Idioteex

Posts Tagged ‘Funny’

Didn’t the world seem a lot better during Saturday morning cartoons? There was no school, no troubles and no homework worries as cartoon humor entertained us for hours. All it took was the favorite show, a bowl of corn flakes and a never ending smile. Somehow, the tradition faded in time but if you still like cartoons, you are in luck.

There are so many new options that you would be left confused. You can now enjoy cartoons on television shows, morning newspapers and the internet. Whenever you are lonely or sad, turn on your favorite cartoon and roll away in laughter. Remember that your responsibilities increase as you grow old, but the child inside you does not die. You can always bring that back by reading the morning Garfield strip or checking out the new SpongeBob show.

The comic strip in the newspapers was a favorite for most people as they grew up. What started out as a small strip has grown into a variety of world famous cartoons. You can probably remember Archies and Garfield. Now you can choose between a variety of cartoon strips from Calvin and Hobbes to The Wizard Of Id. If that is not enough, you can also catch your cartoons as television shows on morning channels. What can be better than bugs bunny outsmarting the hunter or the road runner defeating his smart enemies. You would laugh and laugh until you have tears in your eyes. From getting hit with anvils to blasting each other with cannons, it’s a dream world of fun and laughter.

Cartoons have some of the funniest jokes and the wittiest punch lines. You can laugh at anything and anyone in cartoons. You could even make one yourself. Remember the bully who troubles you at school? Why not draw him as a fat slug and show him falling under a piano. That can surely bring a big grin to your face. Cartoon humor has been growing constantly.  Read more...

Research every top ten topic.

If you skip this crucial step, you will be forced to start every list from square one. And starting from scratch can be very slow and frustrating. Therefore, whenever you attempt to write a humorous top ten list, your number one objective should be to gather as much information about the topic as possible.

The humorous twists come later. At the outset, you need something to twist. And that precious something is information. Without it, you literally won’t know what you’re talking about; or the best ways to poke fun at it.

Conducting a thorough job of research often turns up a considerable amount of inside information that provides precisely the ammunition you need to fire off a few hilarious lines that perfectly fit the topic of your list.

Less words mean more laughs.

When composing funny top ten lists, don’t give your readers too many words to process. Keep each list entry as short as possible. You must ruthlessly pare down each list entry to the absolute minimum number of words that will get your point across.

Extraneous words cause two fundamental problems: First, the extra words lead your readers off on confusing mental tangents. And secondly, readers frequently stumble over the unnecessary words and lose their train of thought. Either way, the end result will be a failure to understand your punch lines.

Remember: You’re not telling jokes! Every list entry must be a solid punch line. A funny top ten list must go bang, bang, bang; without benefit of any additional set-up lines. The title of your list is the only set-up line allowed.

After that, each entry must be totally self-contained, and able to stand on its own merits. Funny top ten lists are like Henny Youngman humor: “Take my wife … please!”  Read more...

It is difficult to think of humor and intellect as going hand-in-hand: just like the divisions of mind and body, humor is considered base, and mutually exclusive to higher cognition. After all, humor is very corporeal: laughter is the physical response to something funny. If you have any doubts of this, just consider these questions: did Jesus laugh? Can you imagine Muhammad telling a joke? Or Buddha, mid-meditation, passing gas and giggling?

This very issue has repercussions in art as well. The function of art has, for several centuries now, been expected to fulfill some philosophical purpose. Art is supposed to make us think. This especially overwhelmed art in the wake of the Conceptual Art movement, as artistic skill was thrown out the window, and the “idea” reigned supreme. It is thus that we separate the high arts from the low arts: art that is “funny” is not respectable. (It is thus that art historians also have a reputation for being a buttoned-up, humorless bunch. Ask yourself the Buddha question in regards to your Art History 101 lecturer. See what I mean?) If the separation of high art and low art did not exist, art would be indistinguishable from pure “entertainment:” a peanuts comic strip would be as aesthetically valuable as a Bruce Nauman; Will Ferrell would be more of a mover-and-shaker than Sol LeWitt; Andy Samberg’s crude SNL digital shorts would be as artistically legitimate as a Jean-Luc Godard film. I myself try to fight the elitist reputation of art historians, but all I have to say is: yikes.

And yet, there is no denying that more people today are familiar with “D*** in a Box” than they are with “Les plus belles escroqueries du monde.” The truth is the general population gets more out of Judd Apatow bromance than a minimalist sculpture. Isn’t there something to be said for that? What is the ultimate value of the “I don’t get it” aesthetic?  Read more...

Have you been told that you have a good sense of humor throughout your life? Do you find that things are easier to understand when they are described in a humorous way? Humor helps us appreciate the good times and smile through the bad times. Humor is a good memory tool. It is part of who we are as humans.

Perhaps you enjoy a good joke every now and then, or you find yourself seeing the funny side of things. Did you ever think that you could use humor to make money? Many people use humor as a marketing tool to make money, and not just stand-up comedians and television writers.

If you are an exceptional observer and commentator, if you spend time analyzing jokes and why they are funny, if you want to spend many years working hard to make it, then you very well may have what it takes to be a successful stand-up comedian.

For most of us, however, getting on stage and speaking in front of people is not something we want to do. Some people are terrified of speaking in front of a group; it’s the number one phobia world-wide.

There are many other ways to make a good living using humor. Try to think of commercials that are particularly effective. Chances are the commercials you thought about were funny. This is because a good joke is memorable. Advertisers have understood this for decades.

Behind every great funny commercial, there is an ad writer. The ability to find the funny side of things is a hot commodity in the advertising business. Talented ad writers make a good living. Even in political campaigns, humor is used to make a point, or get folks to pay attention to a person or issue.  Read more...

In the national bestseller Flow, University of Chicago psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi suggests two key factors determine our overall happiness:

•    Our relations with other people
•    How we experience our work

You can improve both areas by bringing humor to work each day.

Harvard Business Review (September 2003) reports that executives with a sense of humor climb the corporate ladder more quickly and earn more money than their counterparts.

Stu Robertshaw, a University of Wisconsin professor emeritus of education and psychology, cites a study in which a firm experienced a 21 percent decrease in staff turnover and a 38 percent decrease in Friday absenteeism after incorporating humor into the workplace.

And in another study, management professor David Abramis of California State University, Long Beach, determined that employees who have fun on the job are more productive and creative; are better decision makers and team players; and have fewer absentee, sick and late days.

A sense of humor offers many job benefits:

•    Reduces stress
•    Stimulates creativity
•    Boosts motivation and morale
•    Strengthens teams
•    Makes meetings more effective
•    Facilitates open communication
•    Improves customer services
•    Improves the bottom line

A good laugh reduces blood pressure, increases heart rate, massages internal organs and reduces the levels of the stress hormone cortisol in the blood. It boosts blood flow to your brain, which means you learn more, forget less and feed your curiosity.

Humor also keeps your life in balance, allowing you to more effectively juggle personal goals, family commitments and work demands. You’ll maintain your sanity and perspective as you reduce tension in stressful situations and rise above crises.

Humor and Creativity

Humor encourages creativity, allowing you to view challenges from new angles. You’ll enjoy playing with a variety of ideas and making innovative associations.  Read more...