![\"Izzy](\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/laughing-izzy.jpg\")
<\/h1>\nBarack Obama (insert any politician here) visited a nursing home during his re-election campaign for president. No one seemed to be paying any attention to him as he toured the facility. Feeling a bit frustrated, he walked up to a man in a wheelchair. “Excuse me,” the candidate said, “Do you know who I am.” The patient looked up, shook his head, and replied, “No, I don’t. But if you ask at the front desk, I\u2019m sure the nurse will be able to help you.”<\/p>\n
Many of us cannot successfully remember jokes because we don’t know we’re going to like a joke until after it’s over. That’s when we try to memorize it by “rewinding” the tape, but there is no tape in our memory.<\/p>\n
A joke is an oral narrative. As such, it requires inflection, physical movement, and expression. A key to successful joke-telling is to report it as if you were telling a story to someone, a story that “really happened.” You can’t memorize someone else’s telling of a joke. You need to improvise, to sound as if you were telling it for the first time. To those that say “I can’t improvise,” I say “balderdash”(or some such word). Unless someone writes a script for you while you sleep and leaves it on your night table, then you, like the rest of us, improvise most of our conversation everyday.<\/p>\n
1. THE SETUP<\/strong> is the reason we’re interested in the story. (Ex: Obama visited a nursing home recently in order to drum up support for his health care plan.)<\/p>\n 2. DEVELOPMENT<\/strong> is a problem or difficulty that happens. (“Excuse me,” the President said, “do you know who I am.”) Jokes are never about the specific people or places they seem to be about. They are about problems and solutions. That’s why the same jokes keep coming around. I first heard this joke told about President Bush running for re-election.<\/p>\n 3. PUNCHLINE<\/strong> is the solution to the problem told from a different point-of-view (In this case, the patient\u2019s). The greater the shift in point of view, the greater the laugh. (“No, I don’t. But if you ask at the front desk, the nurse will be able to help you.”)<\/p>\n When you hear a joke or story you’d like to retell Write down the outline (parts 1-3) in a notebook or PDA or speak into a recorder. The key is to write the punch line down first!!!!<\/span> Practice reading the story to a mirror, into a tape recorder, or in front of your dog or your cat (a dog is better than a cat because at least a dog looks like it cares).<\/p>\n Take the card (or notes) with you, go up to someone and say something like: “I’d like to tell you a joke” and whip out the card.<\/p>\n Read it or refer to it. After the 1st, 2nd or 3rd time you will be telling the joke successfully because you’re not relying on memorization. You can change it around, alter details, and customize it for your audience. As long as you remember the 3 parts, you will be successful.<\/p>\n GESELL’S GUIDE TO GUARANTEED GUFFAW<\/p>\n You don’t have to make everyone in the audience laugh (unless it’s an audience of one) EXAGGERATION FORMULA<\/strong> USE<\/strong> great material. Have confidence in the material. If you\u2019re not sure its funny or you can\u2019t tell it well, DON\u201dT USE IT! Find and display a picture of yourself smiling or laughing out loud. Use it as a mirror. Gather humor where you find it so you can have it when you need it. Use a notebook or recorder to hold on to the things that make you laugh. Keep a humor diary. You will be amazed at how much laughter comes into your life already. To your memory, an emotion is as real as the actual event. By focusing on the symbols & representations of the things that make you happy, you create REAL feelings. Carry a happiness symbol (photo, souvenir) with you. Look at it for 30 seconds when you need a smile.<\/p>\n Show your sense of humor in subtle but visible ways – the clothes and accessories you wear, what you place in your home or work space, quotes or cartoons in your correspondence. Get a humor buddy and regularly connect with that person to share humor.<\/p>\n Laughter dissolves tension because laughter and tension cannot exist in your body at the same time. As a result, humor is a wonderful stress manager.<\/p>\n A sense of humor is more the ability to perceive incongruity or ambiguity in a situation than the ability to tell jokes. A laugh is your body\u2019s way of saying, \u201caha! I didn\u2019t expect that result, but it makes sense to me now.\u201d<\/p>\n Don’t take yourself too seriously. Celebrate your individuality and your foibles. Learn to laugh with compassion at yourself and the things you do.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of truth is said in jest.\u201d Therefore the phrase, \u201cjust kidding\u201d doesn\u2019t necessarily mean, \u201cI didn\u2019t mean what I said.\u201d<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Negative humor, such as sarcasm or ethnic humor, needs a victim. Positive humor fosters equality by focusing on shared experiences.<\/p>\n Humor is a skill. As such it needs to be practiced. The more you practice, the better you will become.<\/p>\n Check out Izzy Gesell’s book and card deck, Playing Along<\/em>.<\/em><\/a> You might also like Leigh Anne Jasheway’s Are You Playing With Me?<\/a>\u00a0\u00a0 Make Humor Work for You: Telling a Good Joke Well By Izzy Gesell, M.ED, CSP Common sense and a sense of humor are the same thing, moving at different speeds. A sense of humor is just common sense, dancing. William James HOW TO RECALL AND RETELL ANY JOKE YOU EVER HEAR Barack Obama (insert any […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[27,367,365,278,366],"class_list":["post-1090","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles","tag-humor","tag-humorist","tag-joke","tag-jokes","tag-story"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\n
\nTransfer the outline to a 3×5 card or other system such as computer or journal.
\nOn the other side of the card or construct a story that makes sense for you around the skeleton. Include details such as names, cities, job titles, school.<\/p>\n\n
\nIf you can only remember 1 of the 3 parts\u2026 remember THE PUNCHLINE.<\/strong><\/p>\nSELECTED HUMOR WRITING FORMULAS<\/h1>\n
\nDescription: Grossly exaggerates some (usually negative) quality of the subject of the joke. Example: The horse was so slow that the jockey kept a diary of the trip. (Henny Youngman)
\nREVERSAL FORMULA<\/strong>
\nDescription: Punch line is 180-degree reversal of what audience might expect.
\nExample: I met a bum that told me he hadn’t had a bite in 3 days…so I bit him.
\nMISDIRECTION FORMULA<\/strong>
\nDescription: Listener\/reader is misled as to the outcome of a joke until the final, surprise ending. The punch line forces the audience to look at the situation from a totally different point of view.
\nExample: They laughed when I picked up the violin. They stopped when they realized I was from the finance company.
\nCLICHE REWRITE FORMULA<\/strong>
\nDescription: A clich\u00e9 or saying that has either been modified slightly or presented in a new context.
\nExample: Wall Street-the land of milk and money.
\nCOMBINATION FORMULA<\/strong>
\nDescription: Combine 2 very different elements and describe the results
\nExample: The director of Gandhi is making a sequel to Star Trek. It’s called “The Empire Turns the Other Cheek. ”
\nDEFINITION FORMULA<\/strong>
\nDescription: Funny way of describing a word
\nExamples: Shin: A device for finding furniture in the dark. Flashlight: A case for dead batteries.<\/p>\nGUIDELINES FOR SUCCESSFUL HUMOR TRANSMISSION or
\nHow to tell funny stuff in a funny way.<\/h1>\n
\nENJOY<\/strong> the material. An exuberant manner is contagious.
\nSET<\/strong> the material up properly. Plants the seeds for the punch line, build it up and sustain interest until the climax.
\nKNOW<\/strong> your material. Added words hinder progress to the punch line. Groping for words makes the audience lose confidence in you.
\nEVEN<\/strong> though you\u2019ve used the material 100 times, make each time seem as if you\u2019re telling it for the first time.
\nMAKE<\/strong> it relevant. Humor that fits the occasion has a much greater chance of clicking.
\nKNOW<\/strong> your audience. Don\u2019t offend it. Make sure your listeners are in a mood to laugh.
\nSPEAK<\/strong> distinctly. Make sure your audience understands what you\u2019re saying.
\nDEVELOP<\/strong> rhythm, good pacing & timing. Timing is mostly about pausing and silence.
\nAVOID<\/strong> stepping on your laugh. Don\u2019t kill the laugh-line by continuing the story. Let the laughter resonate before you continue. Don\u2019t telegraph the punch line.
\nTAKE<\/strong> advantage of all the talents and attributes you have. Impressions, characters, odd noises, physical imperfections are humor assets when used judiciously.
\nTRY<\/strong> out your material on recorder to eliminate errors and allow for polishing the material.
\nBE<\/strong> likable and enjoyable. The more audiences like you, the better their reaction to you will be.<\/p>\nTIPS & TACTICS FOR USING HUMOR MORE CONFIDENTLY<\/h2>\n
\nTake notice of what you find humorous. What you smile and laugh at are the clues to where your sense of humor lies. Trust in yourself. Don’t judge your sense of humor solely by the opinions of others.<\/p>\n![\"Leigh](\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/10\/Jasheway-small-300x200.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nSearch for the happiness in others. Know what makes the people in your life happy. The more you make others laugh, the more joy will come back to you. As you expand your sense of humor and show the world you are willing to take risks with it, you will find others will desire to make you laugh.<\/p>\n![\"Playing](\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/04\/Book-and-Cards.gif\")
<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n![\"Are](\"https:\/\/wholeperson.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/03\/are-you-playing-cover-200x300.jpg\")
<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"