Yes, you can learn to be funny! Do you appreciate humour? Do you ever imagine what it’s like to be on the stand-up comedy stage? Listen as stand-up comedian Hillary Anger Elfenbein (also a fully tenured business school professor) shares her insights on learning comedy, and compares that experience to her experience teaching in the business school classroom.

SHOWNOTES

Contents

* Key Learnings

* References & Links

* Andrea’s Commentary

* Interview Transcript

* Conclusion

3 Key Learnings

* PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT – Most comedians were not born funny. They had to work very hard. And – confidence comes with practice.  Whether you dream of stand-up or just want to be funnier in general, you will get better if you practice! Hillary said she even had it scripted down to the syllable…

 

* HECKLERS – I loved what Hillary said about hecklers. She says don’t worry about trying to win over the heckler. Rather — try to win over the rest of the audience! Of course! And this goes for stand-up hecklers, obstinate students in the classroom, and possibly even rude colleagues.

 

* COMEDY TECHNIQUES TO TRY

* Keep it personal – joke about what you know, even if it’s foreign to the audience. Just ensure you provide relevant context.

* The 1-2-Punch – Say one thing. Then you say another.  Then you say something ridiculous.  Or put another way, instead of 1-2-punch, it’s normal–normal–funny. Comedians do this all the time.

* Call-Backs – Also known as circling back. When you’re in a conversation, relate back to something that someone said earlier.  You’ve probably seen stand-up comedians do this toward the end of their schtick.

* Be Self-Denigrating – Share embarrassing moments. Apparently people love to hear others put themselves down because they themselves like to feel superior.

* DO NOT – joke about religion or race or politics. And don’t ever say anything denigrating about someone when it’s something that they cannot help.

References & Links

Hillary Anger Elfenbein

* Washington University faculty page – http://apps.olin.wustl.edu/faculty/elfenbeinh/

* 6 minutes of stand-up on YouTube (** note explicit content) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTgRecXW5S4

* Recommendations:

* Travis Bradbury’s Emotional Intelligence – https://www.talentsmart.com/

* “Here We Are” podcast with Shane Mauss (Hillary is interviewed in this episode – https://www.herewearepodcast.com/episode/16/hillary-anger-elfenbein

 

Comedy Resources & References

Books:

* “Mastering Stand-Up” – https://amzn.to/2No4BOo

* “Don’t Wear Shorts on Stage” – https://amzn.to/2JehoO7

* “Do You Talk Funny?” – https://amzn.to/2Jbis5m

Gloria Vanderbilt & Anderson Cooper laughing together:

* https://www.insideedition.com/gloria-vanderbilt-giggles-anderson-cooper-hospital-bed-death-53739

How to be funny:

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