Have you ever wondered how people come up with those great captions for photos? It all comes down to a process of asking questions that prompt funny answers. In the previous article Now You Can Have a Great Sense of Humor and Solve Problems Better I detailed the Joke Mechanism where we create a 1st story, based upon an assumption and use a common element, called a connector, to link to a 2nd story that misdirects the listener/viewer with a surprise conclusion.

One way that you can practice this skill is to apply it to photos to make funny captions. This is not so hard to do if you arm yourself with the right questions and a few choice techniques to enhance the impact of your 2nd story - the punch.

In this first of four posts I will display photos from a recent games night that I had at my place along with the captions that I came up with when I posted them to my friends. I will then detail the questions that led me to that caption, explaining how it works. I’ll also detail some of the little tips and tweaks that can make an okay comment into an enhanced one with greater impact. So here’s what happened in one night of playing poker and betting on the horses…

Did we have a laugh? Here’s the evidence! Me holding together my splitting sides

Question: What unusual thing is happening in this photo?

Answer: I look a bit daft as I was caught scratching myself

Question: What else could it mean?

Answer: It looks like I’m holding myself together

Question: For what reason would I need to hold myself together?

Answer: If I split my sides laughing (also a little bit ironic as I’m not laughing in this shot)

Special note: It’ is always, always, always good practice to reveal the punch right at the end of a joke. This has the maximum amount of impact because it doesn’t give the receiver time to think or make conclusions in advance which otherwise defuses a gag.

That’s the expression that I always have when I’m holding five aces

Question: What surprise or unseen (or ‘off photo’) reason could I have for such a grin?

Answer: I could be happy because I have a great hand

Question: What would be a ludicrous, mean, cute, naughty, clever or exaggerated hand?

Answer: The impossible hand of five aces from a four ace pack would do it

Special note: In the second question I used the terms ludicrous (or bizarre), mean, cute, naughty, clever and exaggerated adjectives to help come up with a good answer. Those adjectives can be used to enhance a concept. Get a combination (bizarre and mean) and you’re onto a winner.

Famed for cheating, I prove that there’s nothing up my sleeves … or my pants

Question: For what special reason would someone wear shorts sleeves and short pants in the middle of winter for a game of poker? In what way does that attire relate to poker or playing games?

Answer: Maybe it’s a penalty for cheating. Magicians are famed for having no sleeves to prevent hiding cards. Wearing shorts just takes it to an exaggerated extreme

Caught in the act of doping Paul’s wine glass

Special note: I struggled initially to come up with an idea for this relatively uninteresting picture of me collecting yet another bundle of chips but then I enacted a special technique for interpreting photos. Normally we automatically ‘buy in’ to the fact that this is a 2D image of a 3D reality and so we adjust our interpretations to suit. In this case I had to consciously get out of that mode and see it purely as a 2D image and this brought out new possibilities. This doesn’t happen so often but when it does it really throws people as they make sense of it and finally get it with a great surprise. Play this one strongly, like a pair of Aces, and you’ll clean up on the laughs!

Question: In 2D mode what else could be happening here?

Answer: It looks like my hands are over Pauls’ glass and that I could be doping it to drug him and make him play badly.

That’s bizarre and mean and clever because of the 2D interpretation aspect.

Sarah in the advanced stages of losing her shirt

Question: Sarah’s wearing an unusual top, what else could that mean?

Answer: There’s a famous gambling term about losing your shirt. In this case, Sarah doesn’t lose it in one go but progressively, first the sleeves and then the back. That’s bizarre, cute and clever.

More to come as I reveal more humor inducing questions and enhancing techniques so keep posted!