How to Be a Funny Person, Even If You’re Not

People assume that being funny requires a lot of work or some natural innate ability. That’s pretty much the case for stand-up comedians (the work part at least), but you certainly don’t need to go through the rigors they do.

In fact, you can be funny even if you’re not by following a few simple guidlines. Making people laugh isn’t so much about what you say, but how you say it, when you say it, and in what context.

If you’re serious about learning how to easily be funny, here’s how you can approach humor:

• Isolate What Makes You Laugh

The first step towards being funny is knowing what makes YOU laugh. That’s right, ask yourself what makes you giggle a giggity (nothing perverted of course).

Once you isolate what you laugh at,  use that to come up with all sorts of jokes others can relate to. Most likely your sense of humor is akin to a lot of people, even if you don’t think so.

• Consider Regular Life as Comedy

The biggest source for humor is drawn from everyday life. Some comedians have made a career out of this notion with asking questions about mundane things. Heck, there are even television shows that are essentially about “nothing,” and yet they are comedy gold in the eyes of millions. Why? Because they have a lot of relatable humor that is found in regular life

Chances are you have your own questions about your life, what you do, where things come from, etc.  Once you figure them out, ask yourself the question “What can be funny about this?” If you can address this question, you’ll have humorous responses, or what we like to call the “punchlines” for the laugh.

Here’s a quick example: “I go to school by day, and work at McDonald’s by night.” Ask yourself “What can be funny about this previous statement someone said or if it’s describing your life?” The hidden humor could be a superhero identity at McDonald’s. “Do you bring your cape to McDonald’s?”

• Use Embarrassing Stories to Your Advantage

A go-to solution you can always use is self-deprecation humor by making fun of yourself.  The oldest forms of comedy utilize slapstick; the man falling on a banana peel used to bring about uproar. Why? Because it’s totally embarrassing to slip on a banana peel.

Think about embarrassing stories from your past, and tell them. While those experiences my have been an ego bruised when you went through them, but being long gone in the past, they will just be fainted memories that you can share a great laugh with others.