We use language as a filter to refine the near infinite amount of input that we receive from our senses and to choose the important things to focus upon in any particular moment. One of the keys to living life well is accuracy in how we interpret reality through our descriptions. The more accurately we describe the events in our lives, the easier it is to deal with those things. A problem with the way that most people use language is that they are predisposed to making sweeping generalizations and assumptions. That’s fine for things that only affect us remotely. For example, if I say that countries on the equator are hot and I never go to the equator then the lack of accuracy has no effect upon me. However, if I visited an equatorial country with a mountain range and chose to go climbing it in my bermuda shorts and Hawaiian shirt, I might find myself dying of exposure because of the cold at higher levels. My sweeping generalization and assumption meant that I was not prepared properly. Instead, if I was a person who avoided making generalizations and assumptions and considered things on a case by case basis, continuously taking into account local conditions and changes then I would check conditions and prepare for them accordingly before taking action. This is an extreme example just to highlight what might happen if we remain unaware of the danger of assumptions and generalizations. Having said that, I have watched survival documentaries where people got into trouble and perished exactly because of their generalizations and assumptions.

Such human behavior does have advantages and all humor revolves around people making assumptions about something only to have that assumption overturned by a surprise alternative conclusion. A lot of humor simply comes out of contrarian thinking and I advocate this because it helps to see the alternatives to a possible way of interpreting events and it has often proven to be a very useful creativity and problem solving tool.

Through understanding the mental mechanism of jokes we can also apply it to other situations to come up with alternative takes on things, which can lead to more accurate interpretations of situations (which keep us sane) or to alternative interpretations that can lead to better answers. At the very least, understanding and practicing humor creation will keep you chuckling and thinking and acting playfully.

There’s a lot of technique involving humor creation and I’ll reveal more of those techniques in other articles but for now let’s look at the mechanism of the joke. I discovered this mechanism from reading “Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy” by Greg Dean (www.stand-upcomedy.com). This is a truly excellent book for anyone who wants a comprehensive guide to creating jokes.

A joke involves two main parts: expectation and surprise, also known as the setup and the punch. A joke requires two story lines otherwise it’s not a joke. The first story creates a detailed scene to create a picture in the mind of the listener (pictures work best as we tend to think best in pictures and that’s why captions of photos work so well and puns don’t). The first story works best if it guides the listener to make sweeping assumptions and generalizations. We want the listener to imagine something exists although they can’t directly perceive it. The first story gives the target assumption, which must be capable of being interpreted in different ways. The second story is the punch, which gives a surprise alternative ending. If the surprise is great enough then people will laugh (hopefully). Between the setup and the punch is an item that connects them and this is the thing that is reinterpreted.

Okay, that’s the brief theory (it’s detailed much better in the book). Now let’s go through it with a couple of examples:
There were two goldfish in a tank and one says to the other, “Do you know how to drive this thing?”
Setup (1st story): There were two goldfish in a tank
Assumption in the setup: it’s a goldfish tank
Connector: the tank
Reinterpretation: they are sitting in a military tank and don’t know how to drive it
Punch (2nd story): and one says to the other, “Do you know how to drive this thing?”

What do you get hanging from banana trees?…………………………….Sore arms!
Setup (1st story): What do you get hanging from banana trees?
Assumption in the setup: the question is about what fruit hangs from banana trees
Connector: hanging
Reinterpretation: the question is not about hanging fruit, it’s about a person hanging under a tree with their arms
Punch (2nd story): Sore arms!

And that is it! All jokes use this mechanism in one form or another (send me your jokes for analysis if you can’t figure it out). You now have the key to create jokes and humor by yourself. The key factor lies in how to reinterpret a story or setup to give an alternative and related but surprise reinterpretation of the story or setup. This question will help you to come up with alternative reinterpretations: “What else could that mean that is unexpected?”

In subsequent articles I’ll detail some of the techniques that refine and improve the impact of your surprise reinterpretations. For now though, you can start to understand and practice this way of thinking through analyzing favorite jokes. Also, when out with friends or at work (and if appropriate), when something odd or interesting occurs you can think “What else could that mean that is unexpected and funny?” It takes a bit of practice at first and maybe you will think of things after the event has passed but like any skill it comes quicker and quicker until you can respond with quick wit and repartee.

Thinking about humor and creating it is the perfect way to develop contrarian thinking. I don’t advocate contrarian thinking just for the sake of being different but for the essential practice of ‘getting real’ and for seeing things as they really are and for taking care about assumptions, which can easily mislead us. You will also find that it opens up new avenues of thinking that can resolve long-term, thorny problems and come up with new creative ideas and solutions. You will also find that it’s fun and that it allows you to laugh about life more than ever before. It’ll keep you cheerful and by spreading around some of that humor you’ll spread delight to the people around you.

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