I can be funny on stage, but I'm not very good at thinking of smart witty things that are original to say to be a funny person off stage, (like just being a funny person everyday). Some people say that you can't learn to be funny. Thoughts? Jokes? Insults?

I'm not either but the more shows I do, the better I get.

1. do a lot of shows.
2. video your shows.
3. take notes.

I told everyone I was going to be a comedian and they laughed.

So I started telling jokes and... they're not laughing now.

You can learn to be funny, Im pretty sure. You need a good writer and a crowd to try out your delviery on.

Are you asking because you want to be funny in everyday life or want to learn how to ad-lib in your shows?

In real life just be yourself. People you find funny in day-to-day situations are often not the wittiest people but rather confident people who are full of fun and life.

Of course, some people are very witty but usually it's the person who comes up with the quickest reply not the cleverest will get the laugh.

Being witty and funny all the time can be very tiresome. For one when you try to be serious no one will take you that way because they know you to be the witty one. For most it is a personality trait something they are just natural at being. For others it is a struggle to be funny because they have a more serious personality. Ironically those who are serious all the time can come off even more funny then those who are natural at it.

However yes you can learn to be funny on and off stage, the most important step is to find what makes you laugh once you are in touch with the funny side of YOU then you will find that your funny side is bleeding over into your personal life.

If you are working on being wittier in your everyday life try the following.

Look for contrast in everyday events. Ask yourself WHAT IF! then conclude on something you find funny.

Reading the current events and look for the humor in it is a big help.
Listen to the words that others speak and try and find the flip side to their statement.

Work on being sharp and quick – One exercise you can do is to read a book you normally would not read so you know nothing about its contents, at the end of each sentence quickly come up with something funny to say about that sentence. A witty person does this naturally so you need to train yourself to think on your feet and quickly. This is also a great way for you to discover what truly is funny and is not. If you cant find something funny about the sentence then move on, it was not meant to be funny.

Above all don’t be afraid to try out your ideas of funny to others, if they laugh then great if not well then you know it was not all that funny and you will need to just keep digging till you find the correct combination for your personality that makes others laugh. But don't overdue it!!! Keep them guessing as to what you will come up with or say next.

Floyd

I find that having funny parents usually makes funny kids, but looks aren't everything.

Johnny Carson - widely regarded as perhaps the greatest ad-lib artist of his time - famously said; "There's no such thing as an ad-lib."

TW

That quote intrigued me, Thomas, so I went online to try and find out what he meant by that. I couldn't find any reference to him saying that or anything like that whatsoever. Do you have a source or the actual quote? Thanks

A lot of acts pretend to ad-lib. It's a viable technique. You know what people are likely to say and you have several prepared responses.
Acts like the Mighty Boosh act out situations and make claims that they are ad-libbing. I think they do it a bit too much, though. Even Eddie Izzard's umming and aahing makes it sound like he's making stuff up on the spot.

There are some great ad-libbers out there. Ross Noble never does the same show twice and builds whole worlds out of bizarre heckles.

A lot of my lines I use in every show started out as an ad-lib. Somedays they just appear in your mouth like magic.

George

Sure, "magicgeorge"; I heard him say it years ago, but I would expect you can find it within this recorded interview:

http://laughstore.stores.yahoo.net/johcaroncomc.html


TW

Thanks for the link , I'll check that out.

TW, feel free to call me George, like everyone else does.

What do you think he meant by that remark?

George

George, do you think he literally meant "There's no such thing as an ad-lib."
I don't.

But those great ones you remember from a performer were probably rehearsed.

Makes me think of the "Sure, move the cat" story.

Hey Frank, it's hard to tell what was meant by the quote alone. (Which is why I was looking for a source so I could hear/read about it in context)

There are many entertainers who appear to be ad-libbing but actually aren't
which is why people will leave a gig by Billy Connolly or Eddie Izzard thinking he's a funny guy not he had some funny material. Although some performers are clearly scripted others are funny people acting the part of very funny people.

I feel there are lots of genuine ad-libs out there but also many pretend ones. I've heard of performers that use stooge hecklers ie they have someone shout something out so they can use a prepared come-back. I always feel a little cheated when I find out that a supposed ad-lib was actually prepared but it's all part of the game I suppose...

George

Watch Amazing Johnathan work. He's doing the same lines he was doing when I worked with Kozak in their show in Las Vegas in the early 1990s. His performance is adlibbed and each is a little different each night but the lines and bits are not. He gives the appearance of being unscripted and undisciplined but he is anything but....don't know about Johnny Carson, never got that far, though but I think that's what he might have meant.

Everybody ad-libs when they can. it would be stupid not to say something hilarious when given the opportunity.

the ad-libs that get a huge laughs are then get stored, and worked into the act from that point on so they appear ad-libbed but are no longer.

it's as simple as that.

of course you could write a script with rehearsed ad-libs written right into the act. seems more likely for someone like carson who's basically doing a different act each night. But someone with his talent obviously has the skills to think on his feet, and did.

His quote is good food for thought.

In 1990 I took my family to see David Copperfield in Jacksonville, Florida. We sat on the second row and it was wonderful. At one point David is doing a rope trick with an audience volunteer on stage. At one point as he is walking from one side of the stage to the other when a baby cries out from about 8 or 10 rows behind me. Without missing a beat he quips, "Shut that baby up!" with a smile on his face. The audience howled it was so funny. I thought to myself, "The consummate professional!"

Fast forward a few months and I'm watching the annual "The Magic of David Copperfield " TV special. It was mostly like the live show we had seen and was wonderful. He gets to the rope trick, walks across the the stage and at the very instant it occurred during the live show a baby cried out followed by him saying - "Shut that baby up!"

Was what I heard live an ad-lib? Who knows? But originally ad-libbed or planned it made it into all the shows. It might have been an ad-lib when I heard it - but the TV version was definitely not - but I'm sure most people thought it was an ad-lib.

True ad-libs can be hilarious, but so can planned ones.

I think they get better laughs compared to how 'actually' funny they are. And that's why it's good to have some written in, where you can.

Why is that?

I think they make the performer seem cleverer and wittier and also they make the audience feel they are part of something unique and special.

The Copperfield line is the prime example, people are laughing because he said something vaguely witty without missing a beat or being thrown by it. It sort of makes you wonder why he doesn't think up something funnier if it is a prepared ad-lib but I suppose if he did it wouldn't sound like an ad-lib any more.

Hey Magic People - I'm a hobbying standup comic that makes my real living as a semi-competent application developer. In my spare time I created a web site called humorq.com where members participate in both judging and submitting to a daily cartoon caption contest. It's called humorq.com and after a few days it puts a number on how funny you are. I think it helps you learn what others consider funny, and at the very least it's a good way to get your creative humor exercises. Membership is free. My site is new. I need members to make the humorq number valid, you need humor exercises. Let's help each other.

It’s interesting to see how few really get the Johnny Carson quote. What Carson meant is that actual ad libs - in the strictest sense - are so rare as to be virtually non-existent.

A reasonable working definition of ad lib (noun) is: a remark made spontaneously without prior preparation – composed, performed, or uttered on the spur of the moment (emphasis added).

Carson's point, expounded on during the interview I heard, was that skilled "ad-libbers" will not attempt to make up something new or different [spontaneously] in an effort to be funny, but instead will draw on an experience they’ve had, or material they already know (or have heard elsewhere) that can be applied on the spot. That is NOT to say that the "ad-lib" will necessarily be a stand-alone joke or a self-contained funny line, but rather that it will apply to the situation and appear to be spontaneous. It could be a commonly known phrase or current political issue or something in the news or any other word or phrase that fits and is funny (and/or engaging, endearing, etc.)

Carson particularly made the point that having a good memory for this sort of thing and a solid understanding of timing and delivery were essential to pulling off any sort of successful "ad-lib".

Here’s an example of what he meant that happened to me during a set. I was performing for a table full of people and I handed a deck of cards to a guy right across from me and asked him to “just give those a good shuffle” as I made a kind of shuffling gesture. It was immediately apparent that he had no skill at handling cards and as he was fumbling through some sort of hybrid Hindu/overhand shuffle (that I assumed he was making up on the spot) I said “It doesn’t matter as long as they’re well mixed; any old shuffle will be fine…” Just as I said that the cards suddenly spewed out of his hands in every direction - onto the table, the floor, other guests laps…

I instantly said, “Well no. Maybe not now…” and I got a big laugh. Now, that line wasn’t scripted in the routine, and I hadn’t planned on saying it before it came out of my mouth. So was that an “ad lib”?

Carson says no, that wasn’t an ad lib – and I tend to agree.

In the Bill Murray movie “Groundhog Day” there’s a scene where Phil (Murry’s character) drives a pickup truck off a high cliff while Rita (Andie MacDowell) and Larry (Chris Elliott) watch. The truck lands on its roof, and Larry – looking down over the edge of the cliff – says. “He might be okay”. Just as he says that the truck bursts into an explosive fireball and Larry then says, “Well no. Maybe not now…”

And that’s where I got the line. Remembered it on the spur of the moment, when I needed it. Doubtful I’ll ever get to use it again – unless I can somehow find a way to script in having a spectator fumble a deck of cards – but having it right there at my disposal is what made it seem spontaneous (and therefore funny). And that’s what Carson meant when he said, “There’s no such thing as an ad lib”.

TW
(PS: The supposed ad libs “I will if you move that damm cat” and “I’ll bet that makes his putter straight.” were never uttered by Carson, though they are widely attributed to him.)