Learning to be funnier is just like learning any other new personal, professional, sports or musical skill - The First Step Is:
Decide To Do It and then Be Devoted, Determined & Dedicated To Developing Your Humor Skills.
Do NOT expect to be suddenly successfully funny all the time from the beginning. It doesn't happen. Like any new skill, it takes time, practice, patience and some embarrassing moments and disasters.
All famous comics bomb regularly and have bombed repeatedly throughout their careers. They have learned how to handle those awkward moments well and most importantly, they didn't let bad jokes or even bad shows stop them from pursuing their careers.
Watch how your favorite comic recovers from his bombed jokes, how s/he makes it part of their routine and gets laughs from their mistakes.
Great comics are where they are because they learned from their mistakes, understood a certain amount of bombing is part of the path to success, and most importantly because they DID NOT GIVE UP just because they bombed.
To Get Started:
1) Establish a Joke File - a simple manila folder is fine, or an old envelope, a PC or PDA file, whatever is easy and good for you to keep your notes and ideas safe, secure and handy.
2) Add At Least One Good Joke A Day To Your File - Find and choose simple, short jokes or quips that are easy ad appropriate for you to use in common, every day situations. If you skip a day, you can add two or three jokes in one day to catch up.
3) Use That One Good Joke or Quip At Least Twice A Day - Practice using it in many different situations, some will work, some won't.
4) Keep Your Program Secret - Parents, friends, coworkers often want us to stay the same. They may feel threatened or uncomfortable if we change and heap on negative comments and vibes to keep us in those safe, familiar spots.
5) Resolve To Watch At LEAST 5 Minutes of Good Appropriate Comedy or Humor Each Day. Search the Internet for videos of your favorite comedians and late night talk show hosts' monologues. Old materials is GREAT if that's what you and your audience enjoys.
Johnnie Carson and Jay Leno's monologues are great models, so are Jon Stewart's The Daily Show, Conan O'Brien, The Colbert Report or old Seinfeld or Bob Hope clips. Find free episodes on the Internet, YouTube, Hulu.com or from the show's sites.
Make notes on what you watch. Remember these comics have scores of talented writers generating their material. Consciously comment and answer these questions: What can you learn from their clip? What can you incorporate in your daily comedy banter or routine? How can you customize the line to make it work well for your audiences? What about the line makes you laugh? How can you use the same technique with different material?
Whenever you are feeling down or discouraged, watch a few minutes of your favorite comedy shows on the Internet and note how they affect your mood. It's hard to stay down when you're laughing!!! I always feel much better after watching a few minutes of Jon Steward or Leno.
You know what you need to do. Like establishing any new habit, there are days you will skip. You will get busy and forget. Some days you won't want to do it. Make those days up and keep moving.
6) Read the Biography of at least one successful comic - Jay Leno's is especially good, so is Born Standing up by Steve Martin. Understand what they did to become great.
You may not want or be able to host your own television show, but the lessons you can learn from their lives will be very helpful as you begin your own personal, and perhaps confidential comedy career.
Copyright 1999- , Michele Moore. All Rights Reserved. Explore HappinessHabit.com and HappinessBlog.com. Our materials may NOT be published, broadcast, redistributed or rewritten without written permission from the authors.
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