Jokes

Being funny. Considered by some to be harder than being sad, scary, dramatic, inspiring, etc.

To those of you who use comedy in your writing, how do you like to do it? What kinds of humor do you like to invoke?

In-universe humor annoys me. Mostly because a lot of humor is funny in a "you had to have been there" way. Very few can stand on their own as a solid joke.

Which is why deadpan snarkers are harder to make than it looks.

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What do you mean by "in-universe humor"?

Character X says a joke.

Character Y bursts out laughing.

Meanwhile, Reader Z is wondering what the fuck was so funny.

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I think in-jokes within a circle of characters. Jokes that are pretty much only funny to the author and the characters.

Yeah, that's what I meant.

edited 2nd Aug '11 4:36:29 PM by CrystalGlacia

"Jack, you have debauched my sloth."

Noodle Incidents and other in-universe stuff. (Whether the reader bursts out laughing or not) Why? Because it builds the world around it rather than placing cookie cutter characters up on a stand up set purely for the benefit of the audience and the expense of the Fourth Wall.

It makes for more quality storytelling and better worldbuilding as well as makes for better Willing Suspension of Disbelief. The characters laugh because they find the joke funny, not because the audience is supposed to laugh on cue.

"Allah may guide their bullets, but Jesus helps those who aim down the sights."

^^^ Oh, that makes sense. I like to have characters say funny things, but they are treated as serious or odd in-universe. (Or funny. It depends on the line.) A lot of what Deadpool says fits this.

Most of my humour is fairly mild, and about poking fun of human quirks and absurdities. Sorta like satire without the bite, I guess. I do also write more overt parody from time to time, though.

I think in-universe humour works if it's just part of the natural dialogue, but I don't really find it funny, if that makes sense. I like to see it, because it makes the characters seem more real and relatable to me, but it's not normally particularly funny. There are exceptions, though, particularly when characters are pranking or trolling one another; I do find that funny, sometimes.

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I agree a lot with this. In-universe humor is a valuable tool and something I like to include, but it's not something you want to rely on for the work's humor.

I find good humor depends largely on the author's ability to set a tone rather than use specific gags.

Take killing a room full of people. Depending on the author's use of words/filming technique, you can make it hilarious or soul-shattering, without ever cracking a proper joke.

Honestly in-universe humor really gets my goat sometimes, especially when it's not even funny and all the characters are laughing. It always feels like a lazy way to make your work seem light-hearted or something.

Still Sheepin'

Actually, of all the examples I can think of where characters are laughing, the thing they are laughing at wasn't even funny.

This is my favorite kind of humor because it leaves the fourth wall and suspension of disbelief intact and works in any genre that needs comic relief without delving into wackiness.

But surely the alternative is making your characters look like a bunch of humourless robots?

Actually, forget that, I've just realised I think I know exactly the sort of scene you mean, and they're horrible. In-universe humour is best when understated. The characters should be permitted a natural reaction, like a smile or a chuckle proportionate to the joke made, but not the kind of exaggerated group laughter you see on TV a lot of the time.

edited 2nd Aug '11 8:24:57 PM by BobbyG

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I prefer my humour to have an odd logic behind it. Like I wrote yesterday about a character sitting in a chair and he was nowhere else as neither fate or physics would allow him to be anywhere else. It's odd but it makes sense. In my writing I try to go for the bizarre sense you find in alice in wonderland books.

It's possible to laugh at the characters, rather than with them, which is where a lot of the moments I feel are humorous come from. Similarly, them noticing the ridiculous of their situation can sometimes provide some levity. Just don't overuse that particular gag, the fourth wall might not be able to take the strain.

The other place I tend to get humor is odd, mind-is-wandering type thoughts from the characters. I'm sure you've had such thoughts, where your mind suddenly drifts to something unrelated.

I guess I don't know if the "funny" parts of my book are actually funny, but they sometimes make me laugh when I write them and that has to count for something. It's the only measuring stick I currently have, after all.

edited 2nd Aug '11 9:47:25 PM by deathjavu

Look, you can't make me speak in a logical, coherent, intelligent bananna.

Sarcasm mostly.

Lots of Sarcasm.

CAUSE EVERY GIRL IS CRAZY 'BOUT A SHARP DRESSED MAN

Lampshade Hanging and yes, sarcasm. REAL good humor is hard to write, indeed. I also like using two Meta Guys who seems to pop up damn everywhere and snarks on everything.

I'm a (socialist) professional writer serializing a WWII alternate history webnovel.

In-universe sarcasm, puns, quips, "digs", occasionally even "you just had to be there" stuff - though I try to be as objective possible about the reactions of other characters and only have them bust a gut if that's the sort of character they are and/or that's their preferred style of humour.

For the "just had to be there" stuff, I'd be inclined to have a character happen upon two others laughing like mad, ask them what's so funny and have them recount the event. The POV character can then not react and get the classic "YJHTBT" response and the reader can find it funny or not without feeling that the author expects him/her to find it funny.

Puns, malapropisms and other forms of word-play are prevalent in my works but generally the only one who finds them funny is the person making them. The other characters generally groan and threaten to throw something or don't react at all. Again, no pressure on the reader to find it hysterically funny.

Can be very good for characterisations - who are the jokers and what do they and others find funny? And who are the long-suffering saps who have to put up with the jokers?

I avoid having characters actually telling jokes (of the "hey, this guy rides into town..." or similar variety - that's not set in stone, it's I haven't yet found a need to have one do so. Wit that naturally flows out of conversation is more the norm.

What she said. I don't use jokes outright in my work - I like sarcasm, and showing reactions to things that one character says that horrifies or freaks out someone else. Hell, I can even give examples (with mild context). Granted, it still might not be funny. Depends on the reader, really.

Context: Character A has informed Character B (her younger brother) that she's pregnant, on account of her living with and answering to him. She has also just told him that she used to work as a prostitute - the lowest profession, he feels, reserved for sluts. He gets angry on learning who the father is (his rival), and shouts at her in anger.

Character A: "What, you gonna tell me that you slept with Character C (their older brother) next?"

Character B: “No! Ew, that’s disgusting! Sesshomaru is my brother, you freak! There’s as good a chance of my sleeping with him as there is of my sleeping with you! Get your mind out of the gutter, will you?” She could see by the strange look on her brother’s face, she had said the wrong thing. She hastily tried to backpedal. “Wait! That’s not what I meant! I don’t want to sleep with you! Or him! Ew! Ew, ew, ew! That’s just wrong! You can have your girl Kagome, fine by me! And he can have—I don’t know!—himself… Gross!”

Character B, it should be noted, toys with incestuous-looking actions, and actual incestuous actions (on the mild end) to unnerve others, as well as her brothers. She likes teasing her little brother when he gets on her nerves, and often does so in a sexualized manner - because it disturbs him.

Okay, that's just one example, but that's more the kind of humor I like. Or you can read this slightly bent short that showcases similar humor - just reading it will be far less troublesome than my bad attempt at setting it up. Feel free to skip the yuri lime-y parts. [1]

There are different kinds of humor, and what works in one context won't work in another. That said, my first preferred method of adding humor is the double meaning. If the reader doesn't understand the joke as a joke, it still imparts some information. The other method is characterization—some people are natural comedians even if they don't do standup.

Under World. It rocks!

I have a bit of a dark sense of humour, if one ultimately rooted in absurdity. That said, pulling it off in prose - while perhaps not a great travail - is far from the easiest thing I've ever done. Mainly, this is because being able to properly convey the humour of a situation in a directly translatable way requires a fairly specific revelation of context marrying brevity and comprehensibility without losing impact.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

Although I consider myself to be a humorist writer, I often don't write with the goal of being funny, but instead use humor as a tool for telling stories.

There are a lot of good ways to find humor, some of my favorite are messing with expectations, portraying absurd situations, and good old fashioned slapstick and bad things happening to good people.

Overall, I don't think too much about how to be funny, but instead focusing on telling unusual stories with compelling characters, and humor often comes out of the characters and situations themselves. I seem to have trained my brain to find the humor in any situation and allow my instincts to bring the humor out.

Although I do agree with other posters that sarcasm and snarkers can be a great source of humor, if you only know how to find humor in one character type, then it isn't going to be long before you begin to run out of material. Every character type can be a source of humor, whether their rude, intelligent, cheerful, evil, heroic, etc. I once invented a character who's defining trait was being boring, and even he was amusing.

Yall must be reading some shitty books if you've never encountered in-universe humor pulled off well.

And better than thy stroke; why swellest thou then?

Yeap. This thread needs a big fat Pratchettbomb.

When you remember that we are all mad, all questions disappear and life stands explained.