Humor writing and how to use it

There is a popular opinion, that humor has no rules and scientific approach cannot be applied to it. That is not true.

The truth is, that since the creation of a comedy itself, writers tried to find, what causes people’s laughter and actually did quite a progress in this area. Today we have a lot of information about it. There are numerous lists of how to create a good joke.

In this article You’ll find information about ways of creating comical effect. This knowledge will increase your humor skills in every way. Not only when You write a funny novel or a script, but also in your everyday interactions with people.

• “The Jump”

Dialogue between two women friends:

-What is important for you when you date a man?

-Three things.

-What are they?

-Firstly, I should feel passion to the man. Secondly, everything should be romantic. And the third thing is that my husband didn’t know about this.

As You can see, the point of the jump is that you list a few things, that have similar characteristics and make a cutting leap to something, that is absolutely different.

• “The Cause”

Dialogue between two sharks:

-See that surfer-kid? Let’s eat him!

-Have You lost your mind, that You want to eat that poor kid?

-Why?

-You see, how fast is he moving? Haven’t your mother taught You, that fast food is bad for You?

The cause is all about creating an unexpected cause of something. Like in this gag with sharks, the reader expects to see that the second shark won’t eat the surfer because of some ethical reasons. But then You see, that the reason is absolutely different and hence a joke created.

• “Two meanings”

-Oh Jim… If only You could know how hard it is to lose your wile…

-I know Patrick… It is almost impossible!

This kind of joke is one of the oldest. To create a gag with two meanings You should find a word or a phrase, that has two or more meanings and in your story use the one, that is unsuitable for the context.

• “Hint”

Wife to husband;

-I will write that You’re a dork on your bed so that the whole city would know about it.

Everything is easy with the hint. You just don’t tell your idea straight. You just make a hint, just like in real life.

• “Deconstruction of quotes and clichés”

One head is good… At least better than no head.

The name of the method speaks for himself. You need to choose some quote, or phrase, that everybody knows and change it in a way, that people could understand the reference.

These are just some of some the ways You can make people laugh. As You can see, these methods of composing jokes are pretty easy to use and understand.

Of course, those are not manuals of creating some serious comedic books or novels. These are just ideas of how to create gags to spice up dialogues in your writing. Still, you can do a short story around such joke and it will work just fine.

Sarcasm, Irony and Satire – Three Comedy Titans

You surely have heard those words before and most possibly have idea of what they mean. Still, a lot of people have a bit vague understanding of the actual difference between them.

If You want to develop your unique style it is important to be able to operate with those concepts to achieve the strongest comical effect.

Sarcasm

“There are only two infinite entities in this world: the Universe and human stupidity. Still, I have some doubts about the first one” – Albert Einstein.

Meaning “to tear flesh” in Greek, sarcasm is an acid mockery of some certain process or object. It may sound like a positive assertion but it always carries negative coloring aimed at drawbacks of certain action, person or whatever it mocks.

Sarcastic effect appears due to the contrast between how it sounds and what it means. The stronger the contrast – the stronger the effect.

It is also should be noted, that sarcasm cannot be considered as only a comedic concept. It is vastly used to judge negative aspects of our life. In such situations idea of sarcasm is not to make people laugh, but to make them think about the proble¬¬¬¬¬¬m

Irony

- I don't eat meat because of ethical reasons. Every creature has a right to live and be happy. But still I enjoy hunting. It makes me happy.

Irony itself is pretty similar to sarcasm. Its concept is also based on a contrast between clear and hidden meanings of a situation or phrase. However, irony is not as sharp and caustic as sarcasm and is often more complex, sophisticated.

Irony is not used as often in some political writing or other serious works, it is used mostly in comedy and may make people laugh really hard.

Satire

-What is the difference between democracy and democratization?

-The same as between canal and canalization.

Satire is a more generalized concept. It may include irony, sarcasm and other manifestations of comedy. It is a cutting humiliation of negative aspects of society and its problem.

However, satire is one of the most powerful comedic effects. It makes people laugh, but also makes them think.

Mark Twain, George Orwell and many others wrote satiric novels. Today you can see satire on TV in shows like “South Park” or “Family Guy”. Although a lot of humor in them may seem inappropriate, still, those shows carry a strong message depicting society’s drawbacks in hyperbolized form.

How to use it

It is up to you, how to make people reading your book, novel or even essay, laugh. You may use some of the jokes mentioned earlier or write a vast sarcastic piece of work aimed to change the world through comedy.

Yes, comedy and humor writing has its rules and laws, but still, it has great opportunities for You to do what You want. Expressing yourself through humor might be hard, but hearing people laugh from your jokes is worth it.