speak humor, be humorous

Chapter 32 Humor Skills (1)
Humor makes life easier and calms the mind.The existence of humor is conditional, that is, we must use enough tolerance to understand and bear it, and then enjoy it.The speaker blurted out, the listener was open-minded, and each other naturally reached the realm of humor.

humor is blown out

Absurd hyperbole almost always elicits laughter because it involves incongruity, which can produce strong humor.

Take the cross talk "A Study of Laughter" as an example:
A: As the saying goes, a smile is a little less.

B: No, it should be: Smile, it’s ten years old.

A: Ten years younger when you smile?

B: Ah!
A: You are regular!I am on a regular basis.

B: The two of us are depositing money.

A: Your theory is unreliable!
B: What?

A: Then who would dare to listen to cross talk?
B: Why don't you dare to listen?

A: How old are you this year?
B: Forty.

A: Laugh once and leave thirty, laugh twice and leave twenty, laugh three times and leave ten years old, dare not laugh any more.

B: What?

A: No more laughs!Ride a bike when you come, and take it with you when you leave!The theater has been converted into a nursery!
This is hyperbole.But the hyperbole here is not pure, ridiculous hyperbole.By pure, absurd hyperbole, I mean bragging without the hassle.It can be said that if cross talk is not exaggerated, it is hardly a cross talk.Exaggeration is also an important cornerstone of humor. It can magnify ordinary trivial matters in life, thereby producing a strong sense of humor.

There are not only Chinese bragging kings, but also many foreigners. If an international bragging competition is held, it is unknown who will win the gold medal.

A Frenchman, an Englishman and an American brag about how fast their trains are.

The French said: "In our country, the trains are so fast that the poles next to the road look like fences in the garden."

The British quickly picked up and said: "The trains in our country are so fast! We have to keep pouring water on the wheels, otherwise, the wheels will become white hot and even melt."

"What's the big deal!" The American said disapprovingly, "once, I was traveling in the country, and my daughter sent me to the station. As soon as I sat down, the car started. I quickly leaned out of the window to kiss me daughter, but accidentally kissed a dark-faced old country woman 6 miles away from my daughter."

There are many bragging jokes, which you can collect or create.Sometimes you might as well try bragging. Anyway, bragging is not taxed and there will be no other troubles.There is a braggart club in the United States, which specializes in absurd exaggeration, which shows the practicality of this humorous technique.

light comedy
"Cross-hitting right" is a humorous technique in which causation is very free.It is characterized by the irrelevance or disproportionation of cause and effect.

Just open a Western comic book, and you will not find it difficult to find the chain reaction of chance and coincidence.For example, a gentleman rushed into a living room and happened to bump into a lady. The lady's tea cup fell on an old gentleman, and the old gentleman smashed a window pane, and the window pane fell to the ground. The police hit the head on the street again, and the police mobilized their companions from all over the city to track him down, and so on.The more non-necessary and non-causal elements, the more it can arouse people's sense of comedy.This style of comedy is traditional in Western literature and art.Try to recall Cervantes' "Don Quixote", in which there is an inn scene, the muleteer hits Sancho by accident, Sancho hits Maritones again, and the boss falls again. On Marithones.In modern Western comedy, this belongs to pulp comedy, and the reason is superimposed by pure chance.Bergson called this form the "snowball" form. Its function is that a series of misunderstandings make the original normal cause become a distorted result, and it becomes more and more distorted and farther and farther away from the original purpose. .

The reason why many comedies in our country have no comedy taste is because they are not good at hitting the right way. In fact, they are not good at making readers and audiences suddenly and accidentally after disappointing expectations again and again, and preparing to fail again. , Accidentally turned failure into implementation.The "Tale of Donald Duck", which is popular in the West and China, often accumulates failures to the extreme, and suddenly surprises the audience with the fulfillment of wishes.

There are few such incisive and vivid comedies in Chinese classical orthodox literature, but there are many fine works of this style in folk literature and art.There is a stand-up comic called "Little God", about a superstitious professional physiognomist who is good at creating sensational effects.One day, an old man squeezed into the field with a Yixing pot in his arms, and was burning a young man's arm, and the two quarreled.In order to keep the spectators safe, the little fairy said to the old man: "Your pot is out of specification. It will be broken in three days today, tomorrow, and the day after tomorrow. If it doesn't break in three days, keep it until the fourth day, and it will be broken." It’s worth more than a cornucopia.” The old man immediately went home to find a safe place, and finally cut a hole in the wall and put the pot inside.Unexpectedly, the neighbor only had a set of guest clothes, which he wore during the day and washed at night, and he had to set up a bamboo pole in the room to dry, nailing the partition wall, and a hammer hit the old man's pot, and it really shattered.

This is a classic case of a bad hit, where serious consequences are contrasted with completely irrelevant causes.

Sometimes it is not necessarily the fulfillment of expectations, but on the contrary, in the process of layer-by-layer evolution of expectations and wishes, they suddenly and helplessly come to nothing.This is a common technique in Western classical comedies or humorous novels.

Big words and small uses are hilarious
The so-called "big words and small uses" is to use some words with heavy semantic weight and large semantic scope to express some small and minor things. It creates a relationship where the words do not match the truth and the contrast is out of balance, which leads to the humor that makes people laugh.For example:
At a grade-teacher meeting in a certain school, the last topic was to determine the specific time and place for the students' spring outing.Teachers hold their own opinions and have many opinions.Finally, the grade leader proposed to lead the students of all grades to visit Mount Qingcheng in three days.This proposal quickly gained "consensus".

In the midst of laughter and joy, a certain teacher said seriously and loudly: "The team leader, 'the strong wind knows the grass, and the country's crisis knows the loyal minister', I firmly support you, and I will follow you every step of the way. The head can be broken, the blood can flow, when the time comes The mountain will never abandon you!"

An ordinary person who couldn't be more ordinary, faced with a trivial matter and the grade leader who can't be called a "seven-rank sesame official", actually said words similar to "standing in line" in the "Cultural Revolution", and used them Words used only for leaders.These "significant" words suddenly "condescend" to this relaxed and easy-going context, which seems extremely incongruous.However, it is this imbalance of words and contexts between "big" and "small", "heavy" and "light" that creates a humorous charm and enliven the communicative atmosphere.

Writer Feng Jicai visited the United States. A very friendly Chinese couple brought their child to visit. When the two sides had a good conversation, Feng Jicai suddenly found that the child was wearing leather shoes and jumped on the bed sheet.This is a very unpleasant thing, and the child's parents are unaware of it.At this time, any dissatisfied words or actions may cause embarrassment for both parties.How to get the child out of bed?

Feng Jicai solved it easily. With his experience and adaptability, he humorously said to the child's mother: "Please bring the child back to the earth." Both the host and the guest smiled knowingly, and the matter was successfully resolved.

Here, Feng Jicai only played tricks, replacing "floor" with "earth", but the whole meaning is quite different.The floor is relative to walls, ceilings, tables, beds, and the earth is relative to the sun, moon, stars, etc. The concept of "earth" integrates the spiritual space of both the host and the guest into the background of the vast universe.At this time, the contradiction between the child's shoes and the white sheets is downplayed by the relationship between the child and the earth.

Applying some more serious language used in solemn occasions to express the daily life of "ordinary people", this is the humorous technique of "big words but small use".

The award-winning skit "Blind Date" starring the famous actor Zhao Benshan has such a line: "When you are young, your parents will take care of you, when you get married, your husband will take care of you, and when you get old, your children will take care of you. Forget it.” Also: “The letters of the children, the parents see it as the leader’s review.”

Here, the author cleverly uses terms in political and economic life such as "contracting" and "leadership review" in daily life.The audience's laughter and applause proved its humor and charm.

When an author wrote an article introducing the famous actor Ge You, he said: "There is a tall building near the Yanjing Hotel, and one of them lives in a young man with a forehead that says 'the vast world has a lot to do'. His name is Ge You."

Here, the "Quotations from Chairman Mao" used to call on intellectual youths to go to the countryside to describe the image of Ge You is not only reminiscent of his appearance with a high brain, but also reminiscent of his skill in comedy performing arts and He has a great future ahead of him.

In social activities and daily life, the end of a romantic relationship between a man and a woman is similarly referred to as "severing diplomatic relations", the first day of work after joining a job is called "taking office", and even a husband who suffers from "strict wife control" The wife's conversations are joked as "ask for instructions early and report later", etc., all of which belong to the type of "big words and small uses".

As one of the humorous techniques, "big words and small uses" will bring more and more joy and laughter to people's lives with its wide application in daily life and modern social activities.

casual humor

"Casual Fun" is a comprehensive use of various techniques to produce humor. At first glance, it sounds like a nonsense, but on second thought, it is intriguing.

The randomness we are talking about here is not as illusory and elusive as a mirage, but it is close to life.You can use a mahjong-playing term: self-touch.

Randomness means letting nature take its course, only then can it be fun.Withered vines, old trees, dark crows, small bridges and flowing water, people... This is a classic charm; White Swan Hotel, Golden Triangle Entrepreneur Club, New Air Art Troupe, Cicada Bookstore, Ashin Snack Bar, Mimi Hair Salon... are quite modern breath.

If you come to a bottomless pit nightclub, Liaozhai coffee house, wild boar forest dance hall, with such nondescript names, who would dare to patronize them?

Therefore, to use the humorous technique of "casual fun", two conditions must be met: one is harmony, and the other is naturalness.

On a summer night, someone was sitting at a friend's house.

With a snap, he killed a mosquito.When I touched it, there was a big lump on my arm.

"Hey! Why does this mosquito only bite outsiders?"

"This is our family's housekeeper mosquito!" The host laughed.

"Huh!" The hostess took advantage of the topic and said, "Even my mosquitoes have learned to love the new and dislike the old."

For a moment, I didn't know what was in these words, and the guests didn't sit or leave.

"Hmm... ah... I understand..." The guest suddenly murmured to himself.

"Who are you talking to?" asked the hostess in surprise.

"Didn't you see that the housekeeper mosquito in your house is biting my ear?"

"Then what did it tell you?" The dark cloud on the hostess' face dissipated.

"It said humming and humming. Do you understand?"

"I'm not a mosquito!" The hostess couldn't help laughing.

"It told me that I only knew you were a man after I bit you, otherwise, I would have regarded you as a third party."

Everyone laughed.Humor dispels an impending turmoil between the husband and wife.This is harmony.

Use words as a bridge to find humor

"Borrowing words as a bridge" means that one party in a conversation grabs a word from the other party's discourse, uses it as a bridge for transition, and uses it to organize a sentence of his own that the other party does not want to hear, and counterattacks the other party.

A transitional bridge has a characteristic, that is, the two ends are connected, and they must be in line with nature, one end is connected with the original words, and the other end is connected with the meaning to be elicited, and the seamlessness is the top priority.

Mark Twain once browsed books in a neighbor's library and found a book that was very attractive.He asked a neighbor if he could borrow it.

The neighbor said: "You are welcome to come and read anytime, as long as you are here to read. You know I have a rule that my books cannot leave this house."

A few weeks later, the neighbor visited Mark Twain and borrowed a lawn mower from him.Mark Twain said, "Of course you can, but my rule is that you have to use it in this house."

Mark Twain's sense of humor is manifested in borrowing the other party's words to express the meaning that is contrary to the other party's wishes.

The difficulty of the method of "borrowing words as a bridge" is not to find words that match the two ends, but to pick out a word from the other party's speech, and this word should be easy to form your own sentence.This is like elementary school students doing sentence-making exercises, but there is one more requirement than the primary school students' sentence-making exercises, that is, the meaning of the sentences created must not be consistent with or similar to the other party's wishes, but can only be opposite or wrong with the other party's wishes.

British writer Richard Savage suffered from a serious illness, but fortunately the doctor's skillful skills saved him from danger.But he couldn't pay off the medical expenses owed.Finally, the doctor came to the door to demand.

Doctor: "You have to know that you owe me your life, and I hope to pay you back."

"I understand." Savage said: "In order to repay you, I will use my life to repay." After that, he handed over two volumes of "The Life of Richard Savage" to the doctor.

It's a lot more fun than saying no to the other person or pleading for a reprieve.The method is not complicated, it just takes the other person's word (life) and then uses a twisted interpretation to turn "life" into "life".Obviously, the two are not consistent in connotation, but they can be linked conceptually.

The method of "borrowing words as a bridge" has many functions, and not all of them have to be used for witty banter, but can also be used for general ridicule.Its characteristic is to seize a word in the opponent's Huatou to form a non-offensive sentence.

"Borrowing words as a bridge" means that after taking over the Huatou, you have to spread the wings of your imagination, dare to think in places that are divorced from reality, in places that are absurd and illusory.Don't be stubborn and stupid, the more daring and good at talking nonsense, the more likable you are.

Innovation comes from mock humor
"Simulated humor" is to replace the original language situation that everyone is familiar with with a new meaning, and form a contrast with the original meaning, thereby creating incongruity and a sense of humor.

To use "simulated humor", you must grasp these three words: famous, hot, and new.

The name means that what you imitate should be well-known famous articles, famous sayings, famous sentences, or familiar idioms, lines, common sayings, etc.

Hotness means that the content you want to express should be in tune with the times. It is best to be a hot topic that people care about or think about, so that it can quickly arouse people's associations and resonate.

New is a new point of view.This is the soul of mock humor.That is to say, it is not enough to put new wine in old bottles, it must also be filled with new flavors to create a humorous and intoxicating atmosphere.

The techniques of "simulating humor" include parallel analogy, reverse analogy, different analogy, personification, etc.The key to simulation is to unexpectedly bring together irrelevant things. The more irrelevant the content, the better. The greater the distance, the more surprising it will be. In terms of form, the closer it is, the more humorous it will be.

The method of parallel imitation is to formulate new content along the old format.Since this technique is mostly used for improvisation by touching the scene, new meanings and occasional words can often emerge.

The anti-imitation method is to use the idiomatic expressions in our daily life and occasionally reverse their meanings to create a novel sense of humor.Comparatively speaking, reverse analogy can leave a deep impression more than smooth analogy, which is the effect caused by contrast.

There is a leader who makes a report at the conference.In order to fight corruption to the end, he resolutely said:

"Who said we always kill chickens to show monkeys? We also have to kill monkeys to show chickens!"

Anti-corruption is related to the life and death of our party and the country. Doesn’t the anti-corruption humor of “killing the monkey and showing it to the chicken” play an appropriate role in this struggle?
The anti-imitation method seems simple, as long as the ready-made words are reversed, but the point must be mentioned in order to have a sense of humor.As long as you understand the truth of point to point, twisted melon is also sweet.

The imitation method is to draw up a humorous imitation, which is what we often use intentionally or unintentionally.For example, we call those fathers who arrange a bright future for their sons "filial sons". This is no longer "filial sons and virtuous grandchildren" referred to in feudal ethics, but "filial sons" who are filial to their sons.

Don't imitate the method to be natural and appropriate, and avoid mechanical imitation. You should pursue a natural wit and the less artificial traces, the better.

Why do we use the simulation method to make the sense of humor innovate in the simulation?On the one hand, it complies with people's psychology of loving the new and loathing the old, and on the other hand, it does not ignore people's psychology of loving the new and loving the old. By transplanting these two psychology together, the imitation humor method is produced.

It is an exaggeration to say that a good work can never be tired of reading.No matter who you are, as long as you have too many catchphrases, you will lack a sense of humor.At this time, one of the most economical ways is to use the "simulated humor" method to innovate.

Full of humor without revealing

Being subtle is an art and a great skill of humor.As the saying goes: "The words are exhausted but the meaning is endless, and the meaning is all in the words." "Implicit expression" is to deliberately hide the important part that should be said, but let others understand what you mean, and use humor live in it.

The humorous skill of "implicative expression" has a certain degree of difficulty.It demands the art of speaking and a good sense of humour.It demonstrates the speaker's command of language and skill at delivering humor with subtlety, while demonstrating trust in the imagination and understanding of the listener.

If the speaker does not believe in the rich imagination of the audience, and tells all the meaning, it will not only fail to achieve the effect of humor, but also be bland, poor in speech, and tiresome.Therefore, some words do not need to be said directly, and even the words that could have been said directly are deliberately expressed by "implicit expression", thus producing an intriguing humorous effect.

Here is an example of the humorous art of "implicative expression":

There was a hotel owner who had a very bad temper.One day, a guest came to drink.As soon as the guest took a sip, he exclaimed: "It's so sour, so sour!"

The hotel owner was furious, tied up the guests and hung them on the roof without any explanation.At this time, another customer came and asked the boss why he hanged people.The boss replied: "The wine in my store is obviously mellow and sweet, but this guy insists that it is sour. Do you think it should be hanged?"

(End of this chapter)