A TOUCH OF HUMOR

My name is Wayne Holmes and I approve this message.

Adding humor to your writing is like seasoning your food. Since we occasionally have to eat our words, why not make them as tasty as possible?

“But,” you protest, “I’m not a funny person.”

You don’t have to be funny to write with a touch of humor, but you do have to learn a few techniques. Here are some of the most common, and easiest, ways.

Exaggeration: In a story a friend wrote, he said that the character’s feet were so big that they entered the room two seconds before the rest of his body. Exaggeration is the easiest and most common form of humor.

Surprise: All humor has the element of surprise in it. If it doesn’t—if you guess the punch line—it fails to be funny. It’s like pulling the rug out from under someone. You think you know what’s going to happen and then—Wham!—something totally unexpected comes along, just like life.

Clichés: Don’t take out your cliché’s. Leave those tired, old, worn-out sayings in place. Then look at the end of the phrase and replace the expected with the unexpected. This is a great way to add the element of surprise. Example: If at first you don’t succeed, don’t try sky-diving. Better late than pregnant.

Parody: Take the common and change it. Imitate something well known but make the changes unexpected. My opening line was a parody of election commercials that many politicians used.

Self-deprecation: This is my favorite form of humor. The late Rodney Dangerfield mastered this. If you need a bad example to prove a point, use one from your own life. People laugh with you, relate to you, and get the point.

Series: The most common is a series of three. “A minister, a priest and a rabbi were.…” The third in the series is usually the one that offers the surprise and thus the laugh or punch line.

Contrasts: Take two things that don’t normally go together and you create an environment for humor to flourish. “Don Knotts Teaches Muscle Building Techniques.” Some of the funniest TV shows of the past used this technique. Example: The Beverly Hillbillies.

ADVANCED TECHNIQUES

The methods just mentioned are the most common and easiest forms of spicing up your writing with humor. Here are a few ways of adding humor that may prove more challenging.

Slapstick: Yes, you can include slapstick in your writing. Having a character fall, sneeze in an awkward moment, or belch are a few obvious scenes that can bring a bit of comic relief to a situation. How about a character with body odor?

Peculiar Traits: I remember reading about a character who, when she got excited, talked not only as she breathed out, but also as she breathed in. Her dialog was literally nonstop. Imagining the character doing this, and then trying to do it myself, proved to be hilarious.

Puns: Words and/or phrases that sound alike but have a different meaning are called puns or “play on words.” This category includes homophones, words that sound alike but are different in meaning or spelling. This can be especially useful if you want to portray an ignorant character. Example: Dilate, to live longer. Morbid: A higher offer. Barium: What you do when CPR fails.

Malaprops: Similar to homonyms. A malaprop is an unintentional misuse of a word that sounds similar to the intended word. The end result is a word or phrase that is ludicrously wrong in the context. Example: “He is the very pineapple of politeness,” spoken by Mrs. Malaprop, a character in The Rivals, a play by Richard Brinsley. This is also where the noun malaprop irrigated (malaprop intended).

Spoonerisms: Words or phrases in which letters or syllables are interchanged are called spoonerisms. Example: It’s roaring with pain (It’s pouring with rain.) A well-boiled icicle (a well-oiled bicycle).

Okay, that’s enough information to get you started. Now here’s a quick exercise. See if you can recognize the technique used in the following examples:

1) When the blind leadeth the blind, get out of the way.

2) Bobby Knight lectures on “The Fine Art of Humility.”

3) You’ve tasted two worms

4) Urine. You know, the opposite of you’re out.

5) “The Grinch Who Stole All the Punch Lines”

6) “Two men and a lady walk into a bar…”

7) Bulletin Announcement “Thursday night Potluck Supper. Prayer and medication to follow.”

8) When he saw the school zone his speed dropped faster than Enron stock.

Laughter heals, holds our attention, and touches our emotions. Everyone needs more humor. Laugh and the world laughs with you. Cry, and you have to blow your nose.

Answers: 1) Cliché 2) Contrast 3) Spoonerism [you’ve wasted two terms] 4) Pun 5) Parody 6) Series 7) Malaprop 8) Exaggeration

Wayne Holmes has published two books with Bethany House Publishers: The Heart of a Father and the companion volume, The Heart of a Mother. His writing has appeared in such publications as Preacher's Magazine, The Christian Communicator and The Church of God EVANGEL. He has had letters published in The Cincinnati Enquirer and Writer's Digest.