Comedy isn’t rocket science. It’s harder.
At least with rocket science, you have objective formulas and figures to put together to achieve scientific facts (I think—I’m famously not a rocket scientist). With comedy, you encounter tons of subjectivity, different definitions of “being funny,” and anxieties about whether you need some kind of inherent “funny gene” to actually do it.
So, let’s get into the big ideas of how to be funny.
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Short answer: Yes! OK, bye-bye—thanks for reading Backstage!
Here’s the longer, probably more annoying but definitely more accurate answer: Regardless of your opinion on the sociological debate between nature and nurture, you’ve most likely observed people who are “naturally funny.” These kinds of people make their peers laugh casually and pervasively in social situations. They are likely not trained in comedy classes, and often not interested in pursuing comedy professionally. They are annoying.
Types with this kind of “natural gift” occur in all subsets of performance-based passions (e.g., the musician with perfect pitch or the basketball player with a seven-foot frame); but these natural gifts will always be bolstered by tactical drills (e.g., the musician taking voice lessons or the basketball player working on layups). That remains the same in comedy.
RELATED: How to Become a Comedy Actor
If you’re reading this and think you truly don’t possess any natural inclination toward humor but still want to be funny:
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I don’t believe you! If you genuinely want to be funny and are reading advice on a famous magazine made for creative professionals, you’ve got more instincts than you think you do.
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Don’t worry! There are many time-tested and even scientific approaches to “being funny” that will help you on your quest.
“You can’t make others laugh unless you know what your personal funny is: that special, singular quality that makes you quirky, weird, different, and funny,” says acting coach Shari Shaw. “To find it, you need to let your unedited inner child out. Let loose and go for it. Look for it…. When you’re out with friends and they laugh at something you say, make a mental note of what you did and how you did it, how you sounded and why they responded the way they did. That’s your quirk. That’s your special weirdness that no one else possesses.”
Setup and punchline
Here, we have the most common structure of being funny: a setup, followed by a punchline. Even someone naturally humorous in conversation is likely using this format without even knowing it.
Broadly speaking, the setup gives the audience a relatable context, and the punchline surprises them by twisting the relatable context. As an example, let’s unpack a sample joke:
Setup: “A priest walks into a bar.”
We now have all the context we need, and it’s rooted in reality. We know what a priest is, what a bar is, and what the act of walking into a bar usually portends. We feel comfortable in the setup’s familiarity.
Punchline: “He asks the bartender, ‘Got any holy water?’ ”
Everything we knew about the setup has now been used to subvert our familiarity. A priest doesn’t usually ask for booze; in this scenario, he is. A bar doesn’t sell religious accoutrement; here, it does. And holy water isn’t an alcoholic spirit; here, it is.
Whether or not this made you laugh (please don’t tell me if it didn’t), this is a technically competent joke because it follows the basic formula behind tons of humor: Show us something we know, then break it ever so.
Timing
There’s a piece of ubiquitous comedy advice oft-delivered in a joke format: “Timing is……. everything.”
Indeed, laughter is often bolstered by the rhythm of the humor that precedes it. A simple rule of thumb is to place a bit of a pause between your setup and your punchline so your audience can have a moment to understand the new reality before it gets twisted.
Beyond that, much of the art of timing can, and should, be found via trial and error. Do things feel funnier to you with longer beats? Or are you more of a machine gun of rapid-fire goofs?
I’m excited for you to find out, and I’ll offer this advice: Try not to step too far away from what speed you normally communicate. The truly funny person is never desperate, and the more your timing coincides with your inherent rhythms, the more effortless it will feel.
Delivery
Speaking of trial-and-error discoveries: There are so many ways to deliver pieces of comedy, and not a single one of them is wrong.
Robin Thede, creator of HBO’s “A Black Lady Sketch Show,” told us, “Richard Pryor was a storyteller. Eddie Murphy told stories through characters. Richard Pryor used character, but it was always still Richard there. Eddie [Murphy] disappeared into his characters. But they’re storyteller comedians. Redd Foxx was the same way. Moms Mabley was the queen of a reversal. Everywhere you thought she was going to go was a misdirect…. What I did really early on, because I was a student of comedy—I just would figure out the types of jokes they did, and I would write for that. Over time, I learned what made me laugh. Once I figured out the things I had to say and wanted to say, and how I communicate—just in talking, let alone in jokes—then I figured out what my voice was.”
Some people “say funny things,” relying on the strength of their sentence constructions. Some people “say things funny,” relying on the strength of their performance charisma. Some comedians are deadpan; some are animated. Some scream; some whisper. Some make themselves laugh; some maintain a stone face.
“Try your line deliveries in different ways—faster, bigger, broader, quieter, with attitude. Sing it with some body movement. Whisper it. Cry it,” advises Shaw. “Flip the meaning of the words and say it in a surprising way. If you’re talking about being happy, reverse it and say it with sadness. Cover your disgust with excitement. Say ‘I love you’ with hatred. Experiment with vocal tones. You’ll be amazed at what you’ll find by delivering the same line in different ways over and over. When your body tells you, ‘Wow—that was loose and made me laugh,’ you found it.”
When developing how you like to deliver comedy, your natural countenance continues to be a great place to start. But don’t be afraid to experiment—or even use your default temperament as a setup itself. Watch this video of highlights from standup Steven Wright, whose dry, monotonous delivery hilariously clashes with the downright silliness of his one-liners.
Standup
If you want control, attention, and even immediate vindication, try standup comedy.
Here, it’s all about you. You speak directly to your audience and they laugh at what you say and do: a one-to-one interaction. Standup is the perfect form to unpack your highly specific points of view on the world we all experience, a comedic way to say, “It’s not just me, right?”
Improv
If you like to collaborate, share the spotlight, and get outside your comfort zone, try improv comedy.
Like the name implies, this type of comedy is improvised: Performances feature nothing pre-planned or rehearsed; an audience experiences the comedic material at the same time as the performers. Improv comedy relies on trust in building toward a shared, spontaneous goal. It’s the intersection between the danger of not knowing and the joy of looking at a partner who believes you’ll get there anyway.
Sketch
If you crave theatricality, viability, and even sacrifice, try sketch comedy.
Comedy sketches are like mini-plays or short films that explore a single comedic premise through scripts, acting, and other conventions of theatrical storytelling. When you watch “Saturday Night Live,” you’re watching sketch comedy. The tools you learn by putting on sketches can make you an asset in all kinds of situations—whether it’s emotional commitment, low-budget production know-how, or even the wisdom of cutting a great joke or performance for the sake of the piece.
Classes
Stalwarts like Upright Citizens Brigade, Second City, and the Groundlings offer classes in improv and sketch comedy, and feature paths to stage time and community building. Comedy theaters across the country also offer standup comedy lessons. And certain on-camera or theatrical acting studios focus specifically on comedic performance.
“I think all comedians should take acting classes because you have to be able to act out the things you talk about,” says actor, comedian, writer, and producer Red Grant. “You have to be able to help get the message across and using your body is a great way to do this. If you can’t act them out, the audiences can get lost. And you never, ever want a lost audience. That’s the number one rule.”
These classes can be expensive and sometimes full of people looking for an instant, one-way ticket to “SNL.” Try taking one at a time and seeing how it makes you feel. Think of classes not as steppingstones to success but to competence and, ideally, fun. The moment it stops feeling fun or offering growth is the moment it’s no longer worth it.
Books
Tons of books offer great advice on how to be funny, but let’s start with just one influential tome: “Truth in Comedy” by Charna Halpern, Del Close, and Kim “Howard” Johnson. This book focuses on improv comedy, but its insights are applicable across the board, especially in its relentless run toward truth, ownership, and craft over ego.
Podcasts
Some podcasts like “Comedy Bang! Bang!” feature comedians improvising, both successfully and less so, in fresh character and premise ideas. Some podcasts like Mike Birbiglia’s “Working It Out” get deep in the weeds of how comedians make their stuff. And some podcasts like “Best Friends” with Nicole Byer and Sasheer Zamata are more naturalistic portrayals of a casually humor-filled human relationship. Hitting play on any of these is a great way to boost your skills; it’s like listening to music to get rhythms and notes inside your head.
Watching lots of comedy for research and joy is a great way to develop these skills, of course. But to avoid becoming that guy who thinks quoting “Anchorman” is a replacement for a sense of humor, you must live all kinds of life experiences that are not centered around other people creating comedy.
To be funny is to comment on the world, and you have to experience the world unfettered to make new commentaries. Be extra curious and extra attuned to every part of what otherwise might seem like a benign routine.
Observe the strange way your coworker avoids your questions on Slack. Go to free museums and look at the security guards. See a four-hour movie about 18th-century trade routes and let your mind wander ever so.
Everything can be a setup to your punchline.