That’s right. Being funny is not a God-given talent. It can be learnt just like swimming, baseball and writing. For more details on each tip, click on the links below.

1. It is a process
2. You need stage time
3. Audience laughed when they are successfully tricked
4. Humor stands for tragedy
5. The best jokes aren’t written. They are rewritten.
6. Attitude
7. Great Improv isn’t!
8. Material, Delivery and Setting = WOW!
9. It is never the audience, it is ALWAYS you!
10. Comedy is about belief.

Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 1
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 2
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 3
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 4

Have you tried any of the eight comedy secrets yet? If not, get going! And remember, you don’t have to do a stand up to apply them. You can start with your business presentation tomorrow or even over lunch with your colleagues. Most importantly, remember this: you need all the “stage time” you can be proficient at being funny. Let’s cover the final two tips.

9. It is never the audience. It is ALWAYS you!

When things don’t work out well, we tend to blame it on the audience. Example, they are boring or they do not appreciate comedy and blah blah blah. Blaming doesn’t help make you a better and funnier speaker. Instead you may want to start taking responsibility. Ask yourself what you have done/not done that causes the audience to be bored? That would be a good starting point to improve your speaking skills.

Having said that, there are a couple of things you can do to ensure that you know your audience a bit better, which means that you will have a much easier time connecting with your audience.

(i) Pick up the local paper on the day of your performance and read it of coz
(ii) Research on your audience beforehand (ask the organizing committee, go to the Internet, send a questionaire)
(iii) Go earlier to your performing venue (and observe your audience!)

10. Comedy is about belief.

You must believe that it is funny and you have the ability to deliver it. Pretty obvious isn’t? One of the things that Darren suggested was to study video tapes or to observe the funny people on TV. Learn from people who make you laugh. See what works for them and try applying them to your speeches. This is one of the fastest ways you can find your own funny bone.

So this is it! Ten comedy secrets that you can apply right away AND be hilarious on stage! Go for it!

Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 1
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 2
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 3

Welcome back to the third part of the series “Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage”. If this is your first time, you may want to first read:

Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 1
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 2

Ready? Let’s go!

7. Great Improv isn’t!

How many of you have watched an improv comedy show like “Who’s line is it anyway?” or even attend a live one? Aren’t they amazing?? They speak off the cuff yet it is funny, witty and even smart. In my opinion, that’s one of the toughest genre of speaking to pull off!

However in Darren’s presentation, he talked about how we can “improvise”. Instead of speaking off the cuff (which sometimes may or may not work), he tells us to prepare beforehand the comeback lines.

What do you say when the following happens?

1. Cell phone rings
2. Projector bulb blows.
3. Fre alarm went off
4. People coming late etc.

These are situations that will happen! Remember Murphy’s Law – if something can happen, it will happen.

He proposed that we writing down the improv lines. Watch standup comedians perform, watch live/broadcast improv comedies. Jot down their lines. And file them away. The next time you do a speech, you can memorize some and apply it when the situation comes along.

You can also do some reverse engineering. Think about the possible situations that may happen. (say the above four) and think about how you can create come back lines for them. You will look like a genius!!!

Take a look at some really sucky comeback lines. Avoid that at all cause!

Ready for more?

8. Material, Delivery and Setting = WOW!

Here’s a little mathematical formula for you smarties out there. If you recall, the previous seven points cover essentially material and delivery. However Darren emphasized that setting is even MORE important than the other two.

He defined setting as the environment where the communication is transpired eg. room setup. In comedy, room setup is extremely important. You need to create an intimate environment so that everyone can loosened up and be all prep up for laughs.

In my opinion, the number of people is an important factor too, in terms of the setting. I did the same humorous speech twice but at two different settings. The first setting was spacious but the audience was spaced out across the room. And it doesn’t help that only 50% of the chairs were filled. The second setting was equally spacious and much bigger but everyone was packed together in the front. There was at least twice as many people as the previous one. And as you have guessed it, the second presentation was much more effective. They laugh harder and more frequently. I guess there are two reasons for that.

One, people feel more secure in a big crowd – they are less shy and more willing to laugh.
Two, your chances of triggering a laugh is much higher with a large crowd (which creates a spill over effect) When you partner laughs, you automatically laugh along too. Strange but true.

The last thing to note about setting would be distractions. It could come in the form of phone ringing and people walking in. One way of getting the audience’s attention back to you would be do a comeback. (see above) Say something witty. And make the audience laugh. They will love you! Another way is to prepare beforehand. Talk to the organizers and get them to help you minimize movement/latecomers etc.

You may want to start tuning into Comedy Central or catch the next show of Whose line is it anyway this Thursday at 8pm (ABC)!

Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 1
Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 2

Seems like comedy is a hot topic yeah? I got a lot of diggs for the previous article. Here another three hot tips for you to be a hot fave on stage!

4. Humor stands for tragedy

Comedians are effectively just people who get paid to complain! And it is true that a large of comedy comes from tragedy, such as your embarrassing moments, being called a fat ass, being ditched by ugly ex girlfriends/boyfriends, crazy bosses who demands you to work 8 hours/day. It could even be as silly as slapsticks (like slamming yourself on the lamp post as you tried to pick up a girl…) Take a look at America Funniest Home Videos. Tons of slapsticks. But guess what, people love it!

People love to hear other people’s tragedy coz’ it relieves theirs. It is really as simple as that. But here’s lies the danger as well. Some people unleash their personal tragedies without giving a humorous spin with it. And it often turns out to be an absolute sob story. Trust me, we have enough pain in our world. We don’t need yours!

There was one year in the humor contest when this gentleman talks about his heart attack experience. Mind you, it almost killed him. But when he related his near death encounter to us, the audience was roaring with laughter. We love the story! And no prize for guessing the winner for the humor contest.

So remember, open your eyes and take note of your personal tragedies. Don’t just mull over it. Make full use of it – tell a story, point out a contradiction and most importantly make your audience laugh!

A final note (borrowed from Steve Roye, a really funny standup comedian):
“Comedy is tragedy. However tragedy all by itself is best suited for the funeral home, attorney’s office or the pyschotherapist’s office than it is on the comedy stage.”

5. The best jokes aren’t written. They are rewritten.

This tip is built on the previous tip on Comedy is a process!!!

In his CD, Darren raves about his mentor who after 11 years of doing standup comedy has only 1 hour and 14 mins of material. Not one min more, not more min less. Just 1 hour 14 mins of absolutely spine-tickling stuff!

It is really that simple. Tell a story and figure out what was it that make people laugh. Focus on what make them laugh. See if you can make it funnier. Work on the not-so-funny stuff, see if you can make it funnier. For those dead jokes, remove them. Add new ones and test it out again. In no time, you will have a compact speech with absolutely hilarious stuff.

6. Attitude

I think Darren is talking about the body language behind every punchline that you make. Like an actor, you got to FEEL your lines. If you are suppose to be angry, be angry! If you are suppose to be sad, be sad! The use of pauses is also extremely important. It creates suspense. It creates anticipation. Both are important elements of surprise which makes your line funny. If you rush through your funny line, say “Take my wife please!”, it is not going to be as funny as “Take my wife… please!!!”

Whispering also helps make your lines funnier. I experimented it some time ago and it works like wonder! Remember my speech on “There’s something about Singapore”. The tragedy in the story lies in my country being extremely small. I also lamented on how people thought that Singapore is part of China (which is the case!!!)

So as you can guess, one of my punchlines was “Singapore is part of China!”

During the second part, I explained to my audience two reasons why Singapore do not like to be call “part of China”

“Reason number one… (whisper) Coz we are not part of China…”

The audience love this line best! After much though, I realize that it has to be do with me being all secretive (by whispering), only to tell them something that they should have already know. Yes it is so DUH!!!!!!! But here’s the irony, people still think we are part of China!! How amazing.

Review your speech. See if you can add an emotion, a body language, a pause or a whisper in your line. It is worth the tickle and the fun your audience have!

RELATED: Ten Comedy Secrets of Becoming Absolutely Hilarious on Stage – Part 1

I recently got hold of the 2001 Champion Speaker – Darren La Croix’s CD on how to become absolutely hilarious on stage. I shall present to you the first three with my thoughts on it.

1. It is a process

CREATE AND TEST. CREATE AND TEST. CREATE AND TEST. In my opinion, this is the most useful tip one needs to know. You do not have to be born funny. It helps but not a must. The process starts with writing the funny lines, giving the funny lines and then reviewing the funny lines. For lines that aren’t funny (i.e doesn’t create any laughter), remove them and add in a new line to test. For lines that are funny, see if you can make them funnier. Say out of 100 lines, you have only one line that is funny. Keep that and write another 99. Test them. Keep the funny lines. Add new lines. Test them.. you get what I mean. In no time, you will have 100 funny lines. Remember my friends, it is a process!

2. You need stage time

Building on the first tip, you never know if your line is funny unless you test it, which explains the stage time. A very important advice: What you think is funny may not necessarily be funny for your audience. And since your job is to make them laugh, they are the boss! (grins)

One way of testing your funny lines or jokes is to incorporate them into your everyday conversation. Do not even tell your friends that you are testing a funny story or that a joke is coming their way. Make it come naturally and see what happens. This is usually the most effective and there is significantly less bias. You will then get a chance to objectively test your “perceived funny” lines.

3. Setup and Punchline (Audience laughed when they are successfully tricked)

This is a little technical but I will try my best to simplify it.

Fundamentally, a line is funny because it creates an element of surprise. I like how Darren describes it. You lead them down the track with your setup, only to derail them with your punchline. That, my friend, causes the humor. Take this for example.

Take my wife……. please!!!

When he says “Take my wife”, we expected that he wanted to take his wife somewhere (he lead us to believing so – the setup)
BUT… he tricked us when he gave his punchline “PLEASE!!!”

Let me give you another example of my recent humorous speech – There’s something about Singapore where I lead my audience down several tracks, only to derail them at the end.

Singapore is extremely small. It’s about 16 miles from North to South and 14 miles from East to West… about the size of Bill Gates’ living room. (laughter)

Imagine this building (i.e. 60th storey high building) is USA. You will know big Singapore is when you…visit the Men’s Room. (laughter)… third cubicle (laughter)…under the toilet seat (laughter)…

For the first part “it’s about 16 miles…. east to west…” I made the audience believe that I was being serious by giving them all the numbers. And then I surprised them by comparing Singapore with Bill Gate’s living room which of course is an exaggeration. And that causes surprise which leads to laughter!

Then we have the comparison with the 60th storey building with the cubicle. That itself is funny on its own. But my audience has no idea that I am not done with it. So when I said “third cubicle”, it creates even more surprise and they laugh harder. And I did it again with “under the toilet seat”… fully milking the joke and emphasizing my point of how Singapore is. (by the way it is true! We are freaking small!)

So the next time you intend to incorporate humor in your speech, see if you can come up with a setup-punchline structure. Remember, audience laugh becaused they are tricked. No a usual reaction so take full advantage of it!

More comedy secrets coming up in the next few posts. So watch this space!