Disclaimer: There’s some naughty language and nasty visuals in this post. Reader beware.
I have often struggled with humor in writing although I am often told that some of my stories are quite funny. It isn’t purely intentional, because if it was, it would fall flat and fail. Sometimes, though, things just strike me as odd or obvious and I point them out. That’s all. People find that quite entertaining.
I feel that a writing should be compelling, it should grip you, and entertainment and humor are a good way to do that. But how do we go about achieving that deathly grip? I have a thought on it, at least, but I don’t confess to have mastered even the thought.
I have gone over the writings that people told me were funny, or hilarious, or whatever adjective they attach to it. I noticed a pattern in them, and then I thought about other writers, oral performers we call comedians, and what I find funny about what they write. I noticed the pattern and I recognize what is behind it: Universiality. (If that isn’t a real word, it is now, and don’t you go giving me any gruff over it.)
The best example I can give of this is from the late and great George Carlin, my all-time favorite. In the middle of a stand-up (“Complaints and Grievances“), he paused and rubbed his chin. He looked back up at the audience with mic in hand and spoke it simply but with enthusiasm:
I save everything that comes off of my body, don’t you? At least for a little while…Don’t you look at things when they first come off of you? Huh? Aren’t you curious? Don’t you spend five, or ten, or fifteen minutes studying something, trying to figure what the fuck it is and what it’s doing on you in the first place? Sure you do! You don’t pull some disgusting-looking growth off your neck and throw it quickly into the toilet! You want to know what the fuck it is!
That, to me at least, is hilarious. Why? Because don’t we all do it? We do. Like you haven’t held a scab up to the light in the bathroom and looked at the pores and all that stuff that’s on it. Like farting. In the same act, Carlin goes on to say “The kind of fart that could kill cancer! The kind of fart that comes in handy if you have something that needs welding!” I fart. You fart. We fart. We all know what farting is. Also realize that if you are looking for example of good description, look no further than your favorite comedian. They simply describe life for a living and the best ones are very good at it.
Carlin goes so far as to even announce what he is going to talk about and why you are going to laugh at it. Usually this spells certain doom for a story but the basic universal that he brings up is so obvious, but something we never think about, that we still laugh at it. Of course this goes hand-in-hand with exaggeration like in all humor but that’s a different post.
Point out the stupid little things that we do which we may never actively think about, or associate descriptions with things that we all know about but actively don’t think about. Like, for instance, my lawn has all kinds of leaves of a variety of colors on it which have fallen from the trees. I could describe it as looking like a kid knocked over a box of fruity pebbles onto it and you’d get it right away, and then you’d be drawn tighter into the story, bond with it, because you have that in common. Another good example is when comedians do food humor, especially Jim Gaffigan and his whole “hot pocket” act, which is great.
Another piece of evidence is in another class I had. We were reading “Me Talk Pretty One Day” by David Sedaris, which was ripe with this type of humor. You’ve seen the general apathy in class when we read a story and are to discuss it. Most of you don’t say anything. It is the same in every English class. We read from this book, however, as assigned homework, a story within the book where Sedaris outlines a scenario where he entered a bathroom during a party after someone took an enormous crap and it was not flushed. I believe he described it as some type of burrito. The story detailed poop etiquette and how to defer responsibility of said burrito to the original owner so he didn’t have to own up to it.
Everybody had something to say about that story. Every person in class. Why? It’s funny. Why is it funny? It’s happened to us, at least once or twice.
Point out those obvious things that we all do but don’t think about. Tell me how your character looks at the toilet paper before flushing it. Describe it as being “dunked” into the toilet. Be nasty and gross (but relevant) because that’s funny and compelling. Be pithy and notice things about our emotional selves, maybe things we don’t realize, and not only are you compelling but you are also teaching your reader about themselves. Speak in universals, because everybody will understand and appreciate it.
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