveal a masterpiece. He simply says the necessary words, and everyone around him falls into laughter. This result can be achieved thanks to the effect of surprise, and while you are going on and on about “now I’ll tell you this, you’ll get pumped,” people around you will get tired of waiting and the moment of a “successful exit” will be missed. And one more thing: brevity is not only the sister of talent, but also a faithful companion for comedians, KVN players and comedians, since a drawn-out story only causes yawning and a desire to leave.

Both complete laymen and amateurs in the world of puns should feed their brains with new ideas, skills, and develop their imagination. To do this, watch your favorite programs with jokes, KVN and everything that makes people smile. While watching, pay attention to the actor’s gestures, posture, facial expressions, and try to come up with your own witticisms based on what you hear.

What else does a comedian need?

For good feeling Humor is not enough to read books and change places with words. After all, as was said before, everything is not as simple as it seems. A talented comedian is a person who knows his worth, confidently behaves in public, and clearly distinguishes between insult and wit.

• You can imagine yourself as a great comedian, but in reality you don’t want to learn how to develop your own confidence, learn how to go on stage without a piece of paper, not mock people’s shortcomings, but use your talent to encourage and help cope with difficult situation.
• Remember all the humorous programs, programs, funny situations from life and try to characterize the person who joked. What's his main feature? Do not know? And everything is quite simple: those who joke well at others always know how to joke at themselves.

This is what the whole science of humor rests on - on inner confidence, on a core that will not allow you to faint when they look at you during a humorous debut. It is this quality that you need to learn in order to become, if not for the whole world, then for those around you, a talented humorist.

Special trainings can help with this, allowing you to know yourself, find strengths, it will determine what exactly you expect from life and what goals you set for yourself. This way you will kill two birds with one stone: you will learn humor and life's path you are taking.

But that's not all. As mentioned above, there is a time and place for every joke. If you find yourself in a group of blondes and have a thousand jokes about stupid girls spinning in your head, you should not voice them. It may not be easy to learn to restrain yourself, but sometimes it is necessary. Okay, blonde - they’ll just be offended, but if you tell a joke about stupid athletes to a jock, you can easily make a “friend” for life and lose a couple of teeth.

Developing a sense of humor is a long but necessary process that will help you learn how to make people happy, extend your quality of life, make an ordinary day unforgettable, and make unforgettable events brighter and more joyful.

The following tips, exercises, various books (including collections of jokes), close relatives and friends will help with this, which will help develop a love for good mood, and most importantly - to develop a desire, thanks to which you can achieve the desired quality and not be tormented by the question of how to develop a sense of humor.

Have a great mood everyone!

It is important for any girl to be the center of attention. Firstly, it increases her self-esteem, and secondly, it helps her meet more people. Well, who knows, her future husband might also be among her new acquaintances.

Girls get what they want different ways. Some people want to look bright compared to their friends. Bright clothes and makeup make her stand out from the crowd. But this approach will not make it central figure a team.

Others chatter incessantly, telling everyone about everything. Such girls quickly become boring. Well, think for yourself, you came to talk, but instead you are waiting for an hour-long monologue about how a girl had chickenpox as a child. Boring.

Who I would prefer is a girl with a sense of humor. And that doesn't mean she has to tell jokes around the clock. It is important that she is able to joke or even laugh at the situation or her shortcomings in any situation. It is with such girls that I, as a man, feel very easy and comfortable.

Often I met girls who were completely devoid of a sense of humor or carefully hid it. Honestly, you feel tense and uncomfortable with them. Every second you think about what to say or do so as not to offend her.

Surely girls are already wondering what a sense of humor is and what to do if they don’t have it. I answer. A sense of humor is an acquired property. Do you think that all comedians and KVN-ki are born joking? Not at all. They learned this. And if they learned it, then you can do it too. So go ahead!

Before you start learning to joke in any situation, you need to analyze what set of qualities you need to have. I will state my point of view.

1. Girls who know how to joke about themselves and about the current situation are, first of all, smart. Yes, yes, smart. Can't see the connection? Well, the silly ones have appropriate jokes. Forgive me, please.
2. Girls should be sincere. Why? Yes, because their thinking is not clouded by any prejudices and this helps them joke kindly.
3. A girl with a sense of humor is independent and amazes with the courage of her statements. Well, how could it be otherwise? If a girl is afraid to say something unnecessary and depends on the opinions of others, then there is no time for jokes. It is impossible to relax in such an environment. For words with humor for men, see the link.
4. The fair sex is all right with self-esteem. She will not be offended by a joke in her direction, moreover, she will respond in kind.

Like I said, you need to be able to joke. This can be learned based on certain rules:

• dear girls, do not make people’s feelings the subject of your jokes;
• do not joke about death, illness, etc., even if we're talking about about the death of a guy's beloved hamster. Believe me, during his lifetime he was his friend. Personally verified;
• your jokes can be based on real life situations;
• You don’t always need to joke, it gets boring;
• do not allow vulgarity in jokes;
• joke in a way that makes sense to everyone, not just you;
• It doesn’t matter if your joke was not understood, this is not a reason to repeat it several times and try to explain what you meant;
• If you are not confident in your successful joke, don’t joke, otherwise you will spoil the mood for yourself and others.

The most important stage is the beginning. So in wit, the main thing is to start with yourself. Learn to laugh at yourself, then others will appreciate your wit.

Laugh at yourself

Girls, no matter how sad it may sound, but no. ideal people. This means that shortcomings are a reason to joke about yourself. It's even useful. Firstly, you will learn to accept yourself as you are and will not fall into prolonged depression when someone points them out to you. Secondly, if you accept this joke and appreciate it, then this is the first step towards success.

Don't know where to start? Start simple. Compare yourself, for example, with any item or furniture in the apartment. Imagine that you are soul mates, find a flaw and describe it in a humorous way. And do it until you succeed. Don't be discouraged if it takes a while.

Is it annoying to take the subway to work, but don’t want to visit someone in the rain? Very in vain. This can be put to good use. Think about what makes you happy on your commute to work. There may be music in the subway and bus, or a cheerful driver or fellow traveler. What is the color of your umbrella? It is bright and rich. You walk under it and imagine that it’s like the sun is above you.

Learn to draw parallels between events and look for some associations in what is happening. This will stick firmly in your memory. And if suddenly a situation occurs that is associated with something pleasant, then the girl will be able to joke without hesitation.

Thought must be quick

For girls to make a joke successful and appropriate, they need to learn to think quickly. Agree, joking about the situation ten minutes later will be at least strange and inappropriate. With such an approach, you are unlikely to earn the reputation of a girl with a sense of humor.

Develop yourself

You will learn more about how to become smart here.

Jokes shouldn't be monotonous. I am not calling for making the ability to joke in any situation an end in itself and attending trainings and seminars on this topic. Surprised they exist? Yes, such events are held and quite successfully.

Charisma comes first

Probably everyone has seen a scene where a girl made a seemingly relevant and funny joke, but the audience turned a deaf ear to her joke. What's the matter? The problem is that the girl is not confident in herself and is not perceived as an individual. Often, female leaders can joke at the wrong time, but the joke is accepted and this relaxes the atmosphere. Develop as a person and you will succeed too.

Make jokes in a pleasant atmosphere

In order to learn how to joke in any environment, first learn to joke in a friendly company. These could be classmates, department employees, or close friends. With them, the girl feels relaxed, and therefore the jokes come out more original and funnier.

Smart magazines and websites on psychology advise finding yourself a role model and trying to copy him. I'm skeptical about this. Every person is an individual. What a comedian does funny is not a fact that he can convey it to another person. And if this does not work, then the joke will look like an antics and a parody.

When constructing a joke, I would advise girls to use comparisons that no one expects. For example, she is so similar to the Venus de Milo: old, without arms and without teeth. Be ironic. A colleague received a promotion. Everyone around is congratulating. And a girl can come up, sympathetically put her hand on her shoulder and look devotedly into her eyes and quietly ask: “Well, did you jump?” Believe me, it will be simply impossible not to smile.

Wit is actually an art. But if the ability to sing or draw is not accessible to everyone, then there are no barriers to jokes. There are no girls who don’t know how to joke, they’re just embarrassed to do it. And wit develops. And this is exactly what you need to be the center of attention in any society and company.

Laughter is known to prolong life. And the one who causes this always enjoys the sympathy of people. Therefore, anyone who amuses the public most often becomes the life of the party, people are drawn to him, they enjoy the company of this person. It happens that it is congenital, like ear for music and others natural inclinations. But if a child with such a gift is not taught to play the piano, he will not receive awards for achievements in the field of art. But if you train a child without a special gift from God, then, of course, outstanding composer it won’t, but it will be able to play a couple of tunes. In the same way, you can develop a sense of humor.

First, let's look at what exactly makes people happy? First of all, it's unusual. Some kind of unexpected turn situations, a new perspective, an original play on words. Try to look at what is happening from different angles, as if you were an alien arriving on earth. After all, what seems ordinary to us can be quite funny. However, when making a joke, it is important not to overdo it and not inadvertently offend the people we want to make laugh. There are people who “will not spare their father for the sake of a catchphrase.” When he learns to joke, everyone, on the contrary, shies away from him, so as not to get caught on a tongue as sharp as a meat grinder.

A joke, like a spoon for dinner, is needed certain place and by time. There is no point in suggesting that “everything is so bad in our country, because Lenin in the Mausoleum does not lie according to Feng Shui” in the cell of the Communist Party, as well as in the society of people who seriously believe in Chinese teaching about the correct arrangement of objects. Both those and others will not appreciate your joke. Well, okay, you say, here were tips on how not to joke, but how to learn to joke in order to “give birth” to at least such a simple joke?

Humor, like music and drawing, has its own rules. It seems to you that the comedian makes people laugh every time. Analyze: structurally there are only a few techniques hidden under them, and we will briefly consider these techniques. The first technique is a play on words. The Russian language is replete with terms that have different meanings. There are also phrases that sound similar to others. How to learn to joke by playing with words? Select these ambiguous terms(braid, key, case). And when they ask you: “How are you?”, you can answer: “The prosecutor has business, but I have business.” You can play with proverbs and sayings. For example, about a stalemate, say: “A goat found a cable and electrocuted the goat.”

Another common technique is false opposition when the second part of the sentence seems to contradict the first, but in fact only confirms it. For example: “No one is interested in us except the tax police, and even they are interested not in ourselves, but in the contents of our pockets.” Here, a strengthening technique similar to the previous one is used, only the end of the statement refutes the beginning: “Quitting smoking is easy - I’ve already quit fifty times.” There are also techniques of hyperbole - deliberate exaggeration and false understatement. How to learn to joke using this technique? A win-win option is to involve the neighbors: “He got so drunk yesterday that even the neighbors had a headache in the morning,” etc. Reduction to the point of absurdity also amuses the people, and examples of it can be endlessly drawn from the vocabulary of the military: “Be silent, I ask you!” etc.

But let’s say you’ve become familiar with the techniques of humor, but you still can’t come up with something witty. But you can amuse others with other people's jokes. Try to remember a lot of jokes and funny phrases, aphorisms and catchphrases. How to learn to joke using them? The main thing is that the joke you tell is relevant. The “salt” of this comedic opus should at least somehow relate to the topic of conversation. Don't repeat the same joke several times. And if you didn’t provoke a response of laughter, you shouldn’t immediately tell someone else similar case, in the hope that it will definitely work. And what you absolutely cannot do is blame the audience for a lack of a sense of humor.

There is no girl who, when compiling a list of basic requirements for the guy of her dreams, would forget to mention having a sense of humor. However, you already know that being the wittiest in any company is very pleasant and honorable. Like any other skill, the ability to joke can be developed. A sense of humor is just a tricky muscle that can be pumped up. Perhaps, with the help of our article, you will have time to do this by the next beach season.

5 surefire ways to say something funny

Humor only seems to be a free, spontaneous and exuberant form of creativity. If you wipe off the stupid smile from your face and analyze with a serious look what exactly causes laughter, you can isolate ready-made formulas for what is funny. Here are the most common and easiest to use of them. And although they are all used, if you take them into service, it will greatly help your boyfriend.

1 They were swapped

The most mechanical and simple way to create a joke (or at least its semblance) is to swap two elements. These can be letters in a word ( president - drezipent), letters in the phrase ( sweaty hands - mouth farts), words in a sentence ( hit a squirrel's eye from a hundred meters away - hit a hundred meters from a squirrel's distance) and therefore similar ( Fedor Konyukhov - groom Fedorov). Main secret in applying this formula - speed. I heard a phrase suitable for a changeling, immediately turned it over - earned a smile ( “And don’t forget to wash the dishes and throw out the trash!” - "Fine! I’ll throw out the dishes and wash the trash!”). Of course, 99% of your changes will turn out to be meaningless nonsense, but even nonsense can cause positive emotions. Any boring news from the Vremya program will play if the druzipent Vedmedev participates in it.

2 New word in...

Hundreds of phraseological units that you constantly use have become so worn out from use that neither you nor your interlocutors notice them. Blow off the dust by replacing one of the worn parts with a new one. Instead of “freaking out,” say “ freak out about cholesterol", instead of the "carrot and stick method" - " whip and pizza method", instead of "glue the fins together" - " glue skis (boots from Skorokhod)" Please note: the more appropriate the replacement, the more fun it is. If you replace the name of the flower with “baobab” in the expression “God’s dandelion,” it will sound especially funny if the size of the old woman is close to the dimensions of the tree in question.

3 How does it sound?

The direct meaning of words and expressions is a rich field for jokes. ( “How are you after yesterday?” - “Like a cucumber! Green, and some suspicious little bumps appeared on the chest.”) The essence of this method is not to pay attention to the context and circumstances, but to focus on one, even if not very significant detail (“Hold the door” - “Do you think if you let go, she’ll run away somewhere?”). Listen to everyday speech - you will be amazed at how many reasons there are for such stupid jokes hidden in almost every phrase ( “You're two hours late again! How does is called?" - “Hm... I give up. Well, what is it called? This is the first time I’ve heard this riddle!”).

4 Yes, more, more!

If you read us carefully, you probably noticed that we have already used the technique of comic exaggeration forty billion times in our magazine. As comedian Bill Cosby once noted, in mathematics 1 + 1 = 2, in humor 1 + 1 = 11 ( “How long have you been waiting for us?” - "From september. 1989"). You already often lie, take another step and start lying in a square: “I was so scared by this rustling sound that even my neighbors turned gray!” By the way, the formula “that even the neighbors have something there” is quite productive. Remember it and use it at every opportunity ( “I got so drunk that day that even my neighbors got up with a headache the next morning.”. “He weighs so much that even his neighbors had to go on a diet.”).

5 Original stamp

Another algorithm for constructing a joke is a cliché turned upside down: a proverb, a saying, quotes from a song or movie, etc. This is not the easiest of the methods (you have to stretch your imagination), but also not the most difficult (you have a stove, from which one should dance). At the beginning of the joke, you take a well-known cliché for a run, then, pushing off from it, you jump and land completely different from where you were expected.
“I’m ready to give up my right hand just to learn how to play the guitar!”
“I’m ready to give up my right arm just to become disabled!”
“I’m ready to give up my right hand to become left-handed!”
“I’m ready to give up my right hand. I still have three of them.”

Who did we play jokes from?

Back in 1932, psychologist F. Goodenough found out that a sense of humor is an innate skill, and not learned from adults, like speech or the habit of smoking after sex. In his experiments, deaf-blind babies laughed when tickled just like healthy ones. But since scientists at that time had neither today’s money nor false feeling the significance of their work, Goodenough’s ideas did not receive proper development.

Serious theories about the origin of humor appeared only at the end of the 20th century. Moreover, they were put forward by ethologists - researchers of animal behavior. For example, J. Panksepp in 1998 described the sense of humor in monkeys, canines, bears and even, surprisingly, rats. Of course, humor in this case must be understood in in a broad sense: It is unlikely that a monkey will be able to appreciate the comedy of a situation when a person wearing different socks comes to his bank for an interview. However, all these animals are capable of two types of jokes. First, peek-a-boo is when one animal scares another by pretending to eat it, and then “laughs” at the victim’s fear. Secondly, public humiliation - when one male pushes another from a branch or crushes another, and then - okay, gray, are you offended? Moreover, if the monkeys are equal in status, the victim has the right to a “joke” in response, and the offender should not be offended. That is, he must give in the next time they knock him down.

As another ethologist, J. Gamble, found out, such a meager supply of witticisms is explained only by the lack of speech. As soon as gorillas or chimpanzees were taught sign language, they immediately began to joke much more subtly (by ape standards). For example, they deceived other monkeys that there was food hidden under a stone, and then watched with satisfied hoots as they worked their hairless asses lifting the boulder. In addition, big-eyed animal psychologists Van Hoof and Proeschoft discovered two types of reactions to jokes in monkeys and rats.

█ Grin (lips rolled up, teeth exposed and tightly clenched) - something like a smile, which is given by the objects of the prank. Interestingly, grinning in a broader sense is a signal of submission. Therefore, the equivalent of a grin in the human world should be recognized not only as the phrase “Ha-ha, of course!”, but also “You are such a wit, Pal Palych!”

█ A playful face (the mouth is open, the lips are extended, breathing becomes rapid) - a prototype of laughter. Animals use it to differentiate between play and reality. In childhood, when the cubs are learning, they often get into fights, fussing and chasing. If an adult runs after you and laughs, it's a game. If you are concentrated, apparently there is a predator on the horizon and you have to really run. Panksepp, by the way, found that animals “without humor”, raised by serious individuals (who cannot show a game face due to injuries or a muzzle), are less adapted to life, solve problems worse and cope with stress.

When the shovels sing

Why don’t they laugh at your witticisms, but only sniffle gloomily, thoroughly kicking you?

You weren't the first

Believe me, if a person’s name is Slava and he is over ten years old, he has already heard the joke about “Glory to the CPSU” two thousand times. Not a single Sveta will smile if you joke something like “sleep in the Light.” Anatoly Wasserman’s reaction to your pun about “Wasserman’s reaction” is also not difficult to guess. Did you come up with a joke? Wonderful! But before you post it, think for a second about how new it will be for the listener.

You know more than others

Tell your grandmother this incident from our fictional life: “I was recently in a Chinese restaurant. I ask the waiter: “Do you have Wi-Fi?” He left, then comes and says: “Wai Fai is a day off today, but there is his brother Wai Wen.”. If your grandmother laughs, she just loves you very much. Remember: if even one of the key elements of a joke is unknown to the listener, the joke will fall apart. House of cards, built from sand.

You overdid it

Many weak jokes were received with a bang and in a good way the words were laughed at only because they sounded unexpected. Humor should appear spontaneous. Never prepare your audience that a bird is about to fly out ( “Wow, what a joke I came up with! Get pumped! Listen..."). You shouldn’t ask for forgiveness or make excuses in advance either ( “The anecdote, of course, is quite stupid, but I liked it. It touches on the topic of kinky sex with animals, so I apologize in advance to the ladies and animals present here. So...").

If a joke fails, the worst thing you can do is frantically remember the next joke ( “This time it’s definitely funny!”). It could turn out even worse. But the most tragic ending will be if you start accusing your interlocutors of lacking a sense of humor and spice up the accusation detailed analysis salt jokes. This behavior makes unfunny clowns become dead clowns.

4 theories of humor

From serious scientists who have observed humans and other animals.

Humor is a tool for creating alternative realities. Our jokes are the same playful romp of animals, only even more simplified. Imitation of imitation life. We check other people’s reactions to a conflict situation without physically getting involved in it: “Well, where do you think I was until three in the morning? I went to a brothel with our nurse and her stewardess friend!”

Humor is essential for improving emotional control. A joke is a reversal of the body’s response to stress: “They brought you pizza here. But we ate it! Ha ha! A developed psyche requires quick transition, for example, from anger to happiness, because getting stuck in one emotion makes you vulnerable. For lower animals (and also for some guards, we would add) transitions to a new state are difficult.

For the benefit of evolution, two adults must be genetically dissimilar: this is the only way they can produce a good assortment of offspring. However, the difference in genes (and therefore in the color of eyes, skin, nipples and sidelocks) can be frightening: the second organism is perceived as alien. This means that there must be a mechanism for consolidating sympathy that is different from external attractiveness. An “emotional loop” becomes such a mechanism: the first one jokes, the second one is happy, the first one is happy that the second one is happy, etc. Jokes about a non-offensive woman are good cement for relationships ( “Darling, do snakes sleep with with open eyes? - “I don’t know, I get up later than you”).

These two believe that humor is not a mechanism of attachment, but of choosing a partner. Both admit that the choice in sex is always up to the woman, so the man is obliged to joke. At the same time, Mulcahy believes that humor is a product of demonstrative aggression; it is intended to humiliate male competitors in front of females: “San, it wasn’t you who printed about self-medication for gonorrhea - is there anything left on the printer?” Well, good-natured Miller writes that a joke should not be offensive, humor is simply a sign of good intellectual form, and therefore high-quality genes. It seems that his theory, which for once takes into account the character of people, and not gorillas, is the most correct.

Wit for the lazy

How to be known as a funny guy without making up a joke.

Quote

As Mikhail Zhvanetsky once noted, “One well-placed quote is worth ten out-of-place anecdotes.” Memorize a dozen quotes, for example from “The Twelve Chairs,” and wait for the right moment. Did your colleague show up to work wearing something new? Go up to him and announce publicly: “It was impossible to start a polygamist’s career without a marvelous dapple-gray suit.”. Is anyone getting scolded by their bosses? Note in a low voice: “From the outside it might seem that a respectful son is talking to his father, only the father shakes his head too animatedly”.

Ideally, the quote used should not be tattered from frequent use(“To whom a mare is a bride”), otherwise she will lose part of her strength. In this case, it is desirable that the source be at least approximately guessed. Nice quote brings with it the spirit of the work, and all the former positive emotions associated with the quoted work come to life in the souls of the listeners. By the way, this is why the quote from Zhvanetsky with which we started did not make much of an impression on you. Well, also because we invented it ourselves.

Tell jokes

A Frenchman, a German and Mikhail Zhvanetsky somehow ended up on a desert island. And they began to compete to see who could tell the best joke. It was Zhvanetsky’s turn, and he said: “One appropriately told anecdote is worth ten inappropriately used quotes.” Yes, whatever one may say, there is no more reliable way to gain a reputation as a joker and comedian than telling jokes. It’s okay that you didn’t invent them. It is impossible to treat someone who makes you laugh without sympathy. Anger can only be caused if it turns out that you forgot the ending of the joke.

Speak with accents

Any boring phrase said with an Estonian accent will make others smile, unless, of course, neither the speaker nor those around are Estonians ( “Re-read me, pa-azhalusta, so-ol, but be-faster”). Other “cheerful” accents are no worse: Georgian ( “Sleesh, sol, paredai, huh?”), Jewish ( “I have to ask you for salt. Why are you bothering me? Well, this is downright funny, not salt!”), Eskimo ( “My salt is to ask, thank you to say!” Perhaps, however, this example was Chinese).

What do women want?

And last scientific fact, with which we could not help but spoil the parade of jokes and witticisms that our article actually (although it is not obvious) is. More precisely, not exactly a fact, but the result of a series of experiments carried out by anthropologists E. Bresler and J. Greengross. Independently of each other, these two conducted experiments on women (all sexy) and men different ages, statuses and external data.

Since the scientists were unable to insist on the main requirement of the experiment - that all women should also be naked - it was carried out like this. Men who filled out regular profiles, like those on dating sites, were assigned status based on income level, education and appearance. Women were not shown this status assessment, but they could read the questionnaires freely. In addition, each man had an autobiography written by professional comedians. The types of humor varied: toilet, chauvinistic, self-flagellation, offensive to other men, etc. - eight types in total. Going through the line of women, the man read out his “autobiography” and received a final assessment of sexual attractiveness. Then the same thing was repeated in reverse. Apart from the banal conclusions like “a sense of humor is very important for dating,” Bresler and Greengross found the following.

Men don't like it when a woman makes jokes

Perhaps perceiving them as competitors ( “Maybe she’ll have sex with herself, and... have any cutlets?”), participants in the experiment lowered the scores of the funniest storytellers. And if anyone was called very attractive, it was the laughers who laughed most actively during the first stage. So women don't have to joke at all. But, fortunately, they don’t know how, ha ha!

It almost doesn't matter how a man jokes

The highest marks, regardless of status, were given to the lucky ones who came across a “simply funny” autobiography. Neutral humor, without a clearly defined object of jokes, without vulgarity and fixation on any topic, increased the sex appeal of a man in the eyes of a woman. All other types of humor worked noticeably worse. But, surprisingly, there was no difference between them: almost the same number of women liked toilet humor as high-brow humor. Although there was one exception that deserves its own paragraph.

Self-flagellation only works if you're cool

The old advice, “If you can't laugh at anything else, laugh at yourself,” can be deadly for low-status men. If the woman in Greengross's experiments knew that she was a loser, self-flagellation humor ( “If I have money, I like to go to a fancy restaurant and order a big McNugget.”) only reduced the man’s attractiveness in her eyes. However, if she knew in advance - from the questionnaire - about the weighty and sonorous advantages of her counterpart, loser jokes worked at the neutral level. That is, in the best possible way.