Good tellers of jokes and humorous stories tell them in such a way as for the audience to be able to visualize all the little adventures in their heads. Visualization can be done through very detailed and vivid descriptions, but also through the use of metaphors and similes.

In order to create a picture in someone head’s, you need to be as descriptive as possible. Be detailed and specific and use as many adjectives as you can. Instead of saying it was a small car, say it was a diminutive, red Honda Civic that was nearing its expiration date. See how that second description creates a better picture than the first?

Sometimes being detailed and descriptive doesn’t create the image that you want and you need some other way to create the desired effect.

With metaphors and similes you describe an abstract concept by comparing it to something more familiar. These are often added by comedians in order to create funny pictures in your head.

Your brain often thinks through analogies, basically by using familiar concepts to try to picture and find relationships between objects that are a bit more fuzzy or unknown. These types of comparisons are often done using metaphors or similes.

That’s why putting in metaphors and similes can have such a powerful effect.

With a metaphor you are saying that one thing is another thing in a figurative way. This is the highest level of comparison. With a simile you are saying one thing is like another thing.

Examples:

“My friend is LIKE a baby.”
– simile

“My friend IS a baby.”
– metaphor

Notice how each of them has a slight difference in meaning. A metaphor is usually a much stronger way of putting that comparison.

The choice of metaphors and similes gives the joke a special meaning and often reveals hidden aspects of the opinion you hold about the subject of your joke.

“An organization is like a tree full of monkeys, all on different limbs at different levels. The monkeys on top look down and see a tree full of smiling faces. The monkeys on the bottom look up and see nothing but assholes.“

The author of the above joke uses a mix of similes and metaphors in order to paint a picture in your head. This then brings out the point of the joke in a much better way than if a different technique was used.

The use of over-the-top metaphors or similes is what adds the humor. They can often be used in other forms of storytelling in order to make a huge impact (but more on that in a later post on storytelling).

“I believe it was Shakespeare, or possibly Howard Cosell, who first observed that marriage is very much like a birthday candle, in that ‘the flames of passion burn brightest when the wick of intimacy is first ignited by the disposable butane lighter of physical attraction, but sooner or later the heat of familiarity causes the wax of boredom to drip all over the vanilla frosting of novelty and the shredded coconut of romance.’ I could not have phrased it better myself.” Dave Barry

Another thing that can sometimes add humor is alliteration. This is basically the repetition of the sound of the first consonant throughout a sentence.

For example:

“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers.”

Warning: use sparingly!

Another device you can use to add humor in certain instances, but which should not be used too often is rhyming. Rhymes can add humor, but if you use them too often, you will end up sounding silly instead of witty.

Most jokes don’t take just one form, but are a combination of forms.

If you look at most jokes, they combine a lot of different forms: double entendres, incongruities, reverses…etc. All these could be found in a funny one-liner.

To make something funny, you can combine all the different joke forms. You can play around with words and their meanings, add exaggerations or use one form to create another.

Let’s go back to the initial post on joke forms and look at the different one-liners I posted there. At the beginning, did you try to surmise why the jokes could be considered funny (at least to some people)? Now that you know more about joke forms can you make a better guess?

Let’s have a look:

“Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.“

This I would chart down to incongruity. The words “idiot” and “experience” are not very congruent.

“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.“

Here you have a little play on words (“right”) and also a reverse.

“I chased a girl for two years only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: We were both crazy about girls.” Groucho Marx

This is a classic reverse. Groucho leads you on with you thinking about tastes of girls, but then hits you with a big realization.

“I had a flight attendant on the last flight who was so old, after she demonstrated the oxygen mask she left it on.” Bob Hope

This is a good example of an exaggeration showing that the flight attendant was really old.

“A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says “You’ve been brought here for drinking.” The drunk says, “Okay, let’s get started.”” Henry Youngman

This is a simple truth, where the word “drinking” is taken literally.

“Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.” George Carlin

This is a reverse. Most people are not expecting anything about dishonesty after being led on with honesty.

“We live in an inherently sexist society, in the sense that a lot of women who get ahead do so through the sexualisation of everything.” Omid Djalili

An obvious reverse.

“People who lose sleep over the stock market are lucky. I lose money.” Melvin Helitzer

I bet you weren’t expecting the second sentence, so this is an example of a reverse.

Through combinations of forms you can produce different styles of humor, like sarcasm, satire or parody.

Sarcasm is a very big style of humor that is often based on irony. It can also be used to mock someone. The biting type of humor that sarcasm represents is best reflected in the original Greek meaning of the word: “to tear flesh”.

This is how an article in Scientific American defines it:

“Sarcasm involves constructing or exposing contradictions between intended meanings. The most common form of verbal irony, sarcasm is often used to humorously convey thinly veiled disapproval or scorn. “Pat, don’t work so hard!”, a boss might say upon catching his assistant surfing the Internet.“

Irony and sarcasm often form a big part of a certain genre of comedy called satire.

Satire is used to make fun or denounce something in a playful way. It is often a staple of social commentary.

This is the style used by such guys as Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert. They use satire to make social commentary on current events and the news and create a laugh in the process.

You can’t spell the word “message” without a mess, and neither can you get into Mesopotamia without creating one!

Satire can be done in different ways, one of which is parody.

Parody is an exaggerated imitation of the style of a particular person or group of people. It’s meant to poke fun at them.

Stephen Colbert uses this heavily. His character in the “Colbert Report” was that of a faux right-wing political pundit (the ones you often find on Fox News).

What are some good source materials for jokes?

The best source of funny material is real life. If you look at most comedians or funny people in general, much of the things they say consists of anecdotes from their lives or social commentary.

Look into funny things that happened to you, reinterpret serious things that happened to you in a funny way, examine absurd daily situations and then spin them in a way as to make them a source of humor. All of these are great sources of humorous anecdotes.

Another great source of materials are newspapers, not only as inspiration for social commentary rants, but also for the headlines themselves.

Look at the headlines below. All of them come from real newspapers:

“Juvenile court tries shooting defendant.”

”Reagan Wins on Budget, But More Lies Ahead”

“Republicans turned off by size of Obama’s package.”

You see, newspaper headlines can be a great source of humor.

Statistics are also great. You can create an entire humor routine just around statistics and if you look at some of the top late night TV anchors, they often do.

“According to a new geographic literacy study 4 out of 10 American students couldn’t find Iraq on a map; however 10 out of 10 Mexicans could find the U.S. without a map.” Jay Leno

There are all kinds of normal statistics that you can spin, but also some weird stats. People take statistics and surveys about all kinds of random things.

So using statistics from the link above, complete the joke:

“One in five americans has confessed to peeing in the pool”… now complete the joke

Did you know that thirty percent of Republican voters want to bomb Aladdin’s made up country?

You don’t even need to form it in any special way. Sometimes just stating the statistic itself can send your message across in a powerful and funny way.

Whether you use newspapers, statistics or some other source as the basis of your jokes, it’s always about the spin that you give it. Framing an issue in different ways can bring out different reactions, and a joke is just one form of a frame.

A joke serves not only as a way to create laughter in other people and making them feel good, but it is also a way to get your opinion across and to get people to see the absurdities of the world. Being able to craft a joke in the right way, gives you enormous power and influence over people. Use it well.

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There are two basic types of humor: verbal-based humor and content-based humor. With verbal-based humor you play around with the meanings of words and if you use different words than the ones initially used in the joke, then you will lose the humor.

We have looked at verbal-based humor or play on words in the last post. In this post, we will focus on content-based humor or what I like to call play on things.

Play On Things

With content-based humor, the humor is not in the words used themselves, but in the entire idea that is being conveyed. As such, a play on things passes the translation test. You can retell the joke in different words and the humor is still there.

Let’s have a look at some of the main types of content-based humor.

5) Using exaggeration or understatement

Exaggerations and understatements are one of the most effective ways to create humor. They create a mismatch between the actual situation and the words being said, which then produces the laughter.

Exaggeration by itself does not create humor and is in fact often used in normal non-funny ways. To make things funnier you have to exaggerate so much that it is obvious that you are exaggerating. That’s the key to exaggeration in comedy.

If you want to put an emphasis on someone being fat, then make the comparison as unrealistic as possible. This unrealistic comparison is what makes it funny. Say the guy weighted more than a pick-up truck or that he weighted two tons.

There are several ways of creating funny exaggerations, for example through the use of hyperboles, metaphors or analogies.

Hyperboles are extreme exaggerations in order to make a point. They are comparisons just like similes and metaphors, but very extravagant and over the top. They amplify what you are trying to say.

For example if you are trying to make the point that something is too expensive and unaffordable, you can say that it costs a gazillion dollars. Or when someone says that they are buried under a ton of paperwork, they don’t mean that the ceiling suddenly opened up and inundated the room with a bunch of paper. Instead what the person means is that they have to fill out a lot of boring forms.

“I knew a girl so ugly, I took her to the top of the Empire State building and planes started to attack her.” Rodney Dangerfield

“If it weren’t for pick-pocketers, I’d have no sex life at all.” Rodney Dangerfield

“All my wife does is shop – once she was sick for a week, and three stores went under.” Henry Youngman

“I have been a gigantic Rolling Stones fan since approximately the Spanish-American War.” Dave Barry

“Went to the paper shop – it had blown away.” Tommy Cooper

Metaphors, similes and analogies are also good ways to exaggerate the description of a particular scene or situation. These types of comparisons often paint vivid pictures in your head.

“Our primary living-room sofa looks like a buffalo that has been dead for some time.” Dave Barry

In the example above, in order to illustrate the point of how decrepit his sofa is, Dave Barry compares it to a dead rotting buffalo. Can you picture the dead buffalo and can you imagine how the sofa must have looked like?

Jokes also often rely on the use of stereotypes (about blondes, Scots, hillbillies…etc.). Stereotypes are a type of exaggeration.

“They say that a “True Scot” in North America is one whose ancestors came from Scotland – but who were born in North America to save the fare.“

The above joke uses the common stereotype that Scottish people are cheap, which is the premise of many ethnic jokes.

Understatements are the opposite of exaggerations in that they downplay the situation instead. They are correct in a literal sense, but fail to convey the magnitude or graveness of a particular event.

Understatements are especially used in British humor, as opposed to American humor, which tends to instead rely heavily on the use of exaggerations.

People use understatements in everyday speech all the time. It happens for example when you say “it’s a little chilly today” when it is – 40 degrees outside and everyone is freezing.

Listen to the conversation that happened between Apollo 13 and the ground control in Houston on the fateful day of the accident:

Those were some serious understatements! Nothing funny about it. Those guys out there had to keep their cool and their speech reflects it. A lot of times in movies, when they want to show a character as being cool under pressure, they have him speak using understatements.

Understatements also play a great role in humor. The comedy happens when you contrast the actual situation with the words that you use. You can use it as part of a story you are telling, in your joke, or in normal conversation.

One day you are talking to a colleague and they are complaining about a restaurant they went to. They say the restaurant was horrible, the food was awful, the service even worse.

You then give them a serious look and reply with: “So I guess you wouldn’t recommend it?”

Sean Connery’s (in the role of Indy’s father) reactions here are an example of an understatement which creates a pretty good comedic effect.

A great example of the use of understatement (and making fun of a situation) is the remark that Mark Twain gave when he heard that there were widespread reports of his death in the media:

“The reports of my death are greatly exaggerated.“

Understatements are a good way of making a tough situation look light and in an underhanded way can make you look more badass. Who looks better: the guy who understates and overdelivers or the chump who boasts and underperforms?

6) Reverses

“Sir, you are one of the most foul, disgusting, immoral, perverted men that I have ever known. Have you considered a career in the church?” from Blackadder

Reverses are structured in such a way as to maximize surprise, one of the main elements of humor. The key behind a successful reverse is a sudden switch in the point of view. You lead the audience to think that the resolution will end in a predictable way, but suddenly you pull the rug under their feet and come up with an unexpected ending.

“A mysterious man was knocking all night long on Paris Hilton’s door. Come morning, she was fed up with it, so she let him out.” David Letterman

A very important part of reverse is the beginning. This is where you drop hints that lead the audience in the wrong direction. People will often come to a conclusion before the end of the joke, expecting things to finish in a predictable way. However, then comes the reverse punchline where you totally change everything up. This creates surprise and laughter.

There has to be some logic to the reverse though. Reverses are not about absurdity, they are about the unexpected.

Approach things from a different perspective. You can construct good reverses by looking at the opposites of different situations. In fact, you can create reverses with just two words which are the complete opposites of each other. Just think of different antonyms and plug them in.

So if you think Saturday Night Live has become lame, you can do one simple tweak to the title and voila, you have stated your opinion without needing to go on a long rant:

“Saturday Night Live” vs. “Saturday Night Dead”

Try to observe what conclusions your brain comes up with when hearing or reading a joke and how you react when you see or hear the real resolution. If you read the jokes, you will see that you are expecting an answer and then boom something else hits. That’s what reverses are all about.

“I asked my good friend, Arnold Palmer how I could improve my game. He advised me to cheat!” Bob Hope

“She got her good looks from her father. He’s a plastic surgeon.” Groucho Marx

You can also create surprises by having people focus on two different aspects of a situation. Just like you can interpret two different words differently, you can also do so with situations. This can be a basis for a good reverse.

Here is a joke I came up with that illustrates how two people in a conversation can misinterpret what the other is saying. This misinterpretation is the starting point of a reverse.

“Wife mentions to husband: “You know Claire? Her husband brings her flowers every day. Why don’t you do that?” the husband responds: “I would, but I don’t know where she lives.””

Reverses are actually perfect for the standard setup + punchline structure of a joke. With a reverse, you have the setup creating the misdirection and the punchline creating the surprise ending, the reverse.

Listen to the following classic Jack Benny joke:

“Robber: “This is a stickup! Now come on. Your money or your life.”
[long pause]
Robber [repeating]: “Look, bud, I said ‘Your money or your life.’ “
Jack Benny: “I’m thinking it over!””

See how he created the reverse? Notice the buildup? What was the expectation? And how did it turn out?

Jack Benny was a master at creating reverses:

“Jack Benny: “It’s a little embarrassing to say this, but your bathing suit is a bit snug and skimpy.”
Mary: “If you don’t like it, go in and take it off!””

Here are some more examples of reverses:

“I couldn’t wait for success, so I went ahead without it.” Jonathan Winters

“Artificial hearts are nothing new. Politicians have had them for years.” Mack McGinnis

“A computer once beat me at chess, but it was no match for me at kickboxing.” Emo Philips

7) Putting together two or more contrasting things (incongruity)

One classic theory of humor states that it is incongruity that is behind people finding things to be funny. Nothing brings out apparent incongruity more than the technique of putting together two or more contrasting things.

In this type of technique it is the juxtaposition of two or more things that creates the humor. The scenario that you come up with however has to be plausible and logical (even if unlikely).

You are putting together things with unexpected connections. You can for example place two opposite concepts besides each other: “all is fair in love and war“. In this quote you are playing with the concepts of “love” and “war”, which usually don’t go together, but the way the sentence is structured a hidden similarity between them is revealed.

A very powerful juxtaposition of two things and one which can be exploited in jokes is the oxymoron. An oxymoron juxtaposes together two things or concepts which appear to be contradictory (military intelligence, friendly enemy, sweet sorrow).

“Is it good if a vacuum really sucks?”

Juxtapositions are the basis of satire. The jokes made by guys like Jon Stewart or Stephen Colbert are largely structured around incongruities.

“If they don’t want to work, then how can they be taking all our jobs?” Stephen Colbert

Look at the juxtapositions in the two quotes below. What people, ideas or concepts are being compared and contrasted here?

“Chinese President Hu Jintao is visiting us. When a country owes you a billion dollars they have a problem. When they owe you a trillion dollars, YOU have a problem. We’re too big to fail!” Jon Stewart

“This is inarguably a failure of leadership from the top of the federal government. Remember when Bill Clinton went out with Monica Lewinsky. That was unarguably a failure of judgment at the top. Democrats had to come out and risk losing credibility if they did not condemn Bill Clinton for his behaviour. I believe Republicans are in the same position right now. And I will say this: Hurricane Katrina is George Bush’s Monica Lewinsky. The only difference is that tens of thousands of people weren’t stranded in Monica Lewinsky’s vagina.” John Stewart

8) Absurdity

You can have a juxtaposition of things that have some sort of a logical connection and then you can also have a juxtaposition of things, where the audience just goes “WTF?”

That’s absurdity for ya.

“Would you rather have sight, or insight? I’d rather have a double cheeseburger.” Jarod Kintz (“A Zebra is the Piano of the Animal Kingdom”)

Jokes based on absurdity are usually not supposed to make sense.

Sometimes absurd jokes come out of normal statements of not so bright (or seriously misunderstood ) individuals.

“That restaurant is so popular, nobody goes there anymore.” Yogi Berra

One form of absurdity is called a non sequitur, where the second part of the joke has absolutely nothing to do with the first part of what the person were saying.

However, even if the jokes don’t really follow anything logical, and the subsequent statement has nothing to do with the previous statement, they can still be strung into a narrative.

An example of this are old Old Spice commercials.

Or take this example from the Simpsons:

“Ralph Wiggum: “Martin Luther King had a dream. Dreams are where Elmo and Toy Story had a
party and I was invited. Yay! My turn is over!”
Principal Skinner: “One of your best, Ralphie.””

9) Irony

The “American Heritage Dictionary” defines irony as:

“Incongruity between what might be expected and what actually occurs.“

Irony is when something opposite of what is expected happens, or where someone says the opposite of what they mean. A lot of jokes are based on this.

Irony can be contructed through different ways, for example using word play, but also through the use of litotes (a form of understatement) or using juxtapositions of different things.

This is irony at its best:

Let’s do some practice:

1) Think of some common situations that happened in your life that involved a misinterpretation. How could these be reformed into a joke?

If you haven’t read it already already, go back to read Part 4 of this series on humor. Or go to read Part 6.

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Most theories of humor state that the act of finding something funny is a result of things like surprise or incongruency. However these things don’t arise by themselves, but are highly dependent on delivery.

You can create these incongruities and surprise by putting in the right words, following a certain word order, and through the use of highly-paid actors (optional).

That and anything with O.J. “Orange Juice” Simpson in it, is funny.

The surprise or incongruency comes from the way the joke is structured. You can make or break a joke just by the specific form you put it in.

We’ve all heard someone bumble up a joke really badly. Fat Joe hears a great joke, jots it down into memory and then later tries to retell it in front of a crowd. Nobody laughs.

What makes it funny was lost on him. He did not get the essence of the joke right. The problem was that he did not put the joke in the correct structure and did not use the right form.

Let’s start off with a little exercise. Look at the jokes below and try to identify what makes them funny (well at least to some people ):

“Never argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.” George Carlin

“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.” Bertrand Russell

“I chased a girl for two years only to discover that her tastes were exactly like mine: We were both crazy about girls.” Groucho Marx

“I had a flight attendant on the last flight who was so old, after she demonstrated the oxygen mask she left it on.” Bob Hope

“A drunk was in front of a judge. The judge says “You’ve been brought here for drinking.” The drunk says, “Okay, let’s get started.”” Henry Youngman

“Honesty may be the best policy, but it’s important to remember that apparently, by elimination, dishonesty is the second-best policy.” George Carlin

“We live in an inherently sexist society, in the sense that a lot of women who get ahead do so through the sexualisation of everything.” Omid Djalili

“People who lose sleep over the stock market are lucky. I lose money.” Melvin Helitzer

Got it? We will come back to looking at these jokes in a little bit. First let’s get familiar with the basic joke forms.

There are many comedians, countless jokes and even more people trying to be funny, but luckily most jokes can be broken down into a limited number of formulas. If you learn to recognize these formulas, you can construct your own jokes much more easily.

“A mathematician about his late colleague:
“He made a lot of mistakes, but he made them in a good direction. I tried to copy this, but I found out that it is very difficult to make good mistakes.”“

Learning to tell jokes is a lot like learning any other skill. You will make a lot of mistakes at first, but over time you will get better and better. Having some joke frameworks in your head will help you get started in the right direction.

“The trouble with learning from experience is that you never graduate.” Doug Larson

As the great Cicero observed more than two millennia go, all the different joke formulas can be divided into two categories: those based on words and those based on things. So between verbal and content based humor.

How do you tell the two categories apart? You use the translation test!

If you can tell the joke in different words and it still remains funny, then it is content-based humor, a play on things. If the joke depends on the particular meaning of a word or phrase and if you use different words, it loses its humor, then it is verbal humor, a play on words.

Play On Words

“Life is a waste of time. Time is a waste of life. Get wasted all the time and you’ll have the time of your life.” Billy Connolly

A lot of humor is based on playing around with the meanings of words. There are many words that have multiple meanings and they can be used to create surprise, either through misinterpretation or the twisting of familiar expressions and applying them in unexpected situations.

Jokes using a word to mean two different things are sometimes referred to as puns. Watch out though! These techniques are double-edged swords, because they can cause one audience to laugh so hard that they start rolling around on the floor clutching their stomachs, while some other people will start growling and beat you over the head with their shoes. Use at your own risk!

There are four basic play on words techniques:

1) Using a different meaning of the same word (double-entendre)

This is a classic form for jokes, where you use a word or phrase which could have a double meaning and instead of using the meaning that the audience thinks you are using, you use the other meaning.

The audience might be thinking you are talking about roosters (cocks), but then you switch it around to reveal that you were talking about the male reproductive organ all along!

This can be great especially in social interactions when you want to tease someone and misinterpet the implied meaning of the word they are using for a different, usually more naughty meaning.

With double-entendres you play around with the meanings of words. Many words usually have an obvious meaning and that is usually the one that the audience thinks you are using. The key to getting a laugh here is to then switch cleverly to the non-obvious meaning of the same word.

Look at the following Henny Youngman joke:

“A bum said: “I haven’t eaten in 3 days”, I said: “force yourself”.“

The set-up here is that the bum is saying that he can’t find food and is hungry. However the phrase “I haven’t eaten in 3 days” can also be misinterpreted to mean something else. For example it can mean that he is on a diet. Or as it can mean the meaning that Youngman is using, that he simply doesn’t want to eat.

“My father never liked me. For Christmas, he gave me a bat. The first time I tried to play ball with it, it flew away.” Rodney Dangerfield

“The heart patient refused the transplant saying he’d already had a change of heart.” George Carlin

“One golfer tells another, “Hey, I got a set of golf clubs for my wife.” The other golfer responds, “Great trade!””

“A politician is asked to run, wants to sit, and is expected to lie.”

“Patient on the phone: “Is the doctor in yet?” Nurse: “No, we are just up to foreplay.”“

2) Using the literal meaning of the word (simple truth)

A lot of times when we talk, we use language in a figurative way. This is the type of language that uses words or phrases in a way that is different from their literal meaning.

This presents us with great comic opportunities.

When doing your set-up, you can use a word that has multiple meanings and most of the time the audience will think you are using it in its figurative sense. However with the punchline you surprise them by instead actually applying the literal meaning of the word.

“My wife went window shopping yesterday and came home with seven windows.” Rodney Dangerfield

“I was in the park wondering why the Frisbee gets bigger as it gets closer, and then it hit me.” Stewart Francis

You can also use the literal interpretations of not just words, but also entire phrases or situations. Watch the following clip from the movie “Airplane!”:

3) Substituting a similar sounding word (substitution)

You can also create humor by substituting a similar sounding word, instead of the usual word that should go there. This can be done in several ways:

• Homophones: No, these are not gay phones in case you were wondering. The word “homo” means “same” and homophones are words that sound the same, but have different meanings (and usually different spellings too). For example: red (color) and read (as in past tense of read), flower and flour, flu and flew and many others…

“Oh are you from Wales ?? Do you know a fella named Jonah ?? He used to live in whales for a while.” Groucho Marx

• Malaprops: This technique substitutes a word for a different similar sounding word, which often end up making a non-sensical statement. Sometimes these substitutions are made inadvertenly in speech. For example, Yogi Berra the baseball player was a legend in saying malaprops.

“He hits from both sides of the plate. He’s amphibious.” Yogi Berra

“Republicans understand the importance of bondage between a mother and child.” Dan Quayle, former US Vice President

Former US President George W. Bush is also legendary for his malaprops, which have become known as Bushisms:

“The law I sign today directs new funds… to the task of collecting vital intelligence… on weapons of mass production.” George W. Bush

And another great example from the movie “Airplane!”:

Surely and Shirley

4) Using cultural references (slogans, proverbs, quotes)

Slogans, proverbs, song lyrics, movie quotes, and other cultural references can be parodied or used in different contexts for humorous effects. There are many common sayings or slogans that you might have heard in commercials that can be really funny when used in unexpected ways.

“Just do it!” from Nike:

You can use all kinds of cultural references in this way. However many of these are very culture or country specific and can only be used in places where these are common knowledge, otherwise no one will understand them.

“Last night, I got so drunk that I African-Americaned out.” Zach Galifianakis
– act of blacking out, while being politically correct

There are also many proverbs that you can use, combine and twist around for humorous effects.

For example take the common proverb “money doesn’t buy happiness“.

“Whoever said money can’t buy happiness didn’t know where to shop.“

Or my take on teaching a man to fish:

This is the original proverb:

“Give a man a fish, and you will feed him for a day. Teach the man to fish and you will feed him for a lifetime.“

I decided to keep the first part of the proverb as the set-up:

“Give a man a fish, and you will feed him for a day. Give the man a regular welfare check, he will buy the fish and spend the time playing on his X-Box.“

To reform the joke, I took something that is often discussed (welfare), mixed it with some popular culture (X-Box), and created the punchline. The result is an old set-up and a new punchline.

Let’s do a bit of practice:

1) Go back to your collection of jokes and see which ones are based on play on words. Try to find some other plays on words from famous comics.

2) Start a list of words that could be interpreted in several ways. Whenever you come across an interesting word with word play potential, add it to the list.

If you haven’t read it already already, go back to read Part 3 of this series on humor. Or go to read Part 5.

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Now that we know about the structure of a joke and the different parts that it consists of, how do we actually go about writing it?

What creative process do you need to go through in order to come up with an idea for a joke and then craft it in a funny way?

Watch the video below to see Jerry Seinfeld’s process:

A lot of humor is based on things happening around you, whether in the news or in your own life. These are the basic starting points of all jokes or funny stories. You just need to be able to capture that, process it and then deliver it in the right way.

You can write a simple story about your day, job, life and use a specific comedy formula to shape it in order to create laugh points that will make the audience start rolling in the aisles.

“Aside from velcro, time is the most mysterious substance in the universe. You can’t see it or touch it, yet a plumber can charge you upwards of seventy-five dollars per hour for it, without necessarily fixing anything.” Dave Barry

Edgar E. Willis (author of “How to be funny on purpose”) states that every joke has what is called an expressed idea and an inferred idea. The expressed idea is what the joke teller says in an explicit form, while the inferred idea is the idea that the listeners should get out of what he is saying.

So basically the joke is delivering two ideas simultenously, what is said literally and what those words are implying.

Since you have two basic ideas in a joke, you also have two main starting places for a joke: either think up the inferred idea (what you want the audience to draw out of what you say), or come up with the expressed idea (material that will lead audience to make inferred idea).

Listen again to Jerry Seinfeld’s description of his joke creation process. In the example he gives, he is starting out from the inferred idea: Pop Tarts are weird and food is crazy.

Once he has the message he wants to pass in his head, he goes about crafting the words that would deliver it.

Here is another Jerry Seinfeld clip which has as its inferred idea the craziness of the shopping experience. Notice the words he uses in order to show this:

How do you craft the words themselves? Even if the inferred idea is good, the actual words that you use can be the difference between the audience giving out a slight chuckle or breaking out in roaring laughter that makes half the people end up in the hospital due to the fact that they were cracking up so hard that they forgot to breathe.

One way to do this is visualization, describing in such a way as to paint a vivid picture in the head. Another good joke formula is the use of exaggerations, either overstatements or understatements in order to better convey your idea.

This can be done by combining metaphors or analogies with hyperboles. Your brain often thinks using metaphors and analogies and that’s why their use can really underline what you are saying.

These are very powerful ways of expressing an idea. Using these tropes in different contexts can often give a very different spin to your message.

A metaphor basically says that A is B. For example the “war on drugs” is saying that there is a war on drugs.

On the other hand, a simile compares two things that are similar in some way. A simile often states that A is “like” B. In order to tell apart a simile from a metaphor look for words like “like” or “as”. For example when Forrest Gump said that “life is like a box of chocolates” or when you say something is “as cute as a kitten“.

An analogy is essentially an extended, more elegant simile. For example this quote from the character Matt McGrath in the movie “Broken Hearts Club” is an analogy: “Dumb gorgeous people should not be allowed to use literature when competing in the pick-up pool. It’s like bald people wearing hats.”

Now let’s go back to the first Seinfeld clip in order to further analyze how he develops the joke and what techniques he uses.

Notice how he uses exaggerations and metaphors: “the back of my head blew right off” or “orange juice that was frozen years in advance that you had to hack away at with a knife“. These create much more powerful pictures than simply saying that he was “astounded” (which in itself is a pretty descriptive word, but not as effective in painting a picture) or just “frozen“.

Another technique he uses is funny words. Some words are just funnier in the English language than others and if you use them, you automatically paint a funnier picture in people’s heads. One such word is the word “pop tart” itself.

All these different things create the “funny”.

Here is the Pop Tart Joke in all its glory:

In the first clip, Jerry Seinfeld also says that he often links the “Pop Tart Joke” with a joke on chimpanzees. The make-or-break issue here is finding the right connectors. Notice how in the clip above, Jerry Seinfeld moves from talking about friends to talking about restaurants and then to Pop Tarts and how he connects the different ideas together in a smooth way.

Someone who is naturally funny is someone who understands patterns and therefore can make connections between varied things. Working on improving your pattern recognition skills can greatly improve your humorous side.

Jokes can often be formed through linking two unrelated subjects. It doesn’t have to be a logical link. This isn’t rational thinking (as exemplified in the article I wrote on critical thinking).

With jokes anything goes. Humans are good at linking things, which often causes them to make connections that don’t really exist.

That is good news for comedy. That conspiracy theory might not be good for a rational explanation, but it is great for a joke. Making outrageous links works in drawing out humor and is a good technique to use for example when you are bantering with other people and trying to tease them.

How do you come up with jokes about specific subjects? Where do you get the ideas from?

The best way to get ideas is to get them from your everyday life. This also makes the jokes relevant to your audience, since the best jokes are the ones other people can identify with and draw parallels from their own lives.

You can use observational comedy to point out the absurdities of everyday life and get a laugh in the process.

There are different techniques that you can use to come up with ideas. One such technique is coming up with lists.

Let’s say you want to come up with a joke about basketball. First thing you do is sit down and list all the words that you can associate with basketball.

You can start off by making categories and then list some words under them:

You can also do it using the mind mapping technique:

These different words then can start as the starting place for you to create a joke. Look for double meanings, funny words or associations. We will go more into this in a later chapter.

In order to combine different subjects (often non-related subjects), you can use what Sally Holloway (“The Serious Guide to Joke Writing”) calls the Hadron Joke Collider. Basically what you do here is create mind maps for two different concepts and then compare and contrast them, trying to find similarities or potential common points. In this way you can juxtapose different elements and create a joke linking the two concepts.

You could use the above technique if you wanted to find a connector to link a joke on Pop Tarts with a joke on chimpanzees.

You can practice to try to find connectors by picking two random words and trying to link them. For example, how would you link the words rabbit and criminal?

Here is how I did it:

“Q: Why did the Energizer Bunny go to jail?
A: Because he was charged with battery.“

Greg Dean (“Step by Step to Stand-up Comedy”) uses a technique he calls the Joke Prospector. This technique is a variation of the list technique. He writes the subject, then lists words associated with the subject. Last he writes a list of negative opinions about each of these associations. Hey, humor is pain.

Once you have these lists, you can proceed onto creating your jokes:

“Q: What do you call 12 millionaires around a TV watching the NBA Finals? A: The New York Knicks.“

or

“Q: Why is a referee like an angry chicken? A: They both have foul mouths.“

Here is a technique that comic Jerry Corley uses to come up with his jokes:

A final strategy that can help you refine your joke and include all the necessary elements in it, is if you ask yourself these five basic questions: who, what, when, where, why. I call it the 5W technique and it can be used not only for crafting jokes, but also for creating any type of story in general. Answering these five questions for yourself is a prerequisite for the “how” of the story.

If this seems a bit overwhelming at first, don’t despair! The good thing is that if you are not a professional comic, you can also use another strategy: reuse jokes thought up by others!

There are two benefits you will get out of this: you will always have some joke at your disposal, but you will also get better implicitly by imitating others.

That’s how Steve Allen started. He learned about jokes by first copying jokes out of jokebooks. You can do the same thing to start off. Find some jokes and write them down in a notebook. You can use them in the real world later.

“Ours is a government of checks and balances. The Mafia and crooked businessmen make out checks, and the politicians and other compromised officials improve their bank balances.”
Steve Allen

Another thing you can do is watch your favorite comic, and then transcribe their act word for word. Then watch the video again and mark the words where they get laugh. With this technique you can also observe the structure of their jokes, as well as how they deliver them. Set aside some time to imitate them in front of a mirror.

Many famous jokesters and wits did not come up with their own jokes most of the time, but had committed a lot of different jokes to memory and used them when the opportunity arose. For example, both Oscar Wilde and Winston Churchill did this.

If you want to get better, you need to practice. As with anything this is the key to your success. All the famous comedians had to go through stages when they sucked. However they worked at it and became better over time.

Benjamin Errett (author of “Elements of Wit”) studied many of the famous wits of history and had this to say about one of the greatest of them:

“George Bernard Shaw was originally a terrible speaker and about as sharp as a beach pebble, yet over time he worked on it and developed into one of the great wits of his day. Half the battle is accepting that you can learn it.“

Let’s do some practice now:

EXERCISES:

1) Go back to your initial list of jokes, read them again and list their inferred idea.

2) Enlarge your initial list of jokes with a further 20 jokes and start a routine of periodically enlarging your list with new jokes.

3) Find a video of your favorite comic and watch it. Then examine how they structure their jokes and what types of elements they use. The second week try to transcribe their act word for word. The third week try to rewrite the act in your own words.

4) Start a habit of periodically sitting down to do some exercises. Pick words and list associated words. Once you have the list, try to find the words that could best be used in jokes.

5) Pick two random words and try to link them together. You can use the lists that you created for exercise 4 to help you.

If you haven’t read it already already, go back to read Part 2 of this series on humor. Or go to read Part 4.

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George Washington was the first President of the US and is often given to kids as an example of what they should aspire to. When he was in his late teens, he wrote out a list of rules that a gentleman should abide by.

The list contained such wise rules as don’t turn your back to someone when you are speaking, or that the gestures of the body must be suited to the discourse you are upon.

Do you know what his number one rule was?

Don’t scratch your balls in public!

Well, actually it was number 2!

The list itself can be found here, but that was not the point of this little section.

The short story above (inspired by an A.J. Jacobs presentation) very nicely demonstrates the anatomy of a joke, as well as many elements inherent in comedy.

First there is some sort of an introduction, which explains the premise and leads the audience to think in one direction.

Then boom, an element of surprise suddenly appears, and the joke teller comes up with an unexpected unravelling of the story.

Sometimes this can be followed by another element that continues the joke, an add-on joke.

These things are called the set-up, the punchline, and the tagline and form the basic structure of a joke.

This is a formula that can be replicated in any type of story or joke on whatever subject you want. With any joke, first you need to set up the scene, then you finish it up with a punchline.

The key to the audience laughing is surprise. With the set-up you lead the audience to assume one thing and then suddenly hit them with something totally different, something that they weren’t expecting.

You can feed off of this by quickly adding up another short phrase which is called the tagline or topper. This is basically a short second joke that builds upon the punchline and in many cases can make you look spontaneous and witty.

An important part of any joke is what is sometimes called the connecter, which is something in the set-up that has a double meaning or can be interpreted in different ways. It can be a punch word or even an entire phrase.

“My wife and I were happy for twenty years. Then we met.“

Let’s illustrate the structure of a joke by decomposing this classic Rodney Dangerfield joke:

The set-up: “My wife and I were happy for twenty years.” This sets up the audience to paint a picture of an old happy married couple.

The punchline: “Then we met.” However this line totally destroys any image of a happy married couple that the audience might have had in their heads. It gives a totally different spin to the previous set-up.

Watch this Rodney Dangerfield video and try particularly to notice how he structures his jokes, how he sets them up, when he delivers his punchline and when he uses taglines.

You can use this with any of your favorite comics. Go find their videos, watch them and try to pay attention to how they structure their jokes and where the laugh points are. Most comics will usually use some sort of a version of the standard set-up, punchlines, taglines structure.

The overall themes of humor structure are based around tension, surprise and relationships. Melvin Helitzer in his book “Comedy Writing Secrets” describes what he calls the THREES formula, which are the very basic elements needed for a joke to be successful.

THREES stands for target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, surprise and I have broken down this concept in more detail in a previous article which you can read here.

EXERCISES:

Now for the exercises:

1) Start creating a collection of jokes that you come across and write them down somewhere. To start off, find 30 short jokes. They can be about anything you want. Once you have found them, try to look at how they are structured. Try to find the punchline, the set-up and any potential taglines.

2) Find videos of your favorite comics. Watch the videos and look for the laugh points. When does the audience laugh? Then go back and rewatch the clips, noticing how they structure their jokes and stories. Which part is the set-up, which is the punchline, which phrases or words serve as the connecters and are there any taglines? When watching, also try to look for elements from the THREES formula.

If you haven’t read it already already, go back to read Part 1 of this series on humor. Or go to read Part 3.

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You have probably met those types of people, the ones that always have a witty remark that fits every occasion and that always brings the room to laughter. How do they do it? And how can you be like them?

The good news is that you can. Any skill can be learned and humor is one of them. The first step is to begin thinking funny.

You need to start finding the funny in everything. Funny people are just those that see the world in a different way. Stop being so serious and start seeing the absurdities of the world. The world isn’t serious. You can find the humorous part in every daily action imaginable.

What you need to do in order to do that is to reframe your mind. Put a different spin on daily events. See the humor in everything.

Start by observing what is around you, see the funny relationships and connections. Train yourself to see the humor.

Use what Jerry Seinfeld calls your “third eye”. It’s something that every comedian has in order to be able to view life with an ironic dettachment. This eye is the one that looks at what is happening from the funny angle, distances itself from the situation and sees its ridiculousness.

Life is full of humorous things, but you need to be able to see under the surface of what appears a serious world.

Here are some examples to point out the absurdities of the modern world:

How do you find the picture above? The clothing is a little ridiculous right? You would probably chuckle at anyone wearing that today. However in the 18th century that was perfectly normal clothing and nobody would even bat an eye, if they saw it.

And now something from the modern world, just a different continent:

For Papuans this is pretty normal clothing. Nothing to laugh about for them…

How about for you?

So now look at something that is much more familiar to you:

For most people in the future this will be a funny scene. Why can’t it be funny now? You see what I am getting at?

If you look at the most popular comedic sitcoms, the reason you find them funny is because either consciously or subconsciously you can identify parallels to your own life in them.

For example “The Office”:

Now think of your own place of work. You could probably identify much more absurd situations that happen there on a daily basis. Next time you see an argument taking place or someone starts yelling about the importance of meeting daily targets, just think about the absurdity of the entire situation.

A lot of people got rich by doing that:

So how do you develop your sense of humor? Start seeing the funny side of things. Immerse yourself in humor, watch stand-up comic shows, comedies, read jokes and anything funny that you come across.

Live life as if it were one big playground and amuse yourself.

Developing an observational type of humor is key.  Comedians are observant people who put a spin on what they see. Even when anything frustrating happens, they turn it around and use it for humor.

Is there something that you find frustrating or stupid? Why not joke about it?

As Carol Burnett says: “Comedy is tragedy plus time.”

Even one of America’s greatest writers, Mark Twain, defined humor in a similar way: “The secret source of humor itself is not joy, but sorrow. There is no humor in heaven.”

Let’s wrap this up with a quote from Nobel Prize winning physicist Nils Bohr: “Some things are so serious, they can only be joked about.”

The World is funny. You just have to see it!

EXERCISES

Now do these exercises to put yourself in the right mindset and to start seeing the funny side of life:

1) Think of an everyday situation when you thought something was funny? For example try remembering a scene when you were talking with your friends about your lives and ended up laughing? What made you laugh? What was funny?

2) Think of a serious situation that you have encountered or encounter daily? Now try to reframe it in a way as to make it funny. What is absurd about that serious situation?

3) In order to get yourself into the comic mindset, start listening to some comedy podcasts. A good one is this one done by Stuart Goldsmith. He interviews different comedians and tries to find out what makes them tick. When listening to the individual interviews, don’t just listen to WHAT they say, but also pay attention to HOW they say it.

In Part 2, we will actually look at the anatomy of a joke and give you some techniques to craft it.

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So I got a little curious where terms like “bro science” come from and decided to do a little research over the interwebz. Turns out some of these terms have very recent origins, while other terms didn’t come from the sources that I thought they came from.

If interested in the history of such terminology as “bro” and “swole”, then you are very welcome to join me on a journey down memory lane. On the way, you will get your mind blown (literaly) and your life will be enriched by deep thoughts from modern culture’s greatest thinkers.

Let’s start with “bro science”.

There are actually two most frequent spellings of bro science, one where the two words are separate, and another one where the two words are spelled as one word: “broscience”. Mind blowing, isn’t it?

No matter how it is spelled, bro science is composed of two basic words: bro and science. The word “science” is pretty obvious, however what is a “bro”?

Bro is a shortened version of the word “brother” and the first instances of the use of the shortened version come from hundreds of years ago. However the real popular use of the word started only in the 1970s among black communities in the US.

Somehow in the 1990s this term jumped over to the white populations and began to be used more extensively, probably first among the whiggas (wanna-be you know who) and then among fraternity douchebags.

Now, the most common image of “bros” are the frat type, baseball hat wearing or scruffy haired white boys who like to jug down beer from funnels. Sometimes these are referred to as “brahs”, which comes from a Hawaiian English pidgin word and began to be used among surfer dudes in the 1960s.

“Don’t tase me, bro!”

The number one definition of the word on Urban Dictionary dates from 2005 and says this:

“Obnoxious partying males who are often seen at college parties. When they aren’t making an ass of themselves they usually just stand around holding a red plastic cup waiting for something exciting to happen so they can scream something that demonstrates how much they enjoy partying. Nearly everyone in a fraternity is a bro but there are also many bros who are not in a fraternity. They often wear a rugby shirt and a baseball cap. It is not uncommon for them to have spiked hair with frosted tips. Bros actually chose this name for themselves as they often refer to each other as “bro” even though they are not related.“

As the word bro became more and more popular, it was added to all kinds of words and phrases, resulting in a wide variety of brocabulary.

Another compound word that was formed through the addition of the word “bro” is “bromance”. For example, Brody Jenner, the most relevant person of the past decade used this as the title of his reality TV elimination series, where he searched for a new BFF. The term is most often used to designate the friendship of two “bros”.

“Oh yeah! Pound it, bro!”

Through the expansion of the word bro, our culture has also been enriched by another concept, that of the “guido”. This concept has gone mainstream through an MTV show that will remain a timeless classic for generations to come, “Jersey Shore”.

Jersey Shore brought us such intellectuals as Mike the Situation and Snooki. The word “guido” comes from a common Italian first name and came to signify a sub-population of fake tan, slicked-back gel hair type Italian-Americans from the East Coast. We will forever be thankful for this cultural enrichment.

Now that we know where the word “bro” comes from, we will investigate further where the particular combination of “bro science” came from.

One definition of bro science is this:

“Bro-science is when someone makes a completely unsupportable claim, not backed by either science or any form of reasonable speculation, and when challenged on that lack of support, the person instead points to his pictures, his lifts, or the phenomenal number of Olympic athletes he’s trained as support for the claim.“

The first usage of this term comes apparently from 2008 and in 2010 the term took off, enjoying a wild climb in popularity.

Graphs from Google Trends show the search popularity of this term:

broscience

bro science

Bro science has heavily impacted the way we view getting bigger and stronger, but it is not the only phrase that made it big. There are also other popular phrases that come into play in the world of weightlifting. Our exploration will continue by examining a few of the most trendy ones. So keep tight and get ready for some clean and jerk.

“Do you even lift?”

One of my favorite phrases is of course “Do you even lift?” Apparently this one originated on the bodybuilding.com message boards all the way back in 2002.

“I want to pump you up!”

We all know Ah-nold. I used to love his action movies back when I was a kid. His movies were full of intellectual dialogue and hit one liners such as “I will be back!” and “Hasta la vista, baby!” So I thought “I want to pump you up!” came from one of these movies.

Apparently this one didn’t even come from Ah-nold (although he did adopt it later), but from some of his impersonators, a comedic duo called Hans and Franz (played by Dana Carvey and Kevin Nealon), who used to do a recurring sketch “Pumping Up with Hans & Franz” on Saturday Night Live back in the late 1980s.

“Come at me, bro”

This classic saying comes from Ronnie, one of the resident philosophers at Jersey Shore. He said it in 2010.

So we have now come to an end of our current brosearch. Don’t despair though; more is coming!

Tune back next time when we explore curlbros, swag, celltech, swole, as well as such internet shirtless icons as Zyzz and Lazar Angelov.

What are your favorite expressions? I encourage everyone to come at me in the comments below.

Humor is a powerful thing. The person who wields it can change the moods of the people around him just by using a simple word or phrase. Humor can serve as a tremendous weapon, one that can circumvent the outer defenses of others and capture hearts and minds.

It has the ability to speak to people’s inner emotions and provoke a physical reaction. This reaction is called laughter. The Ancients recognized the power that humor has and used it to their advantage.

Catulus, a Roman prosecutor was once challenged by one of his opponents:

“Why are you barking, catule?”

“Because I see a thief!” retorted Catulus.

This exchange became the stuff of legend. It was recounted at gatherings of the Roman elite and the story, even though retold a thousand times over and over again, could always amuse. Roman philosophers, orators and historians would keep on writing about this story for hundreds of years after it had happened.

How does it strike you today? Did you laugh at that joke? Probably not. Did you find the exchange witty? Maybe or maybe not. Some of you might have let out a chuckle, but most of you probably read it in dead silence, not understanding the context. Yet the Ancient Romans found the above story extremely funny!

You either get a joke or you don’t. However since we are going to be discussing humor and what makes things funny, I will try to decompose the jokes in order to further the analysis. The best way to kill a joke is to explain its meaning, but that is precisely what we will have to do in order to arrive at a set of greater principles.

These principles can then guide you to become funnier yourself and also to be able to use humor in different contexts. For this, we can use the wisdom of the Ancient Romans to guide us in turn.

Those of you who let out a chuckle, might have visualized an image of a dog barking due to the use of the word “bark” and that of a thief due to Catulus replying “because I see a thief“. Even in our days, dogs guard houses against thieves and this is a common association that we have. You let out a chuckle because you probably had a previous association of dogs and thieves and something funny that happened whether due to you owning a dog or maybe seeing something on TV.

Oftentimes humor works on associations. A joke can reawaken a funny memory that people have stored deep in their brains. So people who in their past might have heard a joke about dogs or had experienced a funny event involving puppies put this event into their long-term memory.

Upon hearing the word “barking”, this memory was accessed and associated with the current joke, prompting laughter. This is the associative part of humor. If you can relate a joke to someone else’s experiences, that makes the joke funnier for the other person.

However there is further context for the story that you are missing. The name “Catulus” actually means the word “puppy” in Latin and the word “catule” that was used by the guy taking a swipe at Catulus can be translated as “puppy dog”. The opponent basically used a clever play on words that was meant to belittle Catulus in front of the audience, using his name as the basis.

It backfired, as Catulus, with his quick wit used that jibe and threw it back at him with the reply that he sees a thief. We have to remember that this was done in the context of a trial and Catulus was the prosecutor trying to land a guy suspected of stealing in jail.

In fact, he used that attempt at aggressive humor by his opponent to strengthen his case by coming up with a witty reply. Now can you see why some Romans, especially from the elites, could have found it funny?

Humor and finding something funny is very subjective. Humor can be:

1) situational
A certain joke might be funny in one situation, while not funny in another one. You would not be telling the same joke at a wedding and a funeral for example.

2) personal
Jokes can vary and whether they are funny can heavily depend on the person. One person might find the joke hilarious, while another will not. This can depend on the person’s background, their history, their personal opinions and many other personal factors.

3) cultural
Jokes can also be very cultural. You need to understand the cultural context in them in order to find the humor. A lot of jokes depend on the subtleties of the language they are said in, or might be a reference to some particular book, regional stereotype or incident that you might not always be aware of, if you are not from that particular country or region.

The exchange between Catulus and his opponent is funny because it happened in the context of a trial. So in that situation it left the entire court room laughing. It might not have had the same effect if it had happened while the guys were having a picnic.

There was also a strong personal factor. The incident was discussed by friends of Catulus and fellow lawyers and orators. For them, this was a prime example of wit. The guy on trial probably did not find it that funny.

The joke has a big cultural element as well, as the primary tactic of the opponent was to use a play on words based on the fact that the word “catulus” means puppy in Latin. This is a very language specific thing. For someone who speaks English or any other language, this association between the name and a puppy dog are not clear.

After this brief introduction into the world of Roman humor and witticism, we will try to dig deeper into what makes things funny and how to be funny. We will use some tips and advice from the Romans themselves in order to do that.

Catulus himself can serve as an inspiration for you. Because of his quick wit and humor skills, he was able to fend off an opponent’s attempt at humor and ridicule and actually strengthen his own case. At the end of this article, you too will have the tools necessary to do what Catulus did in whatever situation you may find yourself.

While the Ancient Romans lived two thousand years ago, their works keep on having a profound effect on our world even today. There are amazing parallels between their world and our world. They were an inquisitive and eloquent people and had the amazing ability to grasp at problems and come up with solutions. Many of their ideas are still as pertinent and applicable today as they were millennia ago.

Actually the Ancient Romans also had a wicked (sometimes very perverted) sense of humor!

Just take a look at some of the graffiti that was found in the ruins of Ancient Pompeii:

“Weep, you girls. My penis has given you up. Now it penetrates men’s behinds. Goodbye, wondrous femininity!“

“Restitutus says: “Restituta, take off your tunic, please, and show us your hairy privates”.“

“Satura was here on September 3rd.“

“I screwed the barmaid.“

“The one who buggers a fire burns his penis.“

“Palmyra. The thirst quencher.”

“Lesbianus, you defecate and you write, ‘Hello, everyone!’“

“Secundus likes to screw boys.“

“Theophilus, don’t perform oral sex on girls against the city wall like a dog.“

written three times:
“Secundus defecated here”
“Secundus defecated here”
“Secundus defecated here”

“Floronius, privileged soldier of the 7th legion, was here. The women did not know of his presence. Only six women came to know, too few for such a stallion.“

LOL

Those silly Romans!

Pompeii was not the only city of the time to have such funny inhabitants. In fact, Rome itself was known for having quite many jokesters, the most famous of which was probably Cicero. He was a Roman politician, lawyer, and philosopher all rolled into one and was quite renowned for his wit and joking. He is also one of the guys who left us some wonderful works on humor and how to apply it.

His work, “De Oratore”, is considered one of the most complete discussions of rhetoric ever written and was a source of wisdom for many generations that came after him. It contains a lengthy discussion on wit and humor, one which will be one of our primary sources of quotes.

Another important source of inspiration will be Quintilian and his “Institutio Oratoria”. This one also contains a lengthy passage on humor. While Cicero’s work was written as a dialogue between several characters, Quintilian’s work was written as a textbook.

These classic texts are not the only works to give us a glimpse of what is funny. Plays and poetry based on comedy and satire were also a big part of Roman life and from them we can also get a sense of Roman humor. For example the satires of Horace are known for their exploration of human happiness. He advocated a life of inner self-sufficiency and moderation, and strove to take everything that comes to him with a stroke of humor.

While these works were very Roman in their inspiration and outlook, they were also partially inspired by the Ancient Greeks. Especially Aristotle and his discussion of humor probably cast a big shadow in the theoretical musings of the philosophers.

Unfortunately, like many works of antiquity, Aristotle’s main treatise on humor has been lost in history. This is also the state of affairs with many other ancient works on humor. From secondary sources, we know that there were many of these written, but only a few survived.

The fact that many works were lost throughout the ages will complicate our analysis. Another problem is the fact that most humor was never recorded. The combination of these two things will give us only a partial view on Roman humor, but we will have to work with what we have.

The lack of sources especially applies to the humor of the lower classes. Their humor most likely differed from the humor of the upper classes and so we are missing the variety that was inherent in Roman society. Lower class humor was a bit more vulgar and crude, while for the upper classes eloquence and wit was prized more.

The seven sages of shitting
In the Ancient Roman Empire, there were public toilets set up in many different places in order to facilitate people in getting their needs done.

Unlike today, where taking a dump is a private affair, the arrangement of Roman toilets encouraged social exchanges. There were no private stalls, but instead everything was public, with a series of holes one after the other without any barriers separating them. People would sit next to each other and talk about anything and everything, while at the same time trying to dump their load.

Ostia was the harbor city of Rome and so was a bustling center of activity. Archeological digs have uncovered one of its public toilets, which has been dubbed the Room of the Seven Sages.

The reason for this name is because of the way the room was decorated. High above the latrines were paintings of the Seven Ancient Sages, dressed in their scholarly robes and taking a shit!

Written under them were ancient words of wisdom on how to take a proper dump.

Solon of Athens: “Solon rubbed his belly to defecate well.”
Thales of Miletus: “Thales admonished those shitting to strain hard.”
Chilon of Sparta: “Cunning Chilon taught to fart silently.”

Unfortunately the paintings of the other four sages were not preserved.

Luckily, below those paintings there were pictures of ordinary people and also other grafitti and many of those have survived.

“No one talks to you much, Priscianus, until you use the sponge on a stick.“

“You are sitting on a mule-driver.“

“I’m hurrying up.“

“Shake yourself about so you’ll go faster.“

“Friend, the proverb escapes you; shit well and fuck the doctors.“

So you see, the Ancient Romans knew how to take a shit in style!

The theory of humor and some practical tips
Now that we have taken a short excursion into the world of ordinary Roman humor, we can turn to the written works and take a closer look at the theory of humor and especially the practical tips on being funny that these works give.

In order to structure his analysis, Cicero in his treatise on laughter and humor asks five important questions:

“Concerning laughter, there are five things which are subjects of consideration: one, ‘What it is;’ another, ‘Whence it originates;’ a third, ‘Whether it becomes the orator to wish to excite laughter;’ a fourth, ‘To what degree;’ a fifth, ‘What are the several kinds of the ridiculous?’“ (De Oratore)

We will use the same structure in our analysis.

What is laughter?

“What laughter itself is,’ by what means it is excited, where it lies, how it arises, and bursts forth so suddenly that we are unable, though we desire, to restrain it, and how it affects at once the sides, the face, the veins, the countenance, the eyes, let Democritus consider; for all this has nothing to do with my remarks, and if it had to do with them, I should not be ashamed to say that I am ignorant of that which not even they understand who profess to explain it.“ (De Oratore)

Laughter is something hard to define. Cicero did not attempt to define it and instead pointed to Democritus, a Greek philosopher who lived centuries before him. Democritus was known as the “laughing philosopher” as he was always laughing. The reason for his laughter? The absurdity of the human condition.

In modern times, there has been some research carried out on the nature of laughter, how it arises and what happens in the body before and after it bursts out. There are several sections of the brain that are involved, but a lot of research still needs to be carried out in order to understand the process better.

From where does it arise?
There are several theories on why people laugh. The most prominent one in the Ancient World among the Greeks and Romans was the superiority theory. You laugh at something ridiculous, because you somehow feel superior. You laugh at things that are pointed out, things that are incongruous, or things that remind you of the absurdity of the current state of affairs.

“But the seat and as it were province of what is laughed at, (for that is the next point of inquiry) lies in a certain offensiveness and deformity; for those sayings are laughed at solely or chiefly which point out and designate something offensive in an inoffensive manner.“ (De Oratore)

Superiority theory was the most prominent theory of laughter among the Ancient Greeks and Romans. Cicero points out that laughter is never far removed from derision.

“For I do not think that anybody can give an adequate explanation, though many have attempted to do so, of the cause of laughter, which is excited not merely by words or deeds, but sometimes even by touch. Moreover, there is great variety in the things which raise a laugh, since we laugh not merely at those words or actions which are smart or witty, but also at those which reveal folly, anger or fear. Consequently, the cause of laughter is uncertain, since laughter is never far removed from derision. For, as Cicero says, “Laughter has its basis in some kind or other of deformity or ugliness,” and whereas, when we point to such a blemish in others, the result is known as wit, it is called folly when the same jest is turned against ourselves.” (Institutio Oratoria)

Laughter is often something uncontrollable.

“It often breaks out against our will and extorts confession of its power, not merely from our face and voice, but convulses the whole body as well.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

So what types of prerequisites should a person who wants to cause laughter in others have?

“For it involves a certain power of observation, and rules for its employment have been laid down by writers both of Greece and Rome, I will insist on this much, that it depends mainly on nature and opportunity.” (Institutio Oratoria)

Is it appropriate for the orator to raise laughter?
Laughter and being able to cause laughter are desirable characteristics and are of great advantage to you. It’s actually a very important skill that you should master in order to become successful. Many charismatic people are also witty and can cause people to laugh and that just adds to their personal glow. If you want to be a person who attracts people just by your presence, the way you carry yourself and how you interact with others, being witty and funny is very important.

“A jocose manner, too, and strokes of wit, give pleasure to an audience, and are often of great advantage to the speaker.“ (De Oratore)

Your humor should be elegant and fit for purpose. Humor can be used on many occasions, whether at work or in your private life.

“It is an elegant kind of humour, satirical with a mixture of gravity, and adapted to oratory as well as to polite conversation. Indeed all the kinds of humour of which I have spoken, are seasonings not more appropriate to law-pleadings in the forum, than to any other kind of discourse. For that which is mentioned by Cato, (who has reported many apophthegms, several of which have been produced by me as examples) seems to me a very happy saying, that Gaius Publius used to observe that Publius Mummius was a man for all occasions; so it certainly is with regard to our present subject, that there is no time of life in which wit and polite humour may not very properly be exercised.“ (De Oratore)

Being able to cause laughter and humor has its advantages. You can get your point across in a more convincing way and it can also be a way to attack your opponent or in a playful manner to deflect attacks from him.

“But, to come to the third point, it certainly becomes the orator to excite laughter; either because mirth itself attracts favour to him by whom it is raised; or because all admire wit, which is often comprised in a single word, especially in him who replies, and sometimes in him who attacks; or because it overthrows the adversary, or hampers him, or makes light of him, or discourages, or refutes him; or because it proves the orator himself to be a man of taste, or learning, or polish; but chiefly because it mitigates and relaxes gravity and severity, and often, by a joke or a laugh, breaks the force of offensive remarks, which cannot easily be overthrown by arguments.“ (De Oratore)

Humor is a powerful weapon which can be used for different situations. With humor you can circumvent logic and access a person’s emotions, which can often be a better way of achieving your objectives than by using logic. Humans are emotional creatures and being able to work on the level of emotions (instead of logic) is something that will have a tremendous impact on your success with other people.

“I now turn to a very different talent, namely that which dispels the graver emotions of the judge by exciting his laughter, frequently diverts his attention from the facts of the case, and sometimes even refreshes him and revives him when he has begun to be bored or wearied by the case.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

In Ancient Rome, there even existed some people who tried to earn their living by sponging off rich people. Plautus, in many of his comedies, has a parasite as one of his stock characters. For example, in one of his plays called “Stichus”, he has a character named Gelasimus. This guy is a classic parasite who tries to live off other people and the play starts with him recounting what types of tricks he will use to get himself invited to dinner.

Basically, his entire trick was trying to be funny and thereby get fed. So he goes around being funny and gets free stuff. When he learns that there are some other “parasitos ridiculissimos” or “funny parasites” trying to do the same trick on the guy who he has been sponging off of, he decides to hit the joke books and learn some funny jokes in order to outplay them. So being funny can get you fed.

Although I think the classic orators would look down upon you, if you tried being a funny parasite. We are looking to be morally upstanding after all. However, the fact that in Ancient Rome being funny was one of the tricks these parasites used to get a free dinner, shows you how powerful humor can be.

Humor can not only be used to get a free diner, but it can also get you out of bad situations.

“Again, it frequently turns the scale in matters of great importance, as I have already observed: or instance, it often dispels hatred or anger. A proof of this is given by the story of the young men of Tarentum, who had made a number of scurrilous criticisms of Pyrrhus over the dinner table: they were called upon to answer for their statements, and, since the charge was one that admitted neither of denial nor of excuse, they succeeded in escaping, thanks to a happy jest which made the king laugh; for one of the accused said, “Yes, and if the bottle hadn’t been empty, we should have killed you!” a jest which succeeded in dissipating the animosity which the charge had aroused.” (Institutio Oratoria)

Cicero in the last book he ever wrote, “De ofiiciis” or “On Duties”, defines the proper place of joking in everyday life. He also states that jesting should not be extravagant, but that you should be moderate in its use. You can achieve a lot more with subtle and witty humor than you can with clownish humor. You want people laughing with you (and admiring your class and witticism) rather than laughing at you.

“We may, of course, indulge in sport and jest, but in the same way as we enjoy sleep or other relaxations, and only when we have satisfied the claims of our earnest, serious tasks. Further than that, the manner of jesting itself ought not to be extravagant or immoderate, but refined and witty.” (De ofiiciis)

In order to be a dignified man of character, you should follow some rules on when it is proper to joke around and when not to. You do not want to end up looking like a bufoon. Humor is especially a good way of answering attacks against yourself and can be a powerful way of winning the audience to your side.

“While you denied that art had anything to do with facetiousness, you brought to our notice something that seemed worthy of precept; for you said that regard ought to be paid to persons, times, and circumstances, that jesting might not detract from dignity; a rule which is particularly observed by Crassus. But this rule only directs that jokes should be suppressed when there is no fair occasion for them; what we desire to know is, how we may use them when there is occasion; as against an adversary, especially if his folly be open to attack, or against a foolish, covetous, trifling witness, if the audience seem disposed to listen patiently.

Those sayings are more likely to be approved which we utter on provocation, than those which we utter when we begin an attack; for the quickness of wit, which is shown in answering, is more remarkable, and to reply is thought allowable, as being natural to the human temper; since it is presumed that we should have remained quiet if we had not been attacked; as in that very speech to which you alluded scarcely anything was said by our friend Crassus here, anything at least that was at all humorous, which he did not utter in reply, and on provocation. For there was so much gravity and authority in Domitius, that the objections which came from him seemed more likely to be enfeebled by jests than broken by arguments.“ (De Oratore)

You should judge all circumstances when you are joking around, since many times it can backfire on you. The quote below recounts a time, when Philippus, a lawyer tried to joke about how small the witness he was about to question was. However he did not consider the fact that the presiding judge was even smaller than the witness and it did not go well with him. A joke can often offend the crowd, so you need to weight the proper time and place, when you are about to joke around.

“The first point to be observed, however, is, I think, that we should not fancy ourselves obliged to utter a jest whenever one may be uttered. A very little witness was produced. May I question him? says Philippus. The judge who presided, being in a hurry, replied, Yes, if he is short. You shall have no fault to find, said Philippus, for I shall question him very short. This was ridiculous enough; but Lucius Amifex was sitting as judge in the cause, who was shorter than the witness himself; so that all the laughter was turned upon the judge, and hence the joke appeared scurrilous. Those good things, therefore, which hit those whom you do not mean to hit, however witty they are, are yet in their nature scurrilous.” (De Oratore)

To what extent?
Now that we know that humor is beneficial and some rules on when to apply it, we can look at to what extent we should apply humor.

“But to what degree the laughable should be carried by the orator requires very diligent consideration; a point which we placed as the fourth subject of inquiry; for neither great vice, such as is united with crime, nor great misery, is a subject for ridicule and laughter; since people will have those guilty of enormous crimes attacked with more forcible weapons than ridicule; and do not like the miserable to be derided, unless perhaps when they are insolent; and you must be considerate, too, of the feelings of mankind, lest you rashly speak against those who are personally beloved.“ (De Oratore)

The most important thing to remember is that you need to be able to control your passions. Your joking should always be under control. Otherwise you might regret it later.

“Then, too, certain bounds must be observed in our amusements and we must be careful not to carry things too far and, swept away by our passions, lapse into some shameful excess.” (De ofiiciis)

You need to apply caution when joking and there are some subjects you should not joke about.

“Such is the caution that must be principally observed in joking. Those subjects accordingly are most readily jested upon which are neither provocative of violent aversion, nor of extreme compassion. All matter for ridicule is therefore found to lie in such defects as are to be observed in the characters of men not in universal esteem, nor in calamitous circumstances, and who do not appear deserving to be dragged to punishment for their crimes; such topics nicely managed create laughter. In deformity, also, and bodily defects, is found fair enough matter for ridicule; but we have to ask the same question here as is asked on other points, ‘How far the ridicule may be carried?’ In this respect it is not only directed that the orator should say nothing impertinently, but also that, even if he can say anything very ridiculously, he should avoid both errors, lest his jokes become either buffoonery or mimicry; qualities of which we shall better understand the nature when we come to consider the different species of the ridiculous.” (De Oratore)

Moderation is key, if you want humor to have powerful effects. You do not want to look like a bufoon.

“A regard, therefore, to proper times, moderation and forbearance in jesting, and a limitation in the number of jokes, will distinguish the orator from the buffoon; and the circumstance, besides, that we joke with an object, not that we may appear to be jesters, but that we may gain some advantage, while they joke all day without any purpose whatever.“ (De Oratore)

Do not do mimicry too much. You can do slight touches of it, but too much of it will make you look like a fool. People will laugh at you and not with you. The Ancient Roman orators were not really down with slapstick comedy. They felt it was totally unworthy of a dignified fellow and will just make you look like a dancing monkey.

“There is another kind of jesting which is extremely ludicrous, namely mimicry; but it is allowable only in us to attempt it cautiously, if ever we do attempt it, and but for a moment, otherwise it is far from becoming to a man of education. A third is distortion of features, utterly unworthy of us. A fourth is indecency in language, a disgrace not only to the forum, but to any company of well-bred people.“ (De Oratore)

Humor should never be designed to wound, but instead it should be playful.

“Much depends on the occasion on which a jest is uttered. For in social gatherings and the intercourse of every day a certain freedom is not unseemly in persons of humble rank, while liveliness is becoming to all. Our jests should never be designed to wound, and we should never make it our ideal at once lose a friend sooner than lose a jest.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

You should withhold your jokes at occassions that are not proper for them.

“Consequently he must not display his wit on every possible occasion, but must sacrifice a jest sooner than sacrifice his dignity.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

When joking, make sure that the jokes don’t end up offending anyone. Otherwise you might have a feud on your hands. Also it is not proper to make generalized jokes, those which are designed to hurt and make fun of entire groups, nations or classes of society.

“It is the duty not merely of an orator, but of any reasonable human being, when attacking one whom it is dangerous to offend, to take care that his remarks do not end in exciting serious enmity, or the necessity for a grovelling apology. Sarcasm that applies to a number of persons is injudicious: I refer to cases where it is directed against whole nations or classes of society, or against rank and pursuits which are common to many. A good man will see that everything he says is consistent with his dignity and the respectability of his character; for we pay too dear for the laugh we raise if it is at the cost of our own integrity.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Jokes depend on the situation and the audience. Plutarch in his “Table Talks” describes the etiquette of joking and jots some good observations.

“Besides, the company must be considered; for what a man will only laugh at when mentioned amongst his friends and familiar acquaintance, he will not endure to be told of before his wife, father, or his tutor.” (Table Talk)

When joking, you should also look at your own standing in society. If you are a rich guy, it might not be very proper to make jokes about poor people, especially in front of poor people. While if you are a poor guy, then making jokes against your own is fine.

“Again, those jokes are accounted less affronting which reflect somewhat also on the man that makes them; as when one poor man, base-born fellow, or lover jokes upon another.” (Table Talk)

What are the categories of the laughable?
Humor can be divided into several categories. The general nature of jokes includes exaggerations, distortions and plays on words in order to make a point and come to the ultimate goal: raise a laugh. Jokes are meant to dig deeply into the subconscious and play with the emotions of the audience.

“The chief difficulty which confronts the orator in this connexion lies in the fact that sayings designed to raise a laugh are generally untrue (and falsehood always involves a certain meanness), and are often deliberately distorted, and, further, never complimentary: while the judgments formed by the audience on such jests will necessarily vary, since the effect of a jest depends not on the reason, but on an emotion which it is difficult, if not impossible, to describe.” (Institutio Oratoria)

You can get inspiration for humor and jokes from many sources. Whether it is the absurdities of the world and our common reality, from the words and acts of others, or from different experiences that happened in your own life.

“The powers of invention and expression come into play no less where jests are concerned, while as regards expression its force will depend in part on the choice of words, in part on the figures employed. Laughter then will be derived either from the physical appearance of our opponent or from his character as revealed in his words and actions, or from external sources; for all forms of raillery come under one or other of these heads; if the raillery is serious, we style it as severe; if, on the other hand, it is of a lighter character, we regard it as humorous. These themes for jest may be pointed out to the eye or described in words or indicated by some mot.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Cicero stated that there are two types of wit: one running through whole speech and one based on short witty remarks.

“As there are two kinds of wit, one running regularly through a whole speech, the other pointed and concise; the ancients denominated the former humour, the latter jesting.“ (De Oratore)

Humor can apply to yourself, to others, or to something general. With humor, you are either the one telling it or the audience, you can also be the target of the humor. Other people can either be the audience of your jokes, the butts of your jokes or the ones delivering the jokes, either at your own or others expense.

“The application of humour to oratory may be divided into three heads: for there are three things out of which we may seek to raise a laugh, to wit, others, ourselves, or things intermediate. In the first case we either reprove or refute or make light of or retort or deride the arguments of others. In the second we speak of things which concern ourselves in a humorous manner and, to quote the words of Cicero, say things which have a suggestion of absurdity. For there are certain sayings which are regarded as folly if they slip from us unawares, but as witty if uttered ironically. The third kind consists, as Cicero also tells us, in cheating expectations, in taking words in a different sense from what was intended, and in other things which affect neither party to the suit, and which I have, therefore, styled intermediate.” (Institutio Oratoria)

Humor can be divided into verbal and content based (words versus things). With verbal humor, it is the words themselves which are the carriers of the humor, either in the way they are used or where they are placed. With content based humor, what matters is the story itself, which is humorous.

Words vs. Things:

“There are two sorts of jokes, one of which is excited by things, the other by words.” (De Oratore)

Content based humor can either come through the use of stories or narration, so it can be told, but it can also be done through doing something, for example gestures or slapstick comedy.

“Further, things designed to raise a laugh may either be said or done. In the latter case laughter is sometimes caused by an act possessing a certain amount of seriousness as well, as in the case of Marcus Caelius the praetor, who, when the consul Isauricus broke his curule chair, had another put in its place, the seat of which was made of leather thongs, by way of allusion to the story that the consul had once been scourged by his father: sometimes, again, it is aroused by an act which passes the grounds of decency, as in the case of Caelius’ box, a jest which was not fit for an orator or any respectable man to make.

On the other hand the joke may lie in some remark about a ridiculous look or gesture; such jests are very attractive, more especially when delivered with every appearance of seriousness; for there are no jests so insipid as those which parade the fact that they are intended to be witty. Still, although the gravity with which a jest is uttered increases its attraction, and the mere fact that the speaker does not laugh himself makes his words laughable, there is also such a thing as a humorous look, manner or gesture, provided always that they observe the happy mean. Further, a jest will either be free and lively, like the majority of those uttered by Aulus Galba, or abusive, like those with which Junius Bassus recently made us familiar, or bitter, like those of Cassius Severus, or gentle, like those of Domitius Afer.” (Institutio Oratoria)

Things:

“By things, whenever any matter is told in the way of a story; as you, Crassus, formerly stated in a speech against Memmius, that he had eaten a piece of Largius’s arm, because he had had a quarrel with him at Tarracina about a courtesan; it was a witty story, but wholly of your own invention. You added this particular, that throughout Tarracina these letters were inscribed on every wall, M M LLL; and that when you inquired what they meant, an old man of the town replied, Mordacious Memmius Lacerates Largius’s Limb. You perceive clearly how facetious this mode of joking may be, how elegant, how suitable’ to an orator; whether you have any true story to tell, (which, however must be interspersed with fictitious circumstances,) or whether you merely invent.

The excellence of such jesting is, that you can describe things as occurring in such a way, that the manners, the language, and every look of the person of whom you speak, may be represented, so that the occurrence may seem to the audience to pass and take place at the very time when you address them. Another kind of jest taken from things, is that which is derived from a depraved sort of imitation, or mimicry; as when Crassus also exclaimed, By your nobility, by your family, what else was there at which the assembly could laugh but that mimicry of look and tone? But when he said, by your statues, and added something of gesture by extending his arm, we all laughed immoderately.“ (De Oratore)

Words (we will cover humor based on words in more detail later):

“But in words, the ridiculous is that which is excited by the point of a particular expression or thought.“ (De Oratore)

A joke is best when it consists both of humor based on words, as well as content (things).

“Let us now consider briefly the sorts of jests that chiefly excite laughter. Let this, then, be our first division, that whatever is expressed wittily, consists sometimes in a thought, sometimes in the mere language, but that men are most delighted with a joke when the laugh is raised by the thought and the language in conjunction. But remember this, that whatever topics I shall touch upon, from which ridicule may be drawn, from almost the same topics serious thoughts may be derived: there is only this difference, that seriousness is used on dignified subjects with gravity, joking on such as are in some degree unbecoming, and as it were grotesque; for instance, we may with the very same words commend a thrifty servant, and jest upon one that is extravagant. That old saying of Nero about a thieving servant is humorous enough, That he was the only one from whom nothing in the house was sealed or locked up; a thing which is not only said of a good servant, but in the very same words. From the same sources spring all kinds of sayings.“ (De Oratore)

How do you differentiate between what is word based humor and what is content based humor? You do the translation test. If it can be said in other words (or translated into another language) and still be funny, then the humor is content based, if not, then it is word based.

“The kinds of jesting which remain are (as I distinguished them before) such as consist in thought or in expression. That which, in whatever terms you express it, is still wit, consists in the thought; that which by a change of words loses its spirit, has no wit but what depends on expression.“ (De Oratore)

Plays on words
One of the basic verbal humor techniques is called play on words. This implies some sort of a twist on words, familiar cliches, verses, metaphors, quotes, slogans or basically on any type of expression that would be familiar to the public. In the ancient times, this would imply verses from plays or quotes from famous speeches, nowadays this might mean things like ad slogans, movie titles, or song lyrics.

This technique often uses the ambiguous meanings of words and cliches to try to come up with a humorous twist. It plays with predictability and switches from the expected turn of events to create an element of the unexpected and surprise.

There are five basic play on word techniques:

1) double entendre – use of an ambiguous word or phrase that allows for it to be interpreted differently (double interpretation)

2) simple truth – this is the opposite of a double entendre and takes the explicit meaning of a word or idiom and interprets it literally

3) reforming – altering one or two words through changing letters, the spelling, or substituting a homonym or a word that rhymes in place of the usual word or words

4) the take off – first offers the acceptable interpretation of the cliché, followed by a realistic, but highly exaggerated commentary, frequently a double entendre

5) associations – utilize combinations of cliches or titles by relating different subjects together

Plays on words thrive on ambiguity. The same principles that you use in order to construct a joke, can also be used in order to express a serious thought in an elegant way.

“Those smart sayings which spring from some ambiguity are thought extremely ingenious; but they are not always employed to express jests, but often even grave thoughts. “ (De Oratore)

In order to better illustrate ambiguity and how it can be used to both construct a serious thought and a joke we can use the story below:

“For example, Nero said of a dishonest slave, “No one was more trusted in my house: there was nothing closed or sealed to him.” Such ambiguity may even go so far as to present all the appearance of a riddle.” (Institutio Oratoria)

There was a slave in Nero’s house who would steal things and so nothing was “closed or sealed to him”. The way the sentence above was constructed was meant as a joke, however if you substitute the word honest slave for dishonest, then the sentence changes from having a funny meaning to a more serious meaning.

The result of ambiguity and wordplay is often surprise.

“The ambiguous gains great admiration, as I observed before, from its nature, for it appears the part of a wit to be able to turn the force of a word to quite another sense than that in which other people take it; but it excites surprise rather than laughter, unless when it happens to be joined with some other sorts of jesting.” (De Oratore)

Double entendres tend to be ironic, but sarcastic figures of speech that mean something different, or even opposite of what is actually being said.

“We may note therefore that jests which turn on the meaning of things are at once more pointed and more elegant. “ (Institutio Oratoria)

A good example of a double entendre is the story about Titius below.

“Plays on ambiguous words are extremely ingenious, but depend wholly on the expression, not on the matter. They seldom, however, excite much laughter, but are rather commended as jests of elegance and scholarship; as that about Titius, whom, being a great ballplayer, and at the same time suspected of having broken the sacred images by night. One day he did not come to play as usual, when his companions inquired about what has become of him. “He may be excused for not attending,” said Terentius Vespa, “for he has broken an arm.““ (De Oratore)

You noticed the double usage of “broken an arm”?

A good illustration of a double entendre play on words, comes to us from Cicero. At the time, Cicero was defending Milo, a man accussed of murdering Publius Clodius Pulcher. In the course of the case, he was asked a question on when Pulcher was killed. This implied the time of death. Cicero replied: “late“. This was an obvious play on words, since it could imply the time of death, as Pulcher was killed late in the evening, but Cicero was referring to another type of late. Clodius Pulcher was a populist politician who was hated by certain segments of Roman society and with his quib, Cicero was implying that he should have been killed much earlier in life.

“When Milo’s accuser, by way of proving that he had lain in wait for Clodius, alleged that he had put up at Bovillae before the ninth hour in order to wait until Clodius left his villa, and kept repeating the question, “When was Clodius killed?”, Cicero replied, “Late!” “ (Institutio Oratoria)

The opposite of the double entendre technique is the simple truth technique. Here instead of substituting a different meaning to the word used in the sentence, you use the literal meaning of the word or phrase.

“This kind of jest finds its most frequent opportunity in ambiguity, as for example, when Cascellius, on being consulted by a client who said “I wish to divide my ship,” replied, “You will lose it then.” “ (Institutio Oratoria)

In the example above, the client meant that he wished to sell part of the ownership of his ship, however Cascellius used the literal meaning of the word “divide” in coming up with his quip, which implied that if the ship is split in half, it would sink.

Here are some more examples of the simple truth:

“There is also a kind of joke, not at all absurd, which lies in expression, when you seem to understand a thing literally, and not in its obvious meaning; in which kind it was that Tutor, the old mimic, an exceedingly laughable actor, exclusively distinguished himself. But I have nothing to do with actors; I only wished this kind of jesting to be illustrated by some notable example. Of this kind was your answer lately, Crassus, to one who asked you whether he should be troublesome if he came to you some time before it was light: and you said, You will not be troublesome: when he rejoined, You will order yourself to be waked then? to which you replied, Surely I said that you would not be troublesome.

Of the same sort was that old joke which they say that Marcus Scipio Maluginensis made, when he had to report from his century that Acidinus was voted consul, and the officer cried out, Declare as to Lucius Manlius, he said, I declare him to be a worthy man, and an excellent member of the commonwealth. The answer of Lucius Porcius Nasica to Cato the censor was humorous enough, when Cato said to him, Are you truly satisfied that you have taken a wife? No, indeed, replied Nasica, I am not truly satisfied. Such jests are insipid, or witty only when another answer is expected; for our surprise (as I before observed) naturally amuses us; and thus, when we are deceived, as it were, in our expectation, we laugh.“ (De Oratore)

Another play on words technique is called reforming, which basically deals with substitution, either of letters in words or in entire words, either by other words that sound similar or rhyme with the word to be replaced.

“But as there are several sorts of ambiguity, with regard to which accurate study is necessary, we should be attentive and on the watch for words; and thus, though we may avoid frigid witticisms, (for we must be cautious that a jest be not thought far-fetched,) we shall hit upon may acute sayings. Another kind is that which consists in a slight change in a word, which, when produced by the alteration of a letter, as Cato called Nobilior – Mobilior.” (De Oratore)

A great example of reforming, or the substitution of one word for another to have a double meaning comes again from Cicero. There are two Latin words which have a very similar sound: “coquus” for “cook” and “quoque” for “also”. A candidate who came from lowly origins, with his father being a cook, was to be voted upon for some office one day. Cicero made a cheap shot at his origins when he told him: “I will vote for you too (quoque)”. Quintilian didn’t really like this low type of humor, but included this example in his book in order to illustrate the technique of substituting different words for each other in order to come up with a double meaning. In the modern English language, there is also a word that sounds very similar: “cock”. That is a great word for double usage.

“That sometimes slipped out even from Cicero, though not when he was pleading in the courts: for example, once when a candidate, alleged to be the son of a cook, solicited someone else’s vote in his presence, he said, Ego quoque tibi favebo. I say words capable of two different meanings, but because such jests are rarely effective, unless they are helped out by actual facts as well as similarity of sound.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Many techniques of reforming work by the subtraction or addition of letters:

“Punning names by the addition, subtraction or change of letters: I find, for instance, a case where a certain Acisculus was called Pacisculus because of some “compact” which he had made, while one Placidus was nicknamed Acidus because of his “sour” temper, and one Tullius was dubbed Tollius because he was a thief. Such puns are more successful with things than with names. It was, for example, a neat hit of Afer’s when he said that Manlius Sura, who kept rushing to and fro while he was pleading, waving his hands, letting his toga fall and replacing it, was not merely pleading, but giving himself a lot of needless trouble. For there is a spice of wit about the word satagere in itself, even if there were no resemblance to any other word. Similar jests may be produced by the addition or removal of the aspirate, or by splitting up a word or joining it to another: the effect is generally poor, but the practice is occasionally permissible.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Another technique is called the take off. The take off features some sort of a premise or initial situation and then finishes it up with a bizarre reference or a twisted view on reality. The take off can use a double entendre to start and then finishes it off with a twist.

“Resemblance and ambiguity may be used in conjunction: Galba for example said to a man who stood very much at his ease when playing ball, “You stand as if you were one of Caesar’s candidates.” The ambiguity lies in the word stand, while the indifference shewn by the player supplies the resemblance.” (Insitutio Oratoria)

You can use resemblances in order to upgrade your joke:

“Still more ingenious is the application of one thing to another on the ground of some resemblance, that is to say the adaptation to one thing of a circumstance which usually applies to something else.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

For example:

“And Pedo said of a heavy-armed gladiator who was pursuing another armed with a net and failed to strike him, “He wants to catch him alive.”“ (Institutio Oratoria)

The Ancient Romans used verses from poems, plays or other literally works for humorous effects. We can use cliché slogans from movies or songs in the same way.

“Often too a verse is humorously introduced, either just as it is, or with some little alteration; or some part of a verse.“ (De Oratore)

Proverbs are a good source of cliché jokes that you can use for word play.

“To the same purpose proverbs may be applied; as in the joke of Scipio, when Asellus was boasting that while he had served in the army, he had marched through all the provinces: “Drive an ass”. Such jokes, as they cannot, if any change is made in the words of them, retain the same grace ,are necessarily considered as turning, not on the matter, but on the mere expression.“ (De Oratore)

You can use various techniques to work with cliché quotes:

“Apt quotation of verse may add to the effect of the wit. The lines may be quoted in their entirety without alteration, which is so easy a task that Ovid composed an entire book against bad poets out of lines taken from the quatrains of Macer. Such a procedure is rendered specially attractive if it be seasoned by a spice of ambiguity, as in the line which Cicero quoted against Lartius, a shrewd and cunning fellow who was suspected of unfair dealing in a certain case, – “Had not Ulysses Lartius intervened.” – Or the words may be slightly altered, as in the line quoted against the senator who, although he had always in private times been regarded as an utter fool, was, after inheriting an estate, asked to speak first on a motion – “What men call wisdom is a legacy.” – where legacy is substituted for the original faculty.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

You can parody well known verses or slogans:

“Or again we may invent verses resembling well-known lines, a trick styled parody by the Greeks.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Metaphors, allegories, using words antithetically are all good ways to create humor:

“Those jests also lie in words, which spring from some allegorical phraseology, or from a metaphorical use of some one word, or from using words ironically. From allegorical phraseology: as when Rusca, in old times, proposed the law to fix the ages of candidates for offices, and Marcus Servilius, who opposed the law, said to him; Tell me, Marcus Pinarius Rusca, if I speak against you, will you speak ill of me as you have spoken of others? As you shall sow, replied he, so you shall reap. From the use of a single word in a metaphorical sense: as when the elder Scipio said to the Corinthians, who offered to put up a statue of him in the place where those of other commanders were, That he did not like such comrades.

From the ironical use of words: as when Crassus spoke for Aculeo before Marcus Perperna as judge, and Lucius Aelius Lama appeared for Gratidianus against Aculeo, and Lama, who was deformed, as you know, offered impertinent interruptions, Crassus said, Let us hear this beautiful youth. When a laugh followed, I could not form my own shape, said Lamia, but I could form my understanding. Then, said Crassus, let us hear this able orator; when a greater laugh than before ensued. Such jests are agreeable as well in grave as in humorous speeches. For I observed, a little while ago, that the subjects for jest and for gravity are distinct; but that the same form of expression will serve for grave remarks, as for jokes.

Words antithetically used are a great ornament to language; and the same mode of using them is often also humorous; thus, when the well-known Servius Galba carried to Lucius Scribonius the tribune a list of his own intimates to be appointed as judges, and Libo said, What, Galba, will you never go out of your own dining-room? Yes, replied Galba, when you go out of other men’s bedchambers. To this kind of joke the saying of Glaucia to Metellus is not very dissimilar: You have your villa at Tibur, but your court on mount Palatine.“ (De Oratore)

There are actually some words that are by themselves funny. These are words that just have a funny sound to the native speaker of the language. For example in English, many words with the sound “k” are funny words by themselves. When these are used in a joke, they make it even funnier.

Funny words:

“For there is a spice of wit about the word satagere in itself, even if there were no resemblance to any other word.” (Institutio Oratoria)

You can sometimes even make some funny words up yourself. Plautus, a Roman playwright of comedy, is well-known for sprinkling his comedies with words that he made up himself. These always drew a laugh from the audience.

Reverses
One of the biggest styles of humor is what is called the reverse. There are many definitions of a reverse in humor, however the most basic premise is to come up with the unexpected. The basic setup is when you start by saying something very ordinary and the audience is expecting the usual ending, but instead of putting in the common ending, you conclude with an unexpected twist.

“But you are aware that that is the most common kind of joke, when we expect one thing and another is said; in which case our own disappointed expectation makes us laugh.” (De Oratore)

It is one of the funniest types of humor:

“But of all jokes none create greater laughter than something said contrary to expectation; of which there are examples without number.“ (De Oratore)

An ordinary premise, with an unexpected ending:

“Similar to this is friendly admonition by way of giving advice: as when Granius persuaded a bad pleader, who had made himself hoarse with speaking, to drink a cold mixture of honey and wine as soon as he got home: I shall ruin my voice, said he, if I do so. It will be better, said Granius, than to ruin your clients.“ (De Oratore)

With a reverse, you start by creating an image in the audience’s head. Once they have this image in their mind, they will start coming up with logical ways that the situation will be resolved, and then suddenly you hit them with the unexpected. You basically shatter their previous image with a surprise and that is what will generate a laugh.

Here’s a joke from the “Philogelos”, a jokebook compiled in the 4th or 5th century AD:

“A Kymean makes a big threshing floor, stands at one edge of it, and calls to his wife on the opposite side: “Can you see me?” “Only just barely,” she calls back. “O.K., one of these days, I’ll make a threshing floor so big that not only will I not be able to see you, but you will not be able to see me either.“

When reading that joke, what were your expectations? Did you expect the ending? This is basically how reverses work. First you have the set up, and then you finish with a punchline. A joke starts off innocently describing a common situation and then bang, finishes up with a quick surprise twist. A more modern joke in the same genre goes like this: “Me and my wife, we were happy for 25 years. – And then we met.”

Visualization, Exaggeration, Misrepresentation, Incongruity
There are many other ways of crafting jokes. Many jokes depend on a type of exaggeration, where you take something that happens in reality and then exaggerate in order to make a point.

Visualization, comparisons and incongruity are also good techniques to create humor:

“Such kinds of jokes as lie in words I think that I have now sufficiently discussed; but such as relate to things are more numerous, and excite more laughter, as I observed before. Among them is narrative, a matter of exceeding difficulty; for such things are to be described and set before the eyes, as may seem to be probable, which is the excellence of narration, and such also as are grotesque, which is the peculiar province of the ridiculous; for an example, as the shortest that I recollect, let that serve which I mentioned before, the story of Crassus about Memmius.

To this head we may assign the narratives given in fables. Allusions are also drawn from history; as when Sextus Titius said he was a Cassandra, I can name, said Antonius, many of your Ajaces Oilei.Such jests are also derived from similitudes, which include either comparison or something of bodily representation. A comparison, as when Gallus, that was once a witness against Piso, said that a countless sum of money had been given to Magius the governor, and Scaurus tried to confute him, by alleging the poverty of Magius, You mistake me, Scaurus, said he, for I do not say that Magius has saved it, but that, like a man gathering nuts without his clothes, he has put it into his belly.” (De Oratore)

Ironical dissimulation:

“Ironical dissimulation has also an agreeable effect, when you say something different from what you think; not after the manner to which I alluded before, when you say the exact reverse of what you mean, as Crassus said to Lamia, but when through the whole course of a speech you are seriously jocose, your thoughts being different from your words; as our friend Scaevola said to that Septumuleius of Anagnia, (to whom its weight in gold was paid for the head of Caius Gracchus,) when he petitioned that he would take him as his lieutenant-general into Asia, What would you have, foolish man? there is such a multitude of bad citizens that, I warrant you, if you stay at Rome, you will in a few years make a vast fortune.“ (De Oratore)

More on dissimulation:

“But I will pursue the remainder of my subject. It is a kind of joking similar to a sort of dissimulation, when anything disgraceful is designated by an honourable term; as when Africanus the censor removed from his tribe that centurion who absented himself from the battle in which Paulus commanded, alleging that he had remained in the camp to guard it, and inquiring why he had such a mark of ignominy set upon him, I do not like, replied Africanus, over-vigilant people.” (De Oratore)

Misunderstanding and misrepresentation on purpose:

“It is an excellent joke, too, when you take any part of another person’s words in a different sense from that which he intended; as Fabius Maximus did with Livius Salinator, when, on Tarentum being lost, Livius had still preserved the citadel, and had made many successful sallies from it, and Fabius, some years afterwards, having retaken the town, Livius begged him to remember that it was owing to him that Tarentum was retaken. How can I do otherwise than remember, said Fabius, for I should never have retaken it if you had not lost it.“ (De Oratore)

Here is an explanation of misrepresentation:

“Indeed the essence of all wit lies in the distortion of the true and natural meaning of words: a perfect instance of this is when we misrepresent our own or another’s opinions or assert some impossibility. Juba misrepresented another man’s opinion, when he replied to one who complained of being bespattered by his horse, “What, do you think I am a Centaur?” Gaius Cassius misrepresented his own, when he said to a soldier whom he saw hurrying into battle without his sword, “Shew yourself a handy man with your fists, comrade.”“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Exaggeration (here you can employ such things as hyperbole, irony, take off and other techniques):

“Similar material for jests is supplied by genus, species, property, difference, conjugates, adjuncts, antecedents, consequents, contraries, causes, effects, and comparisons of things greater, equal, or less, as it is also by all forms of trope. Are not a large number of jests made by means of hyperbole? Take for instance Cicero’s remark about a man who was remarkable for his height, “He bumped his head against the Fabian arch,” or the remark made by Publius Oppius about the family of the Lentuli to the effect, that since the children were always smaller than their parents, the race would “perish by propagation.”

Again, what of irony? Is not even the most severe form of irony a kind of jest? Afer made a witty use of it when he replied to Didius Gallus, who, after making the utmost efforts to secure a provincial government, complained on receiving the appointment that he had been forced into accepting, “Well, then, do something for your country’s sake.”

Cicero also employed metaphor to serve his jest, when on receiving a report of uncertain authorship to the effect that Vatinius was dead, he remarked, “Well, for the meantime I shall make use of the interest.” He also employed allegory in the witticism that he was fond of making about Marcus Caelius, who was better at bringing charges than at defending his client against them, to the effect that he had a good right hand, but a weak left. As an example of the use of emphasis I may quote the jest of Aulus Villius, that Tuccius was killed by his sword falling upon him.

Figures of thought, which the Greeks call σχήματα διανοίας, may be similarly employed, and some writers have classified jests under their various headings. For we ask questions, express doubts, make assertions, threaten, wish and speak in pity or in anger. And everything is laughable that is obviously a pretence. It is easy to make fun of folly, for folly is laughable in itself; but we may improve such jests by adding something of our own. Titius Maximus put a foolish question to Campatius, who was leaving the theatre, when he asked him if he had been watching the play. “No,” replied Campatius, “I was playing ball in the stalls,” whereby he made the question seem even more foolish than it actually was.“ (Institutio Oratoria)

Incongruity is a powerful way to deliver a joke. Many modern theorists actually consider incongruity as one of the fundamental basis behind things being funny. Humor can be created when two things that logically don’t go together, are put together in a sentence. This combination seems out of place and thereby surprises the audience, making it funny.

“A union of discordant particulars is laughable: as, What is wanting to him, except fortune and virtue?” (De Oratore)

Conclusion
Actually this is not the end yet. We still haven’t covered the structure and frameworks for jokes, their real life uses, as well how to defend yourself from verbal attacks by using humor. I will try to cover this in another article.

Humor is a great way to protect yourself against verbal attacks on your own person. One good technique for this was given by Epictetus and quoted by Arrian in the “Enchiridion”:

“If you learn that someone is speaking ill of you, don’t try to defend yourself against the rumors; respond instead with, ‘Yes, and he doesn’t know the half of it, because he could have said more.’” (Enchiridion)

For now, here are two jokes from the “Philogelos”, a 4th or 5th century AD jokebook from the Roman Empire (but written in Greek).

Joke 115:
“An Abderite sees a eunuch talking to a woman and asks if she’s his wife.
The guy responds that a eunuch is unable to have a wife.
“Ah, so she’s your daughter?””

Joke 148:
“When a garrulous barber asks him: “How shall I cut your hair?”, a quick wit answers: “Silently.””

More Ancient Roman stuff:
Who were the ancient gladiators?
This post describes the way gladiators lived, fought and how they were viewed by Roman society.

The real gladiator workout
This post is based on ancient primary sources and deals with the way the gladiators used to really train in the ancient times.

How to pick up chicks the Ancient Roman way
Analysis of an Ancient Roman manual on picking up chicks.

You can also read the books by yourself:
De Oratore
The classic work on rhetoric by Cicero – Book 2, the part on humor starts after section 216.

Institutio Oratoria
This is the classic textbook on rhetoric by Quintilian – Book 6, chapter 3 is the chapter on humor.

Table Talks
Classic text by Plutarch from his larger work called “Moralia”.

De Ofiiciis
Cicero’s last work, where he describes his thoughts on how to live and behave in a moral way.

I chose different passages from the different works and arranged them in a way as to be more coherent and practical. For the section on categories, I was partially inspired by Melvin Helitzer’s “Comedy Writing Secrets” and the humor descriptions there, as well as by some other modern works on comedy.

PS: Most archaelogists today agree that the Room of the Seven Sages was most likely not a public toilet, at least they haven’t found any evidence of it, but instead a tavern hall that later was turned into a changing room. I thought it would be funnier if it indeed had been a public toilet.

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In the book, Helitzer breaks down the anatomy of humor. He does this by using what he calls the THREES formula:

Target
Hostility
Realism
Exaggeration
Emotion
Surprise

Helitzer writes that humor is often criticism and that’s why it has a target. This can be a person, place, thing or basically anything. We all have some bad feelings towards some things. With humor you can unleash all this hostility towards the target. All good jokes have truth to them. So they have a very honest realism built in. You start off with this truth and then build upon it using exaggeration in order to get your point about it across. You should incorporate your feelings here. Using all this, you need to heighten the emotion in the audience. Your aim is to build up tension. They should be at the edge of their seats waiting for the unexpected resolution. The unexpected resolution is what is the key behind all the laughter. You need surprise in order to have a joke that people laugh at.

A great way to understand these concepts is to look at what comics have done. Notice how they use these elements in order to get people to laugh. We can use one of my favorite clips from comic Chris Rock in order to analyze this. Watch the clip below. Look at who he picks as the target, how he builds up hostility, where the realism is, and where the exaggeration comes in. Examine how he builds emotion with his structure and his words. And then notice how he suddenly brings in the surprise.

In order to better understand surprise, let’s look at another clip from Chris Rock.

From the clip above, also notice how humor has its situational, personal and cultural parts. When you are telling jokes, there is always an audience you are telling them to. In which situation, to which people and in which cultural context would you tell the above joke and in which you wouldn’t tell it? What about other jokes?

So now some homework for you. Go watch some of your favorite comics and try to pick out the above elements in the THREES formula from their routines. Also notice the context they are telling the jokes in and what type of people might find them funny and which won’t.

Then go out and practice on your own!

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