Being funny is something that takes a bit of attention to a situation, a little intelligence and quick wit. Simply memorizing and regurgitating jokes can be funny, but it may not make the person funny in the grand scheme of things.

The funniest people are ones that don’t recycle their “material” but rather think of something new on the spot based on a situation. Comedians such as Chris Rock or Jay Leno are funny in the jokes that they tell, thus for some, this makes them funny people. Certainly we laugh at prepared material as the jokesters write, memorize and tell them, but that in itself may not make them “funny people”. To me the funniest people are the ones that can take a social situation and turn it funny on the spot-that is true humor.

I may be biased in this thinking because it’s the type of funny that I relate to and appreciate as a more intelligent kind of humor. For example, while sitting at a bar with a friend one night, a woman sat down next to him and put her purse on the bar. She looked over at us (and I suppose she figured we looked innocent enough) and asked us to watch her purse while she went to the restroom. She also diminishingly added that there was nothing in there but some “makeup and junk”. When she came back 5 minutes later my friend said “you were right, there was nothing in there”. Luckily she got the joke, and he later got her phone number- a good side effect of intelligent humor. Of course she knew that we had not gone through her purse but this is an example of quick witted, situational  humor that both the woman and myself appreciated.

Being funny is also about knowing your audience and making appropriate judgments on what to say and when. If you are out with a long time friend at a large gathering for instance, don’t engage in “inside” jokes that only you and your friend would acknowledge. You will get one laugh for sure, from your friend, but the rest will have no idea what is going on.

Foreign accents can be fun if you are good at them, but you’ll have to be aware of who is around so as not to offend anyone. This is likely better kept in small groups of friends.

In attempts to be funny, it pays to be cool, do not grandstand or dominate the night. No matter how funny you start out being, if you don’t let others converse, intervene and be a part of the events, funny can become annoying.

Funny in itself  has many levels, some can be funny by being very dry, cynical and stone faced but it works for them and somehow they pull it off. Some are funny by laughing at their own humor which in turn makes others laugh, and some people are funny based on body language more so than what they say-take the old Dick Van Dyke shows for example. We all can have a way of being funny that works for us, finding it is the key ito being a truly funny person. We will encounter those that don’t want to be funny due to insecurity, they don’t want to be laughed at for fear that, well, they are being laughed at. Those types likely won’t laugh with you either but don’t let that get you down- it happens.

In closing, being funny is rewarding because it makes others smile, if not for a moment. Being a truly funny person is usually an intentional act by which the speaker makes an effort to make someone laugh, or even just simply think.    

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