I Dont Try to Be Funny
The short answer? Yes. Yes, you can.
The secret, it turns out, might not be so much about learning to be funny, but returning to being funny.
"Children are funny. They tell stories, and comedy is storytelling," says Rachel Berger.
"The way their stories have a beginning, a middle, a resolution — also known as a punchline — is the same as the way a comedian tells a story.
"It's just that as we age, we tend to be driven by the ego and a need to impress. We lose the knack for being completely driven by the need to tell the story."
Rachel Berger has been a comedian for over three decades, and believes that regaining this instinct can be incredibly powerful.
As the daughter of Holocaust survivors, Rachel was just three or four when she first intuited that things in her family weren't quite right.
"Both my parents were anxious. They stepped over dead bodies of family members in order to survive," she says.
"The thing was that when my parents laughed, there was a palpable difference in the air. I could feel it. It was visceral. From a very young age, I knew that laughter was good. It literally changed the air."
So how do you learn to be funny?
Forget what you've been told about whether or not you're funny
People are often told from a very young age they're not funny, so they believe it, says Rachel.
"Some people are shy and socially awkward, and so they're told they're not funny. Yet some of the best comedians are shy and socially awkward, like Hannah Gadsby and Luke McGregor," she says.
Don't try to be funny
It's one of the first things improv teacher and performer Happy Feraren tells her students.
"When you try, it's like you've seen someone who's funny on television and want to be like that person, therefore you think you need to act like that person," Happy says.
"And I think that totally throws off the comedy because it's not real, it's not truthful."
What should you do instead?
Be comfortable with yourself, and listen
Happy says a big part of being funny is being comfortable with yourself.
"It awakens something. When you're comfortable with yourself, your listening skills heighten a lot," says Happy.
More than memorising jokes by rote, learning to be funny is more about developing a type of intuition and changing the way you see the world, to build the confidence to articulate your insights and stories.
Explore what your style of funny is
How do you see the world? What does being funny mean to you? Is it being playful? Being witty in conversation? It is about being a good joke teller or storyteller? Are you o-pun to wordplay?
Funny means something different to everyone. For example, Happy Feraren leans towards the idea that something is funny because it's true.
"I feel the more personal, the more unique the idea or concept that's being brought forward … these unusual insights that are grounded in truth … these are the things I find funny."
Identifying your style means you can then look for examples of your type of funny, and see what happens when you apply your own lens to these comedic structures and rhythms.
Ultimately, you're inviting your audience to see things the way you do.
"So what you're really saying is, 'Look, you might not agree with me, but look through this lens, just see the world just for a minute through my eyes'."
Maximise your chances of success by beginning in a safe space
When Rachel Berger teaches comedy, she begins by creating a safe space.
"I reiterate to them again and again, 'You're not being judged'," she says.
She then asks participants to describe an adult who was in their life when they were a child.
"This takes them back to a place before their feelings or opinions or thoughts are kind of besmirched by any desire to please or be right or be perfect, you know, because that's what children do."
What's an ideal and non-judgmental 'audience' for you where you can try being funny?
Know what it means to have a good sense of humour
Comedian Simon Palomares makes the distinction between being able to make someone laugh and having a good sense of humour.
Someone with a good sense of humour should also be able to laugh at themselves as well as others.
Embrace vulnerability
Rachel Berger says to be funny you've always got to be vulnerable. Leave your ego at the door.
"Even if you're trying out just two new lines of material, there has to be an element of vulnerability there, because then you're like everyone else in the room. We're all vulnerable," she says.
Being vulnerable is a first step to being funny, and being funny puts people at ease.
And as Rachel points out, when people laugh they throw their heads back, necks exposed. "It's an entirely vulnerable way of being."
What stops people from being funny?
"The inability to be vulnerable and the desire to be perfect," says Rachel.
Happy Feraren agrees.
The only way to improve is to persevere.
"It's not always going to be good, but you just have to keep churning it out so you find the good stuff," says Happy.
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The power of humour
For many of us, laughter is a balm like no other. Some, like Rachel Berger, believe it's the only thing that can mend a broken heart.
And with all the terrible things going on in the world, humour and laughter can bring daily relief.
"The thing about humour, satire, comedy, is they are a manageable middle ground because they give us the opportunity to laugh at reality," she says.
In the end, being funny is both an attitude and a way of seeing the world.
"Be curious, be irreverent, be brave, be honest. Because if something is funny to you, it's going to be funny to someone else," says Rachel.
Jennifer Wong is an ABC Everyday reporter and comedian with 10 years' experience performing at arts and comedy festivals.
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Source: https://www.abc.net.au/everyday/can-you-learn-to-be-funny/11655036
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