If you are looking for the ultimate content to get your audience laughing and engaged, then this list has it all. The tips listed are easy to apply and perfect for any occasion, whether a one-time Deez nuts joke or a lifelong goal of being funny. You should have no problem taking these tips and applying them to your comedy routine with success. With this list, you’ll be able to come up with some witty comments about random topics.
1. Be Confident
The only way to be funny is if you truly believe in your comedy skills. So if you ever feel yourself lacking self-confidence, take a step back and reflect on your past jokes and see how people have reacted. Once you see a pattern in positive reactions, then it should be simple to keep going forward one joke at a time.
2. Listening Skills
If you want to become a great comedian, then you need excellent listening skills. They’re a crucial component to any joke that you want to deliver, whether it’s positive or negative. If you’re listening to someone in a quiet room and they start laughing, then it’s very likely that you’ll find the joke hilarious as well. You need to know how to listen!
3. Don’t Talk Too Much
Sometimes people think they can tell a joke better if they talk more about it. But this is rarely the case! Unless the audience is completely silent, talking more will not work. This rule only applies if you are trying to make up funny jokes on the spot. If you want to keep your audience engaged, then you’ll want to try to just say a few sentences at a time.
4. Don’t Explain Everything
When delivering jokes, it can be tempting to explain everything too much. There’s no need to do this! Not only is this boring for your audience, but it also makes them lose interest and might end up making them not laugh at all. If you find that your audience is losing interest in what you’re saying or they are asking questions about the subject, then you can slowly drop hints so that they will be surprised when the punch line finally lands on them.
5. Emotions
People want to laugh, period. But you shouldn’t make jokes that revolve around negative emotions. This is not uplifting and your audience will become frustrated if you continue to hit them with jokes that are downright mean. When delivering jokes, you should focus on making them funny, not offensive.
6. Make It Pointless
If your idea of a joke is just taking the punch line from something else and using it as a new situation, then it’s likely that your audience won’t find it funny at all. So you must think of something completely random or pointless when making up a joke to keep people interested!
7. Avoid Self-Deprecating Humor
While people can appreciate some self-deprecating humor, if you do it too much then you’ll end up hurting your image. People might start thinking that you’re too negative and this will make them uninterested in your material overall. The trick here is to find the right balance between positive and negative humor to keep everyone entertained.
8. Don’t Be Reactive
If you’re going up on stage as a comedian, then you need to be sure that you only react as much as needed. Responding to hecklers with extreme negativity or going on a rant is never a good idea because it makes your audience uncomfortable with the entire situation. Don’t be reactive – just focus on your jokes and ignore any negative comments that your audience gives to you.
9. Avoid Taking Yourself Too Seriously
You’re a comedian, which means you need to be able to make fun of yourself! Do not think that you are too good for this and avoid ever making jokes about your actions or personality traits. It is a common thing for comedians to engage in self-deprecating humor, but the most successful comedians do this at the right times and in moderation to avoid overdoing it or coming off as too negative.
10. Don’t Rush
While it is important to get up on stage and get started, it is also important to pace yourself. If you rush through your jokes too quickly, then your material won’t have any humor and it will seem boring. It’s okay if you don’t have as much time as you initially thought, but there should be no need to rush what you’re saying.
11. Be Aware Of Audience Emotions
It can be helpful to be aware of the different emotions going on in the audience when delivering jokes. If people are laughing, then that means that they are enjoying what you are saying and giving you positive reactions. However, if people are giving you negative reactions by expressing anger or boredom, then it is best to change your jokes and try something else.
12. Don’t Be Too Busy
It can be tempting to ask your audience a ton of questions that all have to do with jokes. However, this is not a good idea and will only make them feel disappointed by the end of the night. You need to be able to deliver multiple jokes without stopping for audience participation, so you should try your best not to keep on going over the same topic for too long.
13. Don’t Try Too Hard
Doing a stand-up comedy routine takes a lot of practice, so be sure to listen to advice from other comedians. They know what works and what doesn’t, so take their helpful advice seriously and you will do better with your show! Be sure to be yourself when delivering jokes. This means that you need to not try too hard or make any jokes that don’t fit in with the style of comedy you want to tell.
14. Use A Script Only When Necessary
There are different opinions about this topic, but most people at least agree that reading your jokes out loud can be distracting for the audience and makes it hard to hear the punch line itself. If you have a lot of jokes to tell or have a problem with timing, then it might be a good idea to create a script. However, doing this too much will make your comedy routine predictable and boring.
15. Don’t Be Gimmicky
It can be tempting to try your hands at some funny gimmicks to make yourself seem more interesting. However, this is not always the best idea because it will only serve as a distraction from your core material. Using interesting props or costumes is a great idea, but they shouldn’t be “jokes” themselves. Otherwise, you’re going to end up making people lose interest in what you’re saying altogether!
Conclusion
These tips should be able to help you deliver jokes in a way that will give you the best results. Just remember to get out there and try new things by coming up with new jokes in various situations!
