You're Not Funny...And This Is Why

You’re Not Funny…and This is Why

Everyone can see you’re trying really hard to be funny. And it’s annoying. So cut it out. We appreciate your enthusiasm, but it’s just not working. We also took note of a few other things that weren’t working and did some research to help you out. Here’s some knowledge that hopefully helps you in your quest to be humorous. Go forth and be funny.

Age-old Jokes

Although experts say there are several obvious differences in people that affect what they find humorous, there is one standout factor: age. This plays into the guideline of knowing your audience. Take a look:

+Infants and children are constantly discovering the new world around them, so a lot of the things around them seem ridiculous and surprising, which they find funny. Peek-a-boo and elephant jokes are best used here.

+Older children really appreciate a good fart or poop joke. They’re obsessed with bodily functions, and researchers say these jokes serve as a good way to explore the world. This age group also likes jokes involving cruelty. It improves their self-assertiveness.

+Since pre-teens and teenagers are so weird and awkward and freaked out all the time, jokes that focus on sex, food, authority figures and any subject that adults consider off-limits are best used here. Because they feel screwed up inside, any joke that will make them feel superior should be a winner.

+Adults like to believe they are mature, so going along with this illusion, jokes slated for adults tend to be subtler. They like to laugh at other people and themselves in shared common predicaments and embarrassments. Adult jokes tend to be about things that stress them out and less about judgmental differences in people.

Culture
People from Iran likely won’t get your Jersey Shore or Justin Bieber jokes, just like you wouldn’t likely understand their jokes. It’s a fact of life: where you come from affects what you find funny. Culture and community will often dictate a person’s sense of humor, so if you’re from a small country that no one knows about, jokes about your country probably won’t be that funny to anyone else. (Sorry people of Malta, your jokes just don’t make any sense.)

Offensive and Indifferent
Sometimes when people say your jokes aren’t funny, what they mean is your jokes are either offensive or they have no emotional attachment to what you’re laughing at. Case in point, it’s probably not a great idea to tell racist jokes to the leaders of the N.A.A.C.P. And when someone isn’t laughing because they say they don’t “get the joke,” it means one of two things: they’re stupid or they have no attachment, morally or emotionally, to the joke’s victim. Either way, trying harder won’t help you be funnier, but a better understanding of your audience might. Hopefully this advice helps you be funnier - for real!