How can I be funny again?
November 15, 2004 2:52 PM Subscribe
I used to be funny, and now I'm not. Not rip-roaringly, get-your-own-sitcom funny, but enough to get my girlfriend and friends to regularly smile and chuckle. How do I get funny again?
Hang around funny people. Maybe your friends suck at being funny. Go to improv comedy groups (or... watch Whose Line Is It Anyway?). Don't go there just to laugh, but BE CONSCIOUS of something that is funny. I don't mean, "Hey, the chicken crossed the road, so that is inherently funny!" I mean, "Ooooh, the TIMING of when he said that and in the context of the conversation is what made it funny."
Jokes are not what makes a person funny. Comedic timing is.
What does that rule out? Imitations of South Park, Family Guy, Black People, Gay People, Monty Python. Regurgitating that crap is what makes people like me punch you in the motherfucking face.
And seriously, asking this question anonymously is pretty dumb. Being funny isn't about being anonymous.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:09 PM on November 15, 2004
Jokes are not what makes a person funny. Comedic timing is.
What does that rule out? Imitations of South Park, Family Guy, Black People, Gay People, Monty Python. Regurgitating that crap is what makes people like me punch you in the motherfucking face.
And seriously, asking this question anonymously is pretty dumb. Being funny isn't about being anonymous.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:09 PM on November 15, 2004
Of course... if anonyaskme allows nonmembers to post questions, pie in my eye.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:10 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by Stan Chin at 3:10 PM on November 15, 2004
What else has changed in your life since you were last funny?
Because whatever it is, that's probably the problem.
posted by ook at 3:21 PM on November 15, 2004
Because whatever it is, that's probably the problem.
posted by ook at 3:21 PM on November 15, 2004
Try not to quote the Simpsons (or anything pop culture) either. At least, not endlessly. Your random:
Friend: "I thought you told me that you'd be here at 5PM."
You: "Duffman says a lot of things."
Is pretty good. However-
Friend: "I've got tickets to the show."
You: (tapping fingers) "Exxxxxceeeelllent."
Is going a bit overrboard.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2004
Friend: "I thought you told me that you'd be here at 5PM."
You: "Duffman says a lot of things."
Is pretty good. However-
Friend: "I've got tickets to the show."
You: (tapping fingers) "Exxxxxceeeelllent."
Is going a bit overrboard.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:22 PM on November 15, 2004
Or, if you must quote things, quote things that had a far smaller audience. Instead of The Simpsons, quote The Critic. Instead of Monty Python, quote Fawlty Towers. Instead of Saturday Night Live, quote Upright Citizens Brigade. People are more apt to consider you a comedic genius if they've never heard the material before.
posted by Danelope at 3:29 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by Danelope at 3:29 PM on November 15, 2004
I'm funnier when flirting. Now that I'm engaged, there is no reason to flirt. I found myself becoming less funny, realized why, and now I flirt just to be able to switch on the humor.
posted by waldo at 3:35 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by waldo at 3:35 PM on November 15, 2004
Don't quote anything. For the love of God stay away from anything British, SNL, Simpsons, Family Guy, Critic, DVD-Geekish.
Watch Woody Allen films, or really any films that exhibit true wit as oppose to just situational comedy or exaggerated stereotypes.
posted by geoff. at 3:37 PM on November 15, 2004
Watch Woody Allen films, or really any films that exhibit true wit as oppose to just situational comedy or exaggerated stereotypes.
posted by geoff. at 3:37 PM on November 15, 2004
Remember that laughter is rooted in fear.
Keep their minds veering from their well-trodden paths adn they will love you for it.
posted by Mossy at 3:41 PM on November 15, 2004
Keep their minds veering from their well-trodden paths adn they will love you for it.
posted by Mossy at 3:41 PM on November 15, 2004
And yeah, don't think that I believe that I'm outrageously hilarious. There's just some very important things to understand when being humorous, or even being social at all. What counts here are:
1 ) Observation - Realize what situations are interesting to people. Be sure to listen and watch everything about a conversation. Try to figure out what topic makes your audience's eyes glimmer or crack a slight smile. You mentioning "Nerf Balls" may unlock that secret memory of good times, opening the door to your audience listening to you more intently.
2 ) Timing - Just because you have that secret door open doesn't mean you should bum rush it with a dumb joke. Does it feel right? How do you get better at comedic feel? Practice a lot of number 1.
3 ) Empathy - Master the first two, but this is the one that makes you either 'Fun to be around' or 'an absolute riot.' Some black people find it funny when you say beotch or nigger. A lot don't. Some gay people yuk it up when you turn up the gay flame. A lot are offended. You can't make liberal jokes on Metafilter. These are all categorizations, but most human beings have been in the same situations like being dumped, falling in love, waiting in line, singing in the shower... Concentrate on those aspects of people's lives. Then you'll be pretty funny to the widest audience.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:48 PM on November 15, 2004 [1 favorite]
1 ) Observation - Realize what situations are interesting to people. Be sure to listen and watch everything about a conversation. Try to figure out what topic makes your audience's eyes glimmer or crack a slight smile. You mentioning "Nerf Balls" may unlock that secret memory of good times, opening the door to your audience listening to you more intently.
2 ) Timing - Just because you have that secret door open doesn't mean you should bum rush it with a dumb joke. Does it feel right? How do you get better at comedic feel? Practice a lot of number 1.
3 ) Empathy - Master the first two, but this is the one that makes you either 'Fun to be around' or 'an absolute riot.' Some black people find it funny when you say beotch or nigger. A lot don't. Some gay people yuk it up when you turn up the gay flame. A lot are offended. You can't make liberal jokes on Metafilter. These are all categorizations, but most human beings have been in the same situations like being dumped, falling in love, waiting in line, singing in the shower... Concentrate on those aspects of people's lives. Then you'll be pretty funny to the widest audience.
posted by Stan Chin at 3:48 PM on November 15, 2004 [1 favorite]
just say random things
inside jokes are always funny, even if they really aren't
I think I became un-funny when I started getting interested in politics/current affairs. the world just sucks.
but that's something you can laugh at too right?
and remember, endlessly repeating the same joke eventually gets funny again. it may be too painful to get to that point though.
posted by jacobsee at 3:56 PM on November 15, 2004
inside jokes are always funny, even if they really aren't
I think I became un-funny when I started getting interested in politics/current affairs. the world just sucks.
but that's something you can laugh at too right?
and remember, endlessly repeating the same joke eventually gets funny again. it may be too painful to get to that point though.
posted by jacobsee at 3:56 PM on November 15, 2004
Clearly, specific advice won't help. You need to find a way back into the groove (if that sounds trite, interpret "getting back in the groove" as restrengthening the neural paths that used to fire easily when you were being funny, but have more recently atrophied (although here "atrophy" is itself a metaphor)). The best shortcut I can advise is to keep a straight face... in my experience, that almost always makes it funnier. Also, sarcasm can make you seem like an unpleasant person, but its a reasonably simple stopgap measure for finding jokes, and perhaps bootstrapping the groove problem.
Remember that laughter is rooted in fear.
How is that? In the sense that people laugh at things to put themselves above them, and cover for insecurity?
posted by gsteff at 4:00 PM on November 15, 2004
Remember that laughter is rooted in fear.
How is that? In the sense that people laugh at things to put themselves above them, and cover for insecurity?
posted by gsteff at 4:00 PM on November 15, 2004
You could always pick up a copy of "The Comic's Toolbox" from Amazon. Useful book. Seriously.
Listen, getting a laugh in a social setting is generally pretty easy. Inside jokes work in the right environment. Call backs where you juxtapose what's been said or done in the past with what's currently happening almost always work. Neither technique is particularly groundbreaking, but both are up to the task at hand.
Generally, just remember to:
1) relax
2) stop trying
3) "be yourself" -- only more so
4) listen to what everyone else is saying
Keep pitching and you'll break outta your funk. I promise.
posted by herc at 4:02 PM on November 15, 2004
Listen, getting a laugh in a social setting is generally pretty easy. Inside jokes work in the right environment. Call backs where you juxtapose what's been said or done in the past with what's currently happening almost always work. Neither technique is particularly groundbreaking, but both are up to the task at hand.
Generally, just remember to:
1) relax
2) stop trying
3) "be yourself" -- only more so
4) listen to what everyone else is saying
Keep pitching and you'll break outta your funk. I promise.
posted by herc at 4:02 PM on November 15, 2004
I really don't think people quote the Simpsons (or a less familiar show like the Critic or Fawlty Towers) to be funny. (It would work for something less familiar if you quoted an entire joke, but then you wouldn't be being funny, you'd be quoting something funny, which isn't the same.) At least, there are friends I have with whom I quote from the Simpsons endlessly, and others with whom I don't. It's not the case that I try to be funny with the former group and not with the latter; it's just that such quotation is part of the way the former group interacts. Similarly, quoting from something known to a group reinforces that you belong in the group. Not that you're funny. (That doesn't mean that you can't be funny in doing so, but it bothers me when people automatically assume that quoting funny things is always done in an attempt to be funny. If I said in a thread in the Blue that I hate Bush, I wouldn't be doing that to be funny. Same thing.) [this is really exaggerated for less-familiar references. If I say (in an appropriate context) "But you say I learn, Mr Fawlty, you say I get better", you will probably only find that puzzling if you don't know Fawlty Towers, and it won't be funny if you do, but it will strengthen or establish a connection.]
Stan Chin is right on in both his comments. Jokes are portable, self-contained bits of wit. Knowing them will not make you funny. Telling them well is funny but telling jokes well (which is not easy) will not make you witty-funny, because jokes are mostly static (some methods of telling shaggy dog stories allow for a lot of creativity, but your audience will hate you).
I recommend you engage in funny dialogues with clever & witty friends. I think I'm much funnier with my funnier friends.
This from a guy who thinks "Yo' mama so shaggy, that she ain't that shaggy." is a very good joke.
posted by kenko at 4:06 PM on November 15, 2004
Stan Chin is right on in both his comments. Jokes are portable, self-contained bits of wit. Knowing them will not make you funny. Telling them well is funny but telling jokes well (which is not easy) will not make you witty-funny, because jokes are mostly static (some methods of telling shaggy dog stories allow for a lot of creativity, but your audience will hate you).
I recommend you engage in funny dialogues with clever & witty friends. I think I'm much funnier with my funnier friends.
This from a guy who thinks "Yo' mama so shaggy, that she ain't that shaggy." is a very good joke.
posted by kenko at 4:06 PM on November 15, 2004
If, though, you do want to learn some good jokes, you should get Ted Cohen's book on and of them.
<self-satisfaction>Ted Cohen liked the shaggy-mama joke.</self-satisfaction>
posted by kenko at 4:09 PM on November 15, 2004
<self-satisfaction>Ted Cohen liked the shaggy-mama joke.</self-satisfaction>
posted by kenko at 4:09 PM on November 15, 2004
I'm more of the mind with some other comments that if you USED to be funny, and now aren't, there's something else going on in your life. Have you become depressed? Any recent family losses or big life changes? (job, moving, etc.) You may not be funny recently because you haven't FELT like being funny recently. I don't think you've forgotten how to be funny, you've just forgotten why you should be.
posted by robbie01 at 5:23 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by robbie01 at 5:23 PM on November 15, 2004
Also, it may be that you don't seem as funny around people you hang out with all the time (i.e., you mentioned your girlfriend.) She's either heard all of your material, or as one other commenter alluded to, you don't try to be as funny around her. I'm sometimes known as "the funny guy" but that's around people that don't know me very well... in front of those types of people I always feel like I'm "on" and that I need to entertain. Around people I'm more intimate/comfortable with (i.e., girlfriend) I'm more relaxed and don't necessarily feel like I have to be a source of entertainment... though sometimes I fear that they LIKED that overly-funny guy and now they might think I'm boring. ;)
posted by robbie01 at 5:28 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by robbie01 at 5:28 PM on November 15, 2004
Not that I am qualified to psychoanalyze you anonymous, but I think you may need professional help. If I were you, I would really get at the source. Why were you funny before? What do you find funny now? If you can figure out the disconnect, maybe you will be on the road to recovery.
I see humour as one way people can quickly measure the difference between perspectives and reality. I would be extremely worried if could no longer spot humour in the world around me because it is effective coping mechanism for such inevitable things as lose, grief, disappointment, loneliness and fear (to name but a few). It isn't the only thing I would use, but don't be afraid that it is a gateway crutch...you wouldn't turn into a clown or become a magician. Worst case scenario, you will stop taking yourself too seriously (something that comes in handy when communicating via the internet).
One cause for a drop in the humour-o-meter could be something serious, like happiness. If it is unnatural happiness via anti-depressants or heavy sedation, I would say forget about trying to bring the funny and just find another hobby. If you are happy because your friends are funnier than you and making you laugh your ass off, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Maybe it will rub off them as easy as it rubbed off you. Personally, I think happiness can cloud humour, which tends to be rooted in anger, self-deprecation and all sorts of dark human things, especially the sarcastic brand. Comedy, like religion, is not really for the well adjusted or the faint of heart.
Then again, too much depression can kill your comedic spirt as well. You still have to have some sort of hope. If you don't have it, then the terrorists have already won. I would also try to take in as many types and styles of humour as possible, especially stuff that might not be in the mainstream. I think understanding how people push the envelope (like Strangers With Candy) helps you better understand the mechanics of comedy. Sticking with the popular stuff can still be entertaining, but if it was really effective at breeding humour, wouldn't you think we be swimming around in funny people on a daily basis? You also have to admit to never really being able to understand it. In that sense, you can't rest on your comedic laurels...you always have to be one step ahead of laughter.
You could consider yourself to be happy, content and positive person. In that case, genuinely being interested in making people feel good, mostly at your own expense, might be the answer. That motivation works well with satire. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper and be a little mean in order to elicit a smile. I just choose to focus the meanness on inanimate objects (like soygurt) or people out of my reach (the makers of soygurt). I also think this works well when trying to evoke social change, like in the work of Bill Hicks and David Cross. It can be persuasive and an effective digestive agent, especially when you read a lot of serious news and see how fucked up the world is around us. Just in case I sound too bleeding heart liberal or something, I should point out there are probably comedians out there that do a bang up job shitting on homeless people and minorities, but I am just not that familiar with their work.
Of course, none of this will really matter if you are a guy that gets his hoots from memorizing other funny people and things, an ace at impressions or wacky in that Carrot Top kind of way. In that case, I would have to say there is no real help besides watching more TV and studying the subtle cues of laugh tracks. Not that referencing things is totally bad, it just should be used sparingly and is more effective when you can tie singularly unfunny things together into a new, funny package. With an outlook like this, even channels like CSPAN become a laugh riot and a source for future tom foolery.
The only good news I can give you is that if you are successful in channeling your personal dissatisfaction about your lost humour into something more positive like anger, bitterness or general unrest, you might be able to correct the balance and deal with this grave emotional injustice.
posted by boost ventilator at 5:46 PM on November 15, 2004
I see humour as one way people can quickly measure the difference between perspectives and reality. I would be extremely worried if could no longer spot humour in the world around me because it is effective coping mechanism for such inevitable things as lose, grief, disappointment, loneliness and fear (to name but a few). It isn't the only thing I would use, but don't be afraid that it is a gateway crutch...you wouldn't turn into a clown or become a magician. Worst case scenario, you will stop taking yourself too seriously (something that comes in handy when communicating via the internet).
One cause for a drop in the humour-o-meter could be something serious, like happiness. If it is unnatural happiness via anti-depressants or heavy sedation, I would say forget about trying to bring the funny and just find another hobby. If you are happy because your friends are funnier than you and making you laugh your ass off, just sit back and enjoy the ride. Maybe it will rub off them as easy as it rubbed off you. Personally, I think happiness can cloud humour, which tends to be rooted in anger, self-deprecation and all sorts of dark human things, especially the sarcastic brand. Comedy, like religion, is not really for the well adjusted or the faint of heart.
Then again, too much depression can kill your comedic spirt as well. You still have to have some sort of hope. If you don't have it, then the terrorists have already won. I would also try to take in as many types and styles of humour as possible, especially stuff that might not be in the mainstream. I think understanding how people push the envelope (like Strangers With Candy) helps you better understand the mechanics of comedy. Sticking with the popular stuff can still be entertaining, but if it was really effective at breeding humour, wouldn't you think we be swimming around in funny people on a daily basis? You also have to admit to never really being able to understand it. In that sense, you can't rest on your comedic laurels...you always have to be one step ahead of laughter.
You could consider yourself to be happy, content and positive person. In that case, genuinely being interested in making people feel good, mostly at your own expense, might be the answer. That motivation works well with satire. Sometimes you have to dig a little deeper and be a little mean in order to elicit a smile. I just choose to focus the meanness on inanimate objects (like soygurt) or people out of my reach (the makers of soygurt). I also think this works well when trying to evoke social change, like in the work of Bill Hicks and David Cross. It can be persuasive and an effective digestive agent, especially when you read a lot of serious news and see how fucked up the world is around us. Just in case I sound too bleeding heart liberal or something, I should point out there are probably comedians out there that do a bang up job shitting on homeless people and minorities, but I am just not that familiar with their work.
Of course, none of this will really matter if you are a guy that gets his hoots from memorizing other funny people and things, an ace at impressions or wacky in that Carrot Top kind of way. In that case, I would have to say there is no real help besides watching more TV and studying the subtle cues of laugh tracks. Not that referencing things is totally bad, it just should be used sparingly and is more effective when you can tie singularly unfunny things together into a new, funny package. With an outlook like this, even channels like CSPAN become a laugh riot and a source for future tom foolery.
The only good news I can give you is that if you are successful in channeling your personal dissatisfaction about your lost humour into something more positive like anger, bitterness or general unrest, you might be able to correct the balance and deal with this grave emotional injustice.
posted by boost ventilator at 5:46 PM on November 15, 2004
I'm no expert, but here's my $.02:
Don't ever think about what makes your girlfriend or friends or anyone else laugh. Look only for what makes you laugh. If you're sober and not totally silly from lack of sleep or something and it honestly makes you chuckle, chances are it'll do the same to someone else.
Your mojo has to come from inside and be for yourself first.
posted by Shane at 6:23 PM on November 15, 2004
Don't ever think about what makes your girlfriend or friends or anyone else laugh. Look only for what makes you laugh. If you're sober and not totally silly from lack of sleep or something and it honestly makes you chuckle, chances are it'll do the same to someone else.
Your mojo has to come from inside and be for yourself first.
posted by Shane at 6:23 PM on November 15, 2004
Jesus. "How to be Funny: 20 Lessons from A Bunch of Dorks."
You're not funny. Shut up. Don't quote anything. Really, seriously: don't be an asshole anymore. Shut it. No, I mean it. I do, I really do: stop it. Get back to work. Go back to bed. Get away.
I'm damned well sick and tired of everyone trying to be a funny sumbitch and everyone damned well failing. There's not a person I've met who has more than ten minutes of good material in them without a bunch of writers and a deep craft service table.
See, the thing is, the older you get, the less funny things are because you've seen almost everything. Coincidences? Not funny. Serendipity? Not funny. Drunkenness? Not funny. Falling down? Not funny. Puking? Not funny. Taking someone's hat? Not funny. Hiding until the birthday girl shows up so everyone can shout "surprise"? Not funny. Drugstore greeting cards? Not funny. Sunday comics? Not funny. Howard Stern? Not funny. Saturday Night Live? Not funny. David Letterman? Not funny. Jay Leno? Not funny. That red-haired giganto? Not funny. Prank phone calls? Not funny. Eighties movies? Not funny. Nineties movies? Not funny. Sitcoms? Not funny.
The only things that stay funny are babies eating lemons and cats that bring you live birds.
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:33 PM on November 15, 2004
You're not funny. Shut up. Don't quote anything. Really, seriously: don't be an asshole anymore. Shut it. No, I mean it. I do, I really do: stop it. Get back to work. Go back to bed. Get away.
I'm damned well sick and tired of everyone trying to be a funny sumbitch and everyone damned well failing. There's not a person I've met who has more than ten minutes of good material in them without a bunch of writers and a deep craft service table.
See, the thing is, the older you get, the less funny things are because you've seen almost everything. Coincidences? Not funny. Serendipity? Not funny. Drunkenness? Not funny. Falling down? Not funny. Puking? Not funny. Taking someone's hat? Not funny. Hiding until the birthday girl shows up so everyone can shout "surprise"? Not funny. Drugstore greeting cards? Not funny. Sunday comics? Not funny. Howard Stern? Not funny. Saturday Night Live? Not funny. David Letterman? Not funny. Jay Leno? Not funny. That red-haired giganto? Not funny. Prank phone calls? Not funny. Eighties movies? Not funny. Nineties movies? Not funny. Sitcoms? Not funny.
The only things that stay funny are babies eating lemons and cats that bring you live birds.
posted by Mo Nickels at 6:33 PM on November 15, 2004
Wow, Mo Nickels, I must be old before my time, since I don't find practically any of those funny.
posted by kenko at 6:58 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by kenko at 6:58 PM on November 15, 2004
List of things that are not funny? Not Funny.
Somebody was gonna say it
posted by jonmc at 6:59 PM on November 15, 2004
Somebody was gonna say it
posted by jonmc at 6:59 PM on November 15, 2004
Why is this question asked anonymously? Is this Quonsar? If it is, I want to say that I find you funny at times. It depends on my mood really, some days I laugh so loud my fiancee yells at me from the other room, other times I don't bother to read your post. I want you to keep trying to be funny and to know that there is a difference between being offensive to people whose opinions you care about and being comedically offensive to people you don't care about anonymously on the internet.
I guess my suggestion is to be consious of your audience. Some days I think I have my 'A' material going and my timing is right and people don't laugh. I then give it a rest. Other times I'm going through the motions and it works great. Jerry Seinfeldused to say that it always depends on how the person tells the joke, but I believe that most of the onus is on the mood of the audience.
posted by graventy at 7:01 PM on November 15, 2004
I guess my suggestion is to be consious of your audience. Some days I think I have my 'A' material going and my timing is right and people don't laugh. I then give it a rest. Other times I'm going through the motions and it works great. Jerry Seinfeldused to say that it always depends on how the person tells the joke, but I believe that most of the onus is on the mood of the audience.
posted by graventy at 7:01 PM on November 15, 2004
Could your sense of humor (and those around you) have changed/matured gradually? Much of what was funny to me 10 years ago would probably not be remotely amusing to me now.
posted by advil at 7:15 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by advil at 7:15 PM on November 15, 2004
i agree with Stan Chin (makes sense; he's hands down the mefite who makes me laugh the hardest). it's not so much foolproof usewhenever joke formulas that are funny as it is perfectly timed contextual (over-) self-awareness. my sister is the funniest person i know and she never uses jokes. it's always "you had to be there" stuff that loses laughs in translation on paper. as someone else mentioned above, it's the inside jokes that are funny--even when they're not upon reflection later, at the time they are. and yeah, empathy, self-deprecation, and hyperawareness of timing and the situation in question is key.
posted by ifjuly at 7:23 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by ifjuly at 7:23 PM on November 15, 2004
Dogs eating spaghetti will always be funny.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:39 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 7:39 PM on November 15, 2004
Here's what I find funny: creating elaborate surreal running scenarios with someone with a similar sense of humor. If you've seen The Office, it's like Tim torturing Gareth with Dawn's complicity. This won't sound funny, because inside jokes are just that, but I had a friend at work like this, and it made the days much more bearable. Our elaborate joke involved HR and attributing the high turnover to their rampant cannibalism. This made themed Food Days, our friends' exit interviews, and benefits enrollment much more interesting. My friend's not there anymore, but I just found the HR headshot Christmas tree ornaments he made at the bottom of my desk today, and it made me smile.
So, if it's in the realm of your humor, construct some huge running gag with your girlfriend about your neighbor, some hideous relative of yours, or what your animals do when you're not home, and let the situations you encounter naturally lead to hilarity. Inside jokes, not quotes, just like ifjuly said.
(By the way, asking about your loss of funny anonymously, as if it were impotence or a pesky back hair problem, is pretty damn funny. So, you're on the right track already.)
posted by melissa may at 7:57 PM on November 15, 2004
So, if it's in the realm of your humor, construct some huge running gag with your girlfriend about your neighbor, some hideous relative of yours, or what your animals do when you're not home, and let the situations you encounter naturally lead to hilarity. Inside jokes, not quotes, just like ifjuly said.
(By the way, asking about your loss of funny anonymously, as if it were impotence or a pesky back hair problem, is pretty damn funny. So, you're on the right track already.)
posted by melissa may at 7:57 PM on November 15, 2004
Imitations of South Park, Family Guy, Black People, Gay People, Monty Python. Regurgitating that crap is what makes people like me punch you in the motherfucking face.posted by holloway at 8:39 PM on November 15, 2004
I think it's extremely likely that you never were funny, and you used to hang out with people who either found you funny, or acted like they found you funny, for their own reasons. Maybe they wanted something from you, or respected you, or were attracted to you, and/or they were just dumbasses.
Now you're either not around them anymore, or they grew out of it.
posted by bingo at 9:13 PM on November 15, 2004
Now you're either not around them anymore, or they grew out of it.
posted by bingo at 9:13 PM on November 15, 2004
Okay, I am not anonymous but I have experienced the similar feeling that I've lost my sense of humor.
awaits "you never were funny" from the GeekChorus
First, it may not be you. Doublecheck the people around you; your girlfriend and close buds may have altered their senses of humor; are they laughing at other things as much as they used to? Are they laughing at things that don't strike you as funny?
After that, check for other symptoms of Depression, because that's definately one of them.
posted by wendell at 9:18 PM on November 15, 2004
awaits "you never were funny" from the GeekChorus
First, it may not be you. Doublecheck the people around you; your girlfriend and close buds may have altered their senses of humor; are they laughing at other things as much as they used to? Are they laughing at things that don't strike you as funny?
After that, check for other symptoms of Depression, because that's definately one of them.
posted by wendell at 9:18 PM on November 15, 2004
Sometimes you need to be the straight guy too, like with my kids. I bet we drove past the vacuum cleaner store 50 times and I would say every time "Hey let's stop in at the vacuum cleaner store". Finally one of them said "no that sucks" Now that's funny.
posted by mss at 9:46 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by mss at 9:46 PM on November 15, 2004
Boost ventilator makes a good point: dopamine makes you funny.
So get some cocaine.
It worked for Robin Williams. In fact, I'm not sure he's funny anymore now that he's off it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:15 PM on November 15, 2004
So get some cocaine.
It worked for Robin Williams. In fact, I'm not sure he's funny anymore now that he's off it.
posted by ikkyu2 at 10:15 PM on November 15, 2004
Declaring yourself not funny is kind of funny. Maybe you're funny and you just don't realize it.
posted by stevis at 10:19 PM on November 15, 2004
posted by stevis at 10:19 PM on November 15, 2004
maybe you're more confident now, so don't find the need to keep seeking approval in others through your annoying witticisms?
trouble with that theory, of course, is then why did you and spoil it by posting this question. still - funny isn't automatically good.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:53 AM on November 16, 2004
trouble with that theory, of course, is then why did you and spoil it by posting this question. still - funny isn't automatically good.
posted by andrew cooke at 4:53 AM on November 16, 2004
Like others suggested, maybe it's the people around you. My old friends used to find me really funny, but my wife is harder to amuse, which I have to say is nice, in a way. Makes her laughs worth more, when I get them.
I'm sure you probably don't do this, but don't laugh at your own jokes, no matter how funny you think they are. If you have to supply the laugh track, you've already failed, and failed visibly. Also, if a joke fizzles, or even seems to fizzle, just drop it and move on.
posted by picea at 8:33 AM on November 16, 2004
I'm sure you probably don't do this, but don't laugh at your own jokes, no matter how funny you think they are. If you have to supply the laugh track, you've already failed, and failed visibly. Also, if a joke fizzles, or even seems to fizzle, just drop it and move on.
posted by picea at 8:33 AM on November 16, 2004
I totally second mss' recommendation that you play the straight man: you'll always be *part* of the joke, in fact you'll often *be* the joke, but you enable someone else to make the joke. It's an underappreciated role.
People will always want you around, because even though you're not necessarily funny, they seem to laugh a lot when you're around.
Alternately, dress up as a hobo clown and get knocked over a lot. Contrary to what that stick-in-the-mud Mo Nickels might think, that shit never stops being funny.
posted by rocketman at 9:52 AM on November 16, 2004
People will always want you around, because even though you're not necessarily funny, they seem to laugh a lot when you're around.
Alternately, dress up as a hobo clown and get knocked over a lot. Contrary to what that stick-in-the-mud Mo Nickels might think, that shit never stops being funny.
posted by rocketman at 9:52 AM on November 16, 2004
Just try to be as offensive as possible. Offensive is the new funny.
posted by Jart at 11:51 AM on November 16, 2004
posted by Jart at 11:51 AM on November 16, 2004
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posted by riffola at 2:59 PM on November 15, 2004