“The human race has only one effective weapon, and that is laughter.

” -Mark Twain

If you want to impress somebody, make them laugh. If you want to connect
with someone new, make them laugh. If you want to get a raise from your
boss, make him laugh. If you want to take yourself out of a completely
miserable situation, make yourself laugh. And if you want to change the world,
make the world laugh. What’s the easiest way to make someone laugh? Tell a joke.

Some people are good at telling jokes, but have no idea how the jokes come out of their
mouths. These people are naturally funny. But if you are not one of these people or have
always had a problem with being funny, don’t sweat. Understand that all jokes have a
formula behind them that makes them funny; otherwise, it’s not funny and that’s not a
joke. Here are the ingredients to tell a joke. I’ll walk you through it step-by-step.

The Anatomy of a Joke and Its Formula

1. Target. Every joke begins with a target, and it can be targeting anything – people,
places, ideas, etc. The most important thing to remember here is to relate the target to
the person or people you’re telling the joke to, so they won’t be offended. For example, if
you were telling a joke to your friends about your wife, you’re friends are going to laugh
with you because they can relate. But if you were to tell that same joke to your wife, she’s
not going to crack a smile. She’ll just slowly stare you down while you slowly tiptoe out
of the room.

2. Hostility. I know some people are going to cringe at this, but the truth is jokes aren’t
always “nice”. The essence of a joke is usually going against an idea or a type of person,
but because the joke is funny (if you can pull it off the right way), it usually loosens the
tension and eradicates all hostile feelings at the end. If you don’t get this, ask yourself if
you have ever heard of a joke that was between two perfectly happy people? Take a look
at these examples and see if you can pinpoint the target and who the joke is making fun
of.

 “Artificial hearts are nothing new. Politicians have had them for years.” -Mack
McGinnis

 “My wife said that her wildest sexual fantasy would be if I got my own apartment.
-Rodney Dangerfield

3. Realism. Jokes aren’t funny unless there is some truth in them. You can’t just go in
and start telling something ridiculous because first of all, the audience won’t be able to
relate to it and secondly, you won’t get a chance to surprise them. Humor is a paradox.
It’s funny because you’re juxtaposing the reasonable next to the unreasonable. If you
don’t understand this, just remember that the more you can start a joke in a serious,
casual way, the higher the payoff will be towards the end. For example, imagine if
somebody with a straight face walked up to you and said:
⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

How Fulfilled Are You In Your Life?

Take Lifehack's full life assessment and get a custom report based on your unique
strengths, and discover how to start living the life you want and reach your full
potential. It's a FREE assessment!
Start the Assessment
⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

 “If you think the world is normal, why do hot dogs come in packages of ten and
hot dog buns come in packages of eight?”

4. Exaggeration. If you have a realistic setup from the previous step, then the next
step is to exaggerate the second part of the joke. You want to make it “just a little bit
more” out there than what human beings expect. The more you can exaggerate it but not
completely ruin it by not saying something that’s completely unrelated or random at the
end, the funnier it will be. In essence, could you exaggerate the joke as far as you can
and yet make it still believable at the same time?

 “You know, it was pretty hot yesterday. I saw a dog chasing after a cat, and they
were both walking.”

5. Emotion. Why do human beings laugh? Biologically speaking, it is because there is a

release in our emotions. That’s why this step is so crucial. For any joke to be hilarious –
I mean out-of-this-room hilarious – you to learn how build up anticipation. You want to
person or group of people you’re telling the joke to feel like what’s coming next? You
want to keep them guessing, on their toes, biting their nails, and leaning over their seat
waiting for an answer that they will expect to hear. Here are some ways to create
anticipation.

 The Pause

“Take my wife – please!” -Henny Youngman

 The Question

“Okay class. Calm down. Who wants to hear the latest dope?”

(Class cheers)

“Well, well, well… Here I am.”

6. Surprise. Alright so we’ve come to the last step of the joke and perhaps the most
vital one and that is the surprise. No surprise, no joke. When you go through steps 1
through 5, your audience or whoever you’re telling the joke to is going to expect
something. So what do you do? Give them the unexpected. Imagine if a pitcher threw a
ball and right before the batter hits it, it curves, and then flies out of the ball park. It’s
sort of like that. The more anticipation and the greater the surprise, the funnier the joke,
and the greater the laugh.

 No Surprise

“He may not be able to sing, but he can act pretty well.”

 Surprise

“He may not be able to sing, and he sure can’t dance either.”

So let’s review again.

Every joke begins with a target. The target can be anything from dogs and cats to
lawyers or bosses. Just remember to cater the joke to the right audience. The joke is
usually going to be hostile in some way, shape, or form. It’s going to make fun or
someone or something, but usually the end result will not even make the joke seem
hostile at all. And if you happen to find yourself to be in the position of where you are
one of the nicest or kindest people on earth, like me, then you can always slim down the
hostility. It’s okay.

⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄

Become Mentally Stronger!

Grab a FREE Lifehack Guide to train yourself to be mentally strong and take charge of
life!
Become Stronger
⌄ Scroll down to continue reading article ⌄
After this, the joke needs to start off real – something that people can relate to and tell
themselves that what you’re telling them about is real and there’s nothing to worry
about. From there you can build up a story through anticipation or tension, and then
give them an exaggerated response that has a surprise ending the blows them away. You
choose how you want to go about doing this.

“A man and a woman who have never met before find themselves in the same sleeping
carriage of a train. After the initial embarrassment, they both manage to get to sleep; the
woman on the top bunk, the man on the lower.

In the middle of the night the woman leans over and says, “I’m sorry to bother you but
I’m awfully cold and I was wondering if you could possibly pass me another blanket.”

The man leans out, with a glint in his eye, says, “I’ve got a better idea… let’s pretend
we’re married.”

“Why not?” giggles the woman.

“Good,” he replies, “Get your own blanket.”

–Pass me another blanket.

Final Thoughts
I’m not even going to begin listing the positive traits that humor gives us which include
relieving stress, living longer, feeling healthier, and feeling better about your day. If you
can master telling a joke, people will like you and you’ll be able to make connections
easily. If anything, life will be a lot less seriously and a lot more fun. Opportunities will
come to you if you can be funny and people will be attracted to you as well. So now that I
have given you the magical formula for being a jokester, do you have any jokes up your
sleeve? Why not share one in the comment section below?

“Laugh at yourself for a man is most comical when he takes himself too seriously.” -Og
Mandino