How to be Funny (or at least, Not Boring)

On The Lost Soul

In last week’s post, Stop Looksmaxxing, the subtitle was Start Funnymaxxing. I received follow-up questions essentially asking “how do I become funnier?” I found this to be an odd thing to ask at first, let alone answer, but that’s easy for me to say because yes, I’m pretty funny. This forced me to give the topic some thought.

Funniness is an interesting trait. Some people just aren’t that funny. They’re either uptight, get offended easily, take themselves too seriously, or are too shy to be funny. Then there’s people who can sometimes by funny, but that doesn’t mean you’d describe them as a funny person. What we’re really talking about is how much of a core personality trait you have, like open-mindedness or extraversion.

Sense of humor isn’t a genetic trait. How do I know that? Because all babies laugh easily. Babies light up when they’re around me, so I know how easy it is to make them laugh. When you were a baby, it was just as easy to make you laugh, and maybe it still is. If you don’t laugh as easily now, that doesn’t mean there’s something genetically wrong with you. It means you became a bit lost along the way.

Everybody likes to laugh. Even the most rigid and uptight asshole you know feels good when they laugh. No one laughs then feels worse after. Laughter is a psychological and emotional need. If you’ve ever spent the night laughing with friends so hard that your abs hurt then you know what I’m talking about.

Being funny can’t be taught, at least not in a structured way; but there are opposing personality traits that block people’s potential to be funny. That’s mostly what this post will be about. “Why are some people funnier than others?” is a genuinely interesting question. I’ll begin by comparing the funniest people I know to the most boring people I know.