by jmcinnis | Apr 15, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
I’m always hearing people say .. . “wow, you’re a comedian? I just heard a really funny comedian. Let’s seeee, what was his name. . can’t remember, but he was so funny. He joked about his kid riding a bicycle for the first time, and. . . “ That’ right, people don’t...
by jmcinnis | Apr 8, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
I’ve talked about . . asking questions to come up with great punch lines. And one of those questions is WHO? Who would do this? Who does this remind you of? Who else should be here, who who who! If you’re trying to make a joke about a cold room for example, ask WHO...
by jmcinnis | Mar 11, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
So you want to come up with a killer punch line for your joke? Ask the question – “what is the moral of this story” and/or use the starter phrase. . . “in other words.” As I’ve mentioned before, what you’re trying to do with humor is to say something without saying...
by jmcinnis | Mar 2, 2011 | B. Research Techniques
You know little kids can be annoying (probably why I didn’t have any). . .not because they wet their pants and/or barf a lot, but because they ask a lot of questions”. . many of which we don’t know the answer to – it just IS!!! And what is the most popular question...
by jmcinnis | Feb 8, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
One of the funnest ways I create quick humor and really, really connect with the client, is to connect with their business. I just did a show for architects and engineers, and even though I know very little about what they do, I was still able to have some fun. What I...
by jmcinnis | Feb 5, 2011 | D. Appropriate Humor
9 People??? This week had I had the opportunity to be in front of a small group. . . 9 people. That’s NINE – single digit. . .no, I didn’t miss a zero. Before this, the smallest I’d spoken to was 12. . . a little bit of a drop from the 4400 people I was in front of...
by jmcinnis | Jan 17, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
In the previous blog, I mentioned putting together lists of the environment and then finding the ironies between things in the environment. For one group I realized that they were not getting raises and that they were having a mild winter.. .which lead to the joke “So...
by jmcinnis | Jan 12, 2011 | B. Research Techniques
When writing a joke, what you’re really trying to do . . . is to pull out the ironies – the contradictions – in the situation. Ironies are all around us, yet most people don’t pay attention to them. So make a list of the environment and anything else you know...
by jmcinnis | Jan 7, 2011 | A. Humor Writing
Goal-Talk As we cruise into the new year, “goal-talk” is in the air. . .weight loss, exercise, making a bazillion bucks. You name it, we can turn it into a goal. Well, when you’re writing humor, you have to also ask yourself, what is your goal? Are you looking for a...
by jmcinnis | Dec 10, 2010 | A. Humor Writing
I gave my Finding the Funny in Communications keynote yesterday, and once again I had to point out to people that you don’t have to be “born funny” to add humor to your communications. So many times we’re waiting for “permission” to use humor. . .when in fact most...
