Self Depreciating humor

I had seen the trope page but how do you use this trope without diving into self loathing?

edited 31st Jan '11 1:14:30 PM by G.G.

I'm not sure why you'd want to use humour that loses value over time. Try to sell it after ten or twenty years and you'll barely break even.

There's one i too many in the title. ;)

I read an article about politicians and humor once, I'll edit it in if I find it. But basically, it pointed out that powerful, successful politicians, when left to make jokes without the help of speech writers and coaches, tend towards self deprecation. Why? Because self deprecation is the humor of the mighty: many who mock themselves are really saying "I'm so powerful that I can freely insult myself and poke fun at my own weaknesses, because at the end of the day, I still know I'm awesome."

So: self-confidence, a knowledge of your strengths, and the ability to demonstrate them without ever speaking of them.

Weeeell setting a limit on how much you do it helps. My brother has told me that I have a problem squeezing too many shots at myself whenever I write... myself. So I try to keep it at one or two really good jabs. Maybe more if I'm writing enough.

Hahahahahahahahaha . . .

I don't.