What if I told you that there was a magic formula you could use to make humor happen?
All comedy is a result of one of the following:
A.) Surprise
B.) Superiority
Today we’re discussing surprise. We’ll deal with superiority later.
Surprise is a crucial tool in a comedian’s arsenal. Without surprise it’s extremely difficult to create laughter. The reason a joke isn’t as funny the second time you hear it is because the element of surprise is gone!
“Knock-Knock” jokes are the easiest to dissect because of their simplicity. Let’s look at the following example:
Knock Knock
Who’s there?
Anna!
Anna who?
Anna one, anna two…!
The form of a knock-knock joke has been well established by eight year olds the world over. The final line always concludes the joke with a “surprise”. In this case it’s the twist on a common girl’s name.
If you’re thinking “Duh!” then you’re correct! The thing most people miss though is that more sophisticated humor still relies on that same element of surprise. The better a comedian is at surprising the audience, the funnier they are!
I’m sure you’ve heard of “comedic timing”. It’s just a fancy way of saying the comedian phrases their joke in the most surprising way possible!
A word of warning. Surprise is a dangerous tool to work with. It must always be coupled with security to be successful.
That brings us to the formula I promised earlier:
Surprise + Security = Laughter
It’s important to understand this because surprise by itself isn’t funny. Being called into a room and told you’re losing your job is a surprise, but it isn’t funny! That’s because the element of security is gone.
To put it differently, for people to laugh they have to feel that they aren’t in physical or emotional danger. An offensive or inappropriate joke is certainly surprising, but it isn’t funny because you’ve removed the audience’s feeling of security.
That’s not to say the feeling of security can’t be manipulated for comedic effect. The best example of this is the MTV show “Punk’d”.
If you haven’t seen it, they play practical jokes on celebrities. Throughout the show they slowly build up a “crisis”. In essence they’re creating an elaborate surprise.
There’s one phrase in every show that makes the entire premise work… “You just got Punk’d!” With that simple line they restore security and everyone has the laugh of a lifetime.
It’s the same surprise we saw in the knock-knock joke, just funnier because it was more elaborate…
So how can you use this? The simplest way to start is to take everyday situations and try to put a creative spin on them! Try to find something unusual about the mundane. Make an unlikely comparison. Question what’s commonly accepted. Put the world under a microscope!
Whatever you do… Don’t be afraid to be silly! Even the professionals have jokes that fall flat. Besides, I have a foolproof way of saving yourself after any dud! For that though, you’ll have to stay tuned to the next few posts!
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BONUS INSIGHT:
Have you ever watched a horror movie in a theater? You’ve probably encountered a bizarre phenomenon. Something surprising will happen and a character will meet a gruesome fate. Suddenly the entire theater breaks out laughing! Are they all sadists who delight in cruelty? Possibly, but remember that the theater is a safe environment! They’ve got a comfortable seat and big tub of popcorn. So we’ve got a surprise and feelings of safety. Laughter is the natural outcome!
Image Attribution: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32530713@N08/ / CC BY-SA 2.0