How important is it to be funny?

A person might ask: is it important to be funny? Whatever way you look at it, the answer is yes.  Humor can help you accomplish many things in life.  It is the best lubricant to smooth your way in life, pulling in opportunities and friendship.  Humor if infectious: when laughter is shared, it binds people together and increases intimacy.  Having a good sense of humor is an essential social toolset.

The first example: Imagine an awkward situation.  There are plenty of them in everyday life; we all know the feeling.  Tension.  Not knowing what to say or do.  Wondering what the other person is thinking.  Whether the awkwardness has to do with you being thrown into a new situation (think a new school, a new job, moving to a new place), or if it has to do with meeting someone new who happens to be shy, humor can definitely help.  Even shy people can't resist a funny joke.  It might now help you get out of the awkward situation, but it can certainly lessen the awkwardness.  

Secondly, humor helps in the social aspects of life.  It can score you friends, dates, and even business opportunities.  Funny people are more likable and outgoing, because being funny gives you confidence to be yourself.  When you meet someone who knows how to make you laugh, you begin to feel that you share a similar sense of humor with that person and that you might have other things in common as well.  Humor helps break the ice between shy friends and comedy allows for bonding.  Funny people are more likeable as well as better friends.  Show people you aren't shy by making them crack a smile at one of your jokes.  

In the business world, having a good sense of humor is a great networking tool.  If you are funny and able to entertain others, then you are more likely to attract the right sort of people in the business world.  When in a business meeting, a quick joke can allow your audience to feel more comfortable.  Become acquainted with your new colleagues by winning their friendships with a smile.  Also, humor can help you meet new people and acquire all sorts of new and promising business opportunities.  Would you not prefer to introduce your friends to a colleague who is funny rather than a colleague who is boring?

Humor is especially good for breaking the ice on a first date.  Truly funny guys are rare, and when one does come around, it's impossible for girls to resist.  People are addicted to laughter.  It is like a drug to the mind and body; it makes them happy.  All in all, if you have the ability to make someone laugh, you'll have a wide pool of women to choose from.  Who doesn't like a man (or woman) who can make them smile?

Humor also has health benefits!  Who would have thought?  Laughter is a strong medicine for both the mind and the body.  Laughter strengthens the immune system by decreasing stress hormones and increasing immune cells and infection-fighting antibodies, thus improving your overall resistance to disease.  It relaxes the body, relieving physical tension and stress, leaving muscles feeling better than ever.  Having a good laugh triggers the release of endorphins, the body's natural feel-good chemicals.  Furthermore, laughter protects the heart by improving the function of blood vessels and increasing blood flow.  Humor can cause laughter which triggers many healthy benefits!  You can't go wrong.

However, despite all the benefits of humor (socially, physically, and mentally), there is the complication of not knowing what type of humor is the right type of humor.  Of the seven categories, the answer might not be clear.  Maybe that's because there isn't a clear answer.  Different types of humor can help you in different ways.  For instance, Sarcastic-humor can help in awkward situations, or to help break the ice between two strangers.  Witty-humor showcases intelligence and cleverness, and therefore attracts members of the opposite gender.  Or members of the same gender.  Any kind of humor that can make someone smile will earn you friends, or score you major points when it comes to impressing a girl (or a guy).  Add health benefits to that list, and you've got plenty of reasons as to how humor can help you accomplish many things in life and how it's important to have a variety of different types of humor.

Am I funny? and the Types of Humor

A person might ask: Am I funny?

When it comes to questions about yourself, it's hard to be objective.  Even more complicated still, there are different definitions of comedy.  On a broad scale, there are seven main categories of humor.

Self-humor, Stupid-humor, Dirty-humor, Sarcastic-humor, Dark-humor, Dry-humor, and Witty-humor.

Self-humor is probably the hardest type of humor to attain.  Most people either have it or they don't.  Self-humor is the ability to make yourself laugh.  I often find that there are two types of people: people that need constant entertainment and people that can entertain themselves.  The latter of the two would be an instance of Self-humor.  These types of people can be locked in an empty room with only their minds as entertainment, yet can still make themselves smile simply with their imagination.  Any good author or writer should at least have a somewhat good sense of Self-humor.  Sometimes Self-humor includes laughing at yourself or at your insecurities.

Stupid-humor, sometimes known as American-humor, is the attitude of finding stupid things funny or amusing.  Everyone has their moments of Stupid-humor, some more so than others.  At times when you're laughing and you can't seem to stop, Stupid-humor usually falls upon you, despite what type of humor started the laughing spree.  When you're in a giggling mood, everything seems funny to you, even if it would otherwise seem stupid.  This is a case of Stupid-humor.

Dirty-humor.  Think of an instance when you found something funny that you probably shouldn't have.  This is known as Dirty-humor, and it has probably happened to almost everyone at one time or another.  You all know what I'm talking about.  This type of humor often comes to people naturally, especially teenagers with dirty minds.  Sometimes Dirty-humor is mistaken for Stupid-humor because prude people are often too embarrassed to laugh at it and the joke falls flat.

Sarcastic-humor may seem common, but most people who think they have it actually don't.  Therefore, true Sarcastic-humor, or at least good Sarcastic-humor, is relatively rare.  A person with Sarcastic-humor turns everything into a joke.  Sarcastic-humor is the use of irony to mock or convey contempt.  Sarcasm if oftentimes used by people who are irritated or annoyed.  Teenagers are big sarcasm users and use it on their parents frequently.  Oftentimes, Sarcastic-humored people use Dry-humor to convey or project their jokes.
                                                                                                                                
Dark-humor.  This type of humor is often viewed as morbid or cruel, and can sometimes be a form of teasing or ridiculing.  To perform this type of humor, people pick on others and laugh at their insecurities or differences.  Dark-humored people often find humor at someone else's expense.  Dark-humor can also be in the form of a sneering remark that some people associate with sarcasm, so it can be wrongly mistaken for Sarcastic-humor.

Dry humor, or Deadpan-humor, is the ability to tell a joke in a way that makes it seem as if you are funny by coincidence.  It is a very subtle way of trying to be funny.  This type of humor is meant to seem unintentional.  It is spoken casually in a calm, monotone voice accompanied with a passive demeanor and an apathetic facial expression.  Dry-humored people can deliver a hysterically funny line without cracking a smile.

Witty-humor.  A person with Witty-humor is clever and shows intelligence.  People with this type of humor are quick and inventive.  Has there ever been someone you've met that always seems to have a comeback?  Usually those people are characterized as having Witty-humor.  They can find the subtle humor in a situation that can make even the most intelligent people crack a smile because they hadn't thought of it first.  Witty-humored people are clever enough to come across as funny without seeming like a know-it-all.

You can determine if you have Self-humor, or the ability to make yourself laugh.  However, only other people can determine if you have a different type of humor.  And people's opinions of your humor might contradict each other.  Still, to be funny, you shouldn't constantly worry about what other's might think.  Follow the Rules of Laughter and you might just have a shot at making someone smile.

Laughter 101

Comedy is not a science; it's an art.  And, as with any other skill, it can be practiced and perfected.  Humor is also subjective.  A person's sense of humor can change over time.  For example, when I first heard What Does The Fox Say? I stared at my computer screen with the video on repeat, unable to stop laughing.  Now whenever I hear it it's all I can do not to roll my eyes.  To keep the laughter fresh, you need to follow the Rules of Humor.