Funny people: are you naturally funny or did you learn to be?

[MonsterMunchLabubu]

I’m not funny. In fact, even if I repeat a joke, it falls flat every time…

But I LOVE funny people! Is it possible to become one?

If you’re funny, how did you get there?

So for instance if I was giving news that the lift was going to be broken for another 2 weeks, I would say how much money staff would save by not having to go to the gym as they would be able to run up and down stairs and have an extra bar of chocolate with all the calories they would be using up whilst running up and down said stairs.

"I think I’ve got less funny recently as the people around me aren’t as funny"

Excellent point. You need some witty people around you to bounce off a bit and keep you sharp.

I had a witty dad and older siblings. "Being funny" was a rated characteristic when I was growing up but it was sarcasm, quick responses and observations. Definitely not jokes and not long funny stories - that's a different skill.

My husband is naturally funny, it’s the first thing that attracted me to him. more than 30 years on he makes me laugh every day.

Our kids are funny too.

I think it’s a mixture of genetics (my dad was funny, I am and my children are) but also the fact that humour becomes a sort of currency in the home. Being funny brings a degree of kudos and so if you’re also funny you keep up with the others. So everyone is sort of always competing to be the wittiest or the silliest.

I’m very glad of it. It breaks the ice, smooths the way, helps you make quick connections with people and brings an element of joy to life. I actively look for things to amuse me and I make myself laugh (which I wouldn’t generally disclose because I’d sound ridiculous). And I gravitate to other funny people because I love to laugh.

I think I developed my humour as part of my masking, it made me fit in better and not much of a target for unpleasant experiences... I noticed that people who seemed sensitive or whiney always got picked on more.

I’m quick witted and it’s from my mum, she’s very dry & funny. My DD is funny and witty. I think it’s what you’re brought up around.

I think tone of voice is quite crucial. My tone is not good at delivering humour but I can do some witty quips. The funniest people I know, know how to deliver a punchline, story or a joke with a tone of voice that makes it hilarious.

I think I'm funny. I love making people laugh, or even just smile. I don't need to be funny to make people like me, I just love being able to give someone a bit of joy or fun.

I remember very clearly the first time I ever tried to make someone laugh on purpose. I was 5, primary school, and saw a wee kid in the nursery part of the playground crying. I pretended to walk into the fence in different ways until they laughed. And I felt really proud that I had helped them feel happy.

Life is hard enough, being able to laugh and make others laugh too is such a joy.

I have funny friends, I got a lot of my sense of humour from them growing up, my dad (typical glaswegian Billy Connolly type story teller), Monty Python, Spaced, watching different sketch shows and funny tv programmes... I never copied them, but they showed me how something as simple as a raised eyebrow could be funny.

My kids are funny too, which I enjoy.

Also I can tell a story and make it funny. Even the sad or difficult things. Helps me process it, takes the upset away. You have to know where the laughs are, find that knack and you'll be funny.

Yes. That is my experience. Intelligence, timing, adversity (especially adversity), shared experiences, story-telling, building on a story that others have told, over the top no holds barred dramatics (don't let the truth get in the way of a good story), and referring to something that was mentioned hours ago (and was funny) gets us all crying with laughter. Would not expect anyone else to find it funny (although they have) I don't think any of us could tell a joke to save our lives. I definitely think it is inherited, I would probably say if you were trying to be come funnier, watching stand up comics will help, sharp wit, being able to laugh at yourself, and shared experiences make great content.

It's a natural thing. Need to be smart too.

I'm funny, both in speech and writing. A couple of times people have said I could have had a career in stand-up. Not dying on my arse, I hope.
Not sure where it comes from, though the northern accent is very good for the drop-dead riposte and ability to tell an anecdote. I'm quick-witted and good at wordplay, which helps.
Many years in teaching taught me about comebacks, though weirdly, jokes in the classroom disappeared about 1998:
Example: Q. What was John Lennon's last hit? A. The pavement. They were always on the edge of taste. believe me, I've kept back the really "near" ones.
My late DH was funny too. We bounced the laughs off each other, though his extrovert nature made him the more obvious one.

I can’t tell jokes but I’m observant and ‘see’ things through a funny lense. I am then good at timings. So I often make people laugh just through basic observations. But I’m a boring bastard other than that!

I grew up in a funny family. My parents could be hilarious at times. I had a reputation at school for being funny instead of working. Our sons both have the ability to make people laugh. I think it must be environmental.

If you grow up with people who make each other and others laugh then you are likely to be that way.

Funny as fuck. I don’t even have to open my mouth and people are pissing themselves.

Her sense of humour is probably the thing I miss most about my sister, who died many years ago in her twenties. She would go about being completely serious and ordinary, then just one sentence and tears of laughter were rolling down my face. Incredible timing. I think people like that really ‘see’ the world and it’s a very particular type of intelligence. They have a gift of assessing scenes and situations very quickly. She took it after my dad. Both were socially awkward in the extreme, so only ever ‘played’ to a very small audience of family and the odd friend. I don’t think it can be learned.

I remember one of my teachers in my school report commenting on my dry sense of wit that endeared me to all but gave the impression that I wasn't taking things seriously

I don't tell jokes and anecdotes but I have a tendency to come out with amusing responses to things people say, don't think about it, just open my mouth and out it comes, so people tend to laugh a lot around me but I find it much harder to be funny in my second language as the words don't come naturally, I have to think about them which ruins the timing so I think being quick is quite important.

I grew up with lots of laughter, lots of joking around with my family and watching comedy on tv so I think that also has an influence.

Are there really funny people and non-funny people? To me it just feels that some people are more likely to use humour in social situations, often because of a bit of social anxiety or needing to be liked. And the ones who do this the most get a lot of practice. This means that they unconsciously improve their 'technique', as well as entrenching the habit of spotting the potential for humour in anything they come across.

In some ways it is a great thing. But it is also a rather distancing thing. It means the 'funny person' can be more likely to miss other strands in a conversation, e.g. the need or the opportunity to communicate at a deeper level.

Some people are naturally funny, while others learn it over time by observing and practicing their timing.
And honestly, sharing simple things like jokes about food can help anyone build their sense of humor.