Since the world exists, people have been trying really hard to find the key to put everything right in life: how to get happiness and how to become rich without struggling too much, how to find good friends and a fulfilling love. But maybe having all this and a bleak perspective on life is still a drag so what you would need to know is how to be funny.

Being funny isn’t just about being the comedian in a group of friends and making them laugh. You actually have to look at life that way, transform every hiccup into a cute story, but remember the morale. So you have to know how to feel good with yourself, how to entertain yourself and know that having a positive spirit can sustain you a lot of things.

1.      Watch comedians at work. You might think comedians are drunkards, good for nothing and a pain in the butt, that they just talk rubbish for a living. That is all very well and true. But they have real life experience and they possess real solid lying (or acting) abilities so they are more versed and certainly wiser than you are. You can try Jerry Seinfeld and his classic observational humor, Robin Williams or Eddie Murphy for some hardcore misogynistic jokes or watch Saturday Night Live if you want up to date political gags with a different star every week. You can copy a style or develop a mix that would fit you. Either way, watching quality humor would improve your general disposition and would eventually rub off on you.

2.      Don’t be afraid of physical humor. Jumping in a pool with your clothes on, starting a food fight with your friends or running wild pretending to be chased by a giant bee can be hilarious if you do it right. A lot of gestures, exaggerated attitudes and mimics generally accompany physical humor so don’t afraid to go overboard when you feel the moment is begging for it.

3.      Contrast and momentum. I find this is one of the cleverest things in knowing how to be funny: having perfect timing. Saying your joke without laughing yourself is a start, but saying the punch line at exactly the right time and with the adequate tone of voice is already a thing of nuance which belongs to the world of professionals. You would probably have to tell the same joke several times before you get it right, so, like in everything else, practice makes perfect. Just make sure you tell it to different people.

4.      Do roles and impersonations. If you want to learn how to be funny, you have to build an arsenal or at least come up with some material of your own. You can try imitating famous actors or political figures or when you tell a pun at least make the old lady sound like an old lady and the red neck like a proper red neck.

5.      Specialize in pranks. If you want to really kick it up a notch, you should definitely specialize in pranks, it will be a very rewarding experience. April fool’s day should become your new favorite holiday and you should plan for it months in advance. That way you’ll be able to do it to several people on the same day: to your siblings and to your friends would be ideal as you know them best so that means you would also know what to do to piss them off just enough (not too much and not too little).

6.      Don’t go for the obvious. If you are one for the cerebral humor and you want to know how to be funny this is the best advice for you: don’t repeat all the clichés that have been said since the Earth started its rotation. Try to bring out the particular in a situation or make new associations which you haven’t heard before. That is the only way you can make memorable puns, using unexpected responses. For instance, my favorite comedian by far is Irish bloke Dylan Moran who mixes all the trivialities with his own brand of dreamy humor. Every time he says something remotely normal he then balances it out with an ultra childish remark and it somehow fits perfectly together.

7.      Dark humor. This is one thing in knowing how to be funny that you got to learn. It doesn’t mean being necessarily morbid, but taking the amusing parts from subjects which people don’t typically find funny. Be careful and use this only in the appropriate setting.

I trust these pieces of advice for learning how to be funny would actually help you get over your seriousness and join the bright side where you can honestly laugh at anything. Now get out there and give it a try!

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