I’m back for another post in my Character Under A Microscope Series. One skill a writer must learn is creating characters who are not like you. There are many details that go into character development, and one of those is a sense of humor. But not everyone’s humor is the same.
I learned when I started writing stories that my sense of humor does not translate well on paper. I have a dry, sarcastic humor that often appears on the surface as cruel. It’s a type of humor that can only be well-received when words and body language are paired together. I had to research to not only ways to effectively portray sarcasm in text, but also learn other types of humor for various characters. Below is a list of ten types of humor I identified in my research.
1. Over The Top
This humor is all about blowing things out of proportion. It’s exaggeration. Children are famous for this behavior. “I ate seven hundred berries, and my stomach is going to explode.” You can make the humor more refined than that though. For instance, in The Amazing Spider-Man, Peter is confronting a bad guy who takes out a pocket knife. Peter’s response is, “You’ve found my weakness! It’s small knives!” Then he collapses on the ground in mock pain.
Another way to go over the top in humor is to have someone overcomplicate a simple task. For instance, a man can show physical effort and extreme concentration to open a door. If done well, people will laugh at something ordinary being so exaggerated. Over the top humor can be funny, but be careful you don’t use it in a cliche way. Too many childish exaggerations as shown in the first example, and your readers will not laugh.
2. Understated
Opposite to the previous type of humor, understatements are when you downplay someone doing something extraordinary. An example would be if a man sideswipes his car, completely wrecking its side, and he says, “It’s just a scratch.” People laugh because of the ironic contradiction.
You can also oversimplify a hard task. A man assembling a car in one night is pretty amazing. If he’s asked about it, he could respond, “I couldn’t sleep so I threw some bolts and screws together.” He’s downplaying the complicated task, and some people will find it funny.
3. Running Jokes
Running jokes are something you have to set up early and get the payoff later in the story. Characters won’t be able to use this type of humor unless they are part of a tight group of friends. Running jokes are inside jokes, only funny to those who have been around long enough to understand the reference behind the words or actions.
An example is in the early seasons of the podcast Writing Excuses. In one episode, Howard comments on how the other writers in the group have the luxury of rewriting and going back to insert foreshadowing for their stories before they publish. Howard posted his story to the internet weekly and couldn’t alter something once it was published. You can hear him call out “Luxury!” many times throughout the episodes, and it even catches so the other writers on the podcast start saying it for him. A few chuckles always follow the exclamation.
4. Universal Experiences
Steven James wrote the most interesting insight on this humor in the book The Art of the Tale. He said that we often think someone’s funny because “he’s telling us something that we believe is true, but hadn’t thought about in that way before.” I thought back to my favorite comedians, and Steven’s right. When you can point out something absurd about what people view as normal, you will open their eyes to an ironic truth.
Relatability is key to this kind of humor. Find a new perspective on a shared experience. For example, I read this online once: “A man knocked on my door and asked for a small donation toward the local swimming pool. I gave him a glass of water.” Everyone has dealt with strangers knocking on the door asking for something, but not many would have thought to do that. The new perspective on a common annoyance makes people laugh. I’ve heard comedians make fun of dentist appointments, visiting the Department of Motor Vehicle, and meeting the in-laws. These are all universal experiences that people can relate to and understand.
This is also why awkward humor works. You take an experience everyone is familiar with and make it as awkward as possible. People will laugh out of nervousness while wondering how they would have handled it. They will relate and pity the person, but they will also laugh.
5. Miscommunication
This humor is pretty self-explanatory. One person means one thing, but the other person interprets it as something else. It’s the whole storyline of the Amelia Bedelia children’s books. Amelia is constantly taking people literally when they don’t mean it. She’s told to dust the furniture so she sprinkles powder all over them, she is asked to draw the drapes so she draws a picture of them, and she needs to dress a turkey for dinner so she puts clothes on it. Miscommunication creates not only comedy, but conflict. You can keep the story rolling while also making your readers laugh.
6. Defy Expectations
One of the simplest humors to mimic for me is when you take the expected and make it unexpected. I don’t remember who first told me the pattern, but I call it: Same, Same, Different. It’s when you do two things that are expected and create a pattern that you defy with the third thing. For instance, here is some writing advice. 1) Write every day. 2) Write what you love. 3) Write in your pajamas. This technique can work for any situation where you set up a character to always act a certain way, and then you change it after a few repetitions. The unexpected will make the reader pause, maybe even laugh.
Another way to defy expectations is to put someone in a place he or she doesn’t belong. Make a U.S. Marine babysit children. Put a county sheriff in a house full of cheerleaders as the bodyguard. Have a sorority girl go to law school. By putting a classic stereotype in an unfamiliar environment, you set up the scene for many comical situations (including miscommunication).
This kind of humor can also be shown through duality. A character may act one way but think another. The TV show The Office does this on a regular basis. You see the characters’ actions, and then they are pulled aside to speak to the camera, often revealing their thoughts are opposite to their actions. As writers, we have the ability to show this better by revealing the character’s thoughts throughout the scene. It’s also a great way to create tension since the reader knows the character’s thoughts don’t align with how he portrays himself to others.
7. Stupidity
This type of humor happens when someone does something ridiculous. It often stems from ignorance or innocence, but it can just be someone not thinking things through. Or they could act that way on purpose to get a reaction. Most of the entries on America’s Funniest Videos are this type of humor. The mere absurdity of their actions makes other people laugh.
8. Dry Humor
You have to be careful with this type of humor. Dry humor can often go over the audience’s heads. It’s usually delivered in a subtle manner with a straight face and neutral tone that, unless someone has a trained ear for it, may cause the humor to be missed. That can happen with any humor, but dry humor often comes across as harsh if the funny meaning is missed.
Sarcasm is one type of dry humor. It’s when you say the opposite of what you mean, usually in a mocking way. It can often seem rude if not taken as funny. An example is: “I enjoy long walks. Especially when people who annoy me take them.”
Another example of dry humor are satires, which make fun of societal flaws. They can appear sad if the comedic meaning isn’t noticed, though they do point out a truth that needs to be corrected. For example, “An honest politician is an oxymoron.”
There is also just stating the obvious or being very literal. It can come across as the speaker is dimwitted, but it can be comical when someone states something so obvious that no one would say it. For instance, Drax from the Guardians of the Galaxy is notorious for this type of humor. During a meeting when they are planning a battle, he said, “I wasn’t listening. I was thinking of something else.” He is straightforward in all his speech and takes everything literally.
9. Dark humor
Dark humor is the other type of humor you can use but need to be careful that you know your audience. It is gallows humor, sometimes used temporarily after a traumatic event for a person to distance himself from it. The Addams Family is famous for dark humor, and the TV show Wednesday continued the tradition. One of her quotes is: “I don’t believe in heaven or hell. But I do believe in revenge. I usually serve it warm with a side of pain.” The popularity of the show proves there is a place for it, but it will seem grotesque to some people. As long as you know your audience will like it, you can have a character with dark humor.
10. Wordplay
The last type of humor I will list in this post is wordplay. This humor uses words in a witty way to make others laugh. This can include puns, one-liners, and pickup lines. The glass of water joke I used earlier is wordplay. Another example is: “I don’t trust stairs because they are always up to something.” As writers, we can have a lot of fun with this type of humor.
Final Thoughts
When we write our characters, it’s easy to give them all our sense of humor. We feel like we are giving them all their funny moments, but it can fall flat if it’s all the same type of humor. Everyone is different. What if your readers don’t share your sense of humor? I’m not a huge fan of puns, but there is a wide audience for them. It’ll be a challenge, but make yourself write other types of humor for some of your characters. You’ll widen your audience while also making the characters feel more distinct.
Thanks for reading!
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