Basic Instruction for Writing Humorous Stories
by Petros
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Humor often eludes the members of this site, as we are autistic, emotionally stunted cave dwellers for the most part who view "You are a Disc in my Dad's Spinal Cord..." as peak humor. Now, this article will not teach you to be funny. I'm not God. It will, however, give you a brief overview of a few different types of humor and give you a few clues to notice when your humor is turning into a radioactively cringey mess.
General Principles
Humor is a difficult thing to measure on any kind of statistical sense, yet most of us intuitively grasp a general sense for what is funny or not.
One general principle that becomes very important for any attempts at written humor is that humor and horror are very similar. Most of the time, a laugh response is triggered by something surprising. Instead of a jump scare, it is termed a "subversion of expectation."
This means that a joke is not as funny the second time. Avoid directly copying jokes or bits from sitcoms or movies. Not only is it plagiarism, but it is also nearly guaranteed to be extraordinarily unfunny. Even if people don't really recognize the exact joke, they are likely to recognize the structure or predict the punchline. Be original.
Satire
One of the easiest forms of humor to accomplish proficiently is satire. This, of course, is because it is accomplished simply by imitating a medium or previously written work and framing it in a comedic light.
Easily, the most famous satirical writing in the modern day is the Onion. When you sample their writing, notice that they do not simply frame any funny story in the format of a news story, but also satirize current news stories. While there are certain times in which the simple format that is being satirized brings the humor (a weather report in Mordor for example), satire that aims at social or political issues must be timely and relevant.
One specific issue with political humor is deciding which comes first, the soapbox or the humor. This can easily be seen in the truly pathetic quality of political "memes" or "comedians." My suggestion would be to simply pick a topic you aren't incredibly butthurt over and if you are a conservative, try not to beat the dead horse of gender unless you have something original to say.
Most forms of satire should also maintain the tone of the medium they are imitating throughout. Don't attempt to clue in the clueless. It's their fault they don't understand. For example, "A Modest Proposal" would have fallen flat if it Jonathan Swift said at the end, "Also, this is a joke. Don't eat babies."
Puns
Puns are plays on words. Usually these use either a double meaning of a word or another word that sounds similar to accomplish the delivery of the joke. A famous example might be the "don't call me Shirley," but from Airplane.
Puns (in the opinion of the author) should be used in moderation. Many people hate puns regardless of quality, and they do have a reputation for being extremely low effort. Arnold Schwarzenegger and action movies in general may have had an effect on this. Puns are easy to make, and therefore become low risk, low reward in most contexts.
Dark/Black Humor
This type of humor is characterized in finding humor in situations that are normally seen as more tragic or reprehensible than funny. Often, this humor is achieved by the juxtaposition of the character's response to the dark incident. The difference in dark and black humor is simply in the severity with which they cross social taboos.
It should be noted that simply crossing the line into taboo is not sufficient to create humor. There is a reason that while the holocaust is shocking to the sensibilities, it is not funny in the least (that is not to say that the opportunity for humor is not there).
It is also important that this is not overdone. Many writers are familiar with the apathy that an audience develops when presented with wave after wave of bloody, grimdark violence. It becomes just as mundane and routine if it is "humorous." Variety is the spice of life. Don't just drown the audience in gore.
There are many examples of this type of humor on CYS. Famously, any of Endmaster's funny stories fit perfectly into this category.
Absurdist Humor
This may be the humor most endemic to interactive fiction. Absurdist humor subverts causal reasoning, so it makes sense that it is the most common choice in a medium that encourages the reader to rely on their causal reasoning.
Absurdist humor varies greatly in quality. On the one hand, it can quickly develop into "lol random" filth that is charming at best and garbage most often. On the other hand, if treated well, it can be a truly enjoyable experience for reader and writer.
Like nearly every form of humor, the key to success is simply moderation. When breaking rules of causality, a reader needs to still see that some consistency is still present.
Consider which scenario is funnier. (Neither will be very funny through lack of setup and context.)
"Gregory looked up through tears toward the curtain in the confession booth. 'Father, you've helped me so much. Can I please see your face?'
The curtain lifted, and grinning underneath was the face of a horse."
Or
"Gregory looked up through tears, farting raucously, toward the polka dot shower curtain in the confession booth. 'Daddy, you've helped me so much. Can I please see your face?'
The curtain lifted, and grinning underneath was the face of a horse."
It undermines the integrity of the punchline when I put too much into the joke.
Another key to writing good humor is to read successfully humorous books. Reread the books that made you laugh and try to understand what it is that you are laughing at. Not all humor is accidental spur of the moment whimsy. It can be plotted and planned.
This is all the advice I will give in this article. If this is well received and more instruction is deemed helpful, I may provide additional advice.
General Principles
Humor is a difficult thing to measure on any kind of statistical sense, yet most of us intuitively grasp a general sense for what is funny or not.
One general principle that becomes very important for any attempts at written humor is that humor and horror are very similar. Most of the time, a laugh response is triggered by something surprising. Instead of a jump scare, it is termed a "subversion of expectation."
This means that a joke is not as funny the second time. Avoid directly copying jokes or bits from sitcoms or movies. Not only is it plagiarism, but it is also nearly guaranteed to be extraordinarily unfunny. Even if people don't really recognize the exact joke, they are likely to recognize the structure or predict the punchline. Be original.
Satire
One of the easiest forms of humor to accomplish proficiently is satire. This, of course, is because it is accomplished simply by imitating a medium or previously written work and framing it in a comedic light.
Easily, the most famous satirical writing in the modern day is the Onion. When you sample their writing, notice that they do not simply frame any funny story in the format of a news story, but also satirize current news stories. While there are certain times in which the simple format that is being satirized brings the humor (a weather report in Mordor for example), satire that aims at social or political issues must be timely and relevant.
One specific issue with political humor is deciding which comes first, the soapbox or the humor. This can easily be seen in the truly pathetic quality of political "memes" or "comedians." My suggestion would be to simply pick a topic you aren't incredibly butthurt over and if you are a conservative, try not to beat the dead horse of gender unless you have something original to say.
Most forms of satire should also maintain the tone of the medium they are imitating throughout. Don't attempt to clue in the clueless. It's their fault they don't understand. For example, "A Modest Proposal" would have fallen flat if it Jonathan Swift said at the end, "Also, this is a joke. Don't eat babies."
Puns
Puns are plays on words. Usually these use either a double meaning of a word or another word that sounds similar to accomplish the delivery of the joke. A famous example might be the "don't call me Shirley," but from Airplane.
Puns (in the opinion of the author) should be used in moderation. Many people hate puns regardless of quality, and they do have a reputation for being extremely low effort. Arnold Schwarzenegger and action movies in general may have had an effect on this. Puns are easy to make, and therefore become low risk, low reward in most contexts.
Dark/Black Humor
This type of humor is characterized in finding humor in situations that are normally seen as more tragic or reprehensible than funny. Often, this humor is achieved by the juxtaposition of the character's response to the dark incident. The difference in dark and black humor is simply in the severity with which they cross social taboos.
It should be noted that simply crossing the line into taboo is not sufficient to create humor. There is a reason that while the holocaust is shocking to the sensibilities, it is not funny in the least (that is not to say that the opportunity for humor is not there).
It is also important that this is not overdone. Many writers are familiar with the apathy that an audience develops when presented with wave after wave of bloody, grimdark violence. It becomes just as mundane and routine if it is "humorous." Variety is the spice of life. Don't just drown the audience in gore.
There are many examples of this type of humor on CYS. Famously, any of Endmaster's funny stories fit perfectly into this category.
Absurdist Humor
This may be the humor most endemic to interactive fiction. Absurdist humor subverts causal reasoning, so it makes sense that it is the most common choice in a medium that encourages the reader to rely on their causal reasoning.
Absurdist humor varies greatly in quality. On the one hand, it can quickly develop into "lol random" filth that is charming at best and garbage most often. On the other hand, if treated well, it can be a truly enjoyable experience for reader and writer.
Like nearly every form of humor, the key to success is simply moderation. When breaking rules of causality, a reader needs to still see that some consistency is still present.
Consider which scenario is funnier. (Neither will be very funny through lack of setup and context.)
"Gregory looked up through tears toward the curtain in the confession booth. 'Father, you've helped me so much. Can I please see your face?'
The curtain lifted, and grinning underneath was the face of a horse."
Or
"Gregory looked up through tears, farting raucously, toward the polka dot shower curtain in the confession booth. 'Daddy, you've helped me so much. Can I please see your face?'
The curtain lifted, and grinning underneath was the face of a horse."
It undermines the integrity of the punchline when I put too much into the joke.
Another key to writing good humor is to read successfully humorous books. Reread the books that made you laugh and try to understand what it is that you are laughing at. Not all humor is accidental spur of the moment whimsy. It can be plotted and planned.
This is all the advice I will give in this article. If this is well received and more instruction is deemed helpful, I may provide additional advice.
