如何让你变得更有趣

By Susie Neilson

Most of us have strange habits. Heres one of Steve Sultanoffs： From time to time， he goes out in public wearing a clown nose （and carries one with him always）. His reasoning is pretty straightforward： “You just never know when a clown nose might come in handy1，” he says. Sultanoff also carries a false Elvis drivers license， which he presents at hotels whenever he checks in.

Strange as they sound， Sultanoffs quirks2 serve a purpose. The psychologist and self-described “clinical mirthologist” is a hardcore proponent of the idea that humor，3 experienced often and in everyday life， can enhance ones health， friendships， and even romantic relationships. And hes right： Laughter， humors external measurement， is clinically shown to reduce blood pressure， increase pain tolerance， and boost the immune system. It even makes you sexier： A survey conducted this year by Discover and Match Media Group found that 67 percent of respondents cited having a sense of humor as “very” or “extremely” important in a potential mate.4

Of course， for many of us， seeing someone bust out a clown nose at the DMV is more likely to induce an eye roll than a laugh.5 But it makes Sultanoff chuckle6， and thats the point. Many people misunderstand humor as a purely relational experience—they focus on making better jokes， or coming up with the perfect quip7. But according to Sultanoff， the path to a better sense of humor starts from within. Thats because the building blocks8 of humor are universal： Most of what we find funny will translate to others. So if youre looking for how to improve your sense of humor， you would do well to start by making yourself laugh. Heres how to get there.

Know what funny means.

Lets start off by considering what humor really is. “You could start with the simple definition， which is that humor is what makes us laugh，” Sultanoff says. However， he notes that humor can be experienced without laughter， like when we type “lol” into a text message without laughing， or read a great Calvin & Hobbes strip with a stony face.9 A better indicator for something humorous， Sultanoff says， is if it induces “mirth，” or that internal feeling of“ha” we all experience—a glimmery10， satisfying recognition of a specific type of pleasure.

One of the more well-known theories of humor is the“benign violation” theory—the idea that something is funny when it disrupts your sense of normalcy，11 but only in a way that doesnt present any real harm. That can take the form of simple incongruity， when two unlike things merge （one famous example taken from Harry Potter： Severus Snape wearing Neville Longbottoms grandmothers green dress and hat）.12 It can also take the form of outrageousness13， like when comedians violate social norms to shock us into laughter.

Understanding the fundamentals of humor is just one small piece of the puzzle， though. To incorporate14 this knowledge into your life， youll need to work in three broad categories： First， you need to work on seeing these elements in the world around you； second， you need to consciously increase the amount of humor in your life； and finally， youll need to learn how to translate all this funny business to others.

Learn what to look for.

As a young boy， Sultanoff remembers， he and his dad once drove past a cemetery15 near their home. “At the end of the street there was a sign that said， ‘dead end16，” he recalls. “Now， some people might not even notice that.” But his dad thought it was hilarious17， and rightly so. These days， Sultanoff tries to look for humor everywhere—in street signs， at restaurants， and， of course， after hurricanes.

Sultanoff recalls his fathers find as an example of “comic vision，”or the ability to see funniness in everyday life. “Look at the absurdity around you. Check for incongruities，” he advises. Comic vision is an essential skill for a humorist， he says. By looking at the world through funky-colored lenses， youll start experiencing humorous situations more often， which will ultimately provide fodder for your interactions with others.18

Seek out situations that make you laugh.

Spending time with things you already find funny—TV shows， movies， podcasts， etc.—can do a great deal to help you refine your own personal sense of humor： You learn what type of humor you like， and， just as important， what you dont. For example， Sultanoff， who likes puns and nerdy jokes， regularly watches The Big Bang Theory； on the flip side， hes learned that sitcoms about struggling 20-somethings， such as Friends， dont sate his humor appetite， and so he doesnt bother watching something he knows wont benefit from.19 Once you know what kinds of humor you like， you can expand your palate slowly and consciously—for example， going from Big Bang Theory to another nerd-related show， or Friends to Cheers.20

Its also possible to reverse-engineer humor by laughing， Sultanoff says. He cites laughter yoga and laughter clubs， in which people make themselves laugh for health benefits and end up experiencing mirth as well. We do this organically in many social situations， too： people， especially women， laugh to facilitate21 social interactions even if nothing humorous is going on. Laugh generously， and youre building a social environment thats more conducive to future funny moments.

Know your audience.

Ultimately， most humor translates across situational boundaries， Sultanoff says， so the idea of developing something like “workplacespecific humor” is somewhat overrated—as long as you keep the jokes appropriate to the setting， the building blocks of humor will stay the same.22 But it is important to know what kind of people youre talking to. A joke that works on Americans might not work so well in China， for instance， simply because cultural norms are different.

The trick is to know how to apply the basic principles of humor to specific situations. For instance， the idea of the “gag”—a simple， recurring joke that employs incongruity and perhaps a prop—translates perfectly to a workplace environment in the mockumentary sitcom The Office， like the scene in the first episode when Jim places Dwights stapler in Jell-O.23 The Office is actually full of such gags—the deadpan look at the camera， Michaels recurring speech errors， Creeds weird eating habits—that familiarize us with the absurdity of the characters but are also specific to the world of the show， which is a strange parallel to the corporate workspace that many of us know.24

And these gags got funnier over time. Know why？ Because Jim and the rest of the Office team had time to familiarize themselves with the shows unique and batty25 sense of humor—and so did we. The more Office-specific pranks26 that occurred， and the more each character had their opportunity to joke around， the more viewers developed their taste for the shows unique flavor of humor. We built our relationships with the characters， and internalized their pranks and personalities. Over time， their jokes became our own.

1. come in handy： 派上用場，迟早有用。

2. quirk： 怪癖。

3. clinical mirthologist： 临床医学的欢乐学家，mirth意为欢乐，欢笑；hard-core proponent： 铁杆的支持者。

4. Discover： 发现金融服务公司（Discover Financial Services），美国金融服务业最知名的品牌之一；Match Media Group： 美国一家在线交友及婚恋公司。

5. bust out： 突然出现；DMV：美国车辆管理局（Division of Motor Vehicles）。

6. chuckle： 咯咯地笑，轻声地笑。

7. quip： 妙语，俏皮话。

8. building block： 基本构成材料。

9. lol： laugh out loud的缩写词，意为“大声笑”，通常用于电子邮件、手机短信等中表示认为某事很好笑；Calvin & Hobbes：《凯文的幻虎世界》，美国上世纪八九十年代的经典漫画；strip：（报刊上的）连环画；stony face： 面无表情的脸。

10. glimmery： 朦胧的，微露的。

11. benign violation： 良性冲突（理论），即只有当某些东西看起来违规（violation）了，令人不安或具有威胁性，但同时又可以接受或无危险（benign）时，才会产生幽默感；normalcy： 常态。

12. incongruity： 不协调，不适宜；Severus Snape： 西弗勒斯·斯内普，是小说《哈利·波特》中霍格沃茨魔法学校的教师，性格严厉且深不可测；Neville Longbottom： 纳威·隆巴顿，同为小说《哈利·波特》中的人物，一个迷糊的角色。

13. outrageousness： 极端无理、令人不能容忍（的行为）。

14. incorporate sth. into： 把……纳入。

15. cemetery： 墓地，公墓。

16. dead end： 盡头，死胡同。这里和上文的墓地（cemetery）联系在一起，既指“路的尽头”，又指“人生命的尽头”，营造出一语双关的幽默效果。

17. hilarious： 极好笑的，极有趣的。

18. funky： 时髦独特的；fodder：（创作等的）素材。

19. 譬如，喜爱双关语和书呆子式笑话的桑顿奥夫一般会看《生活大爆炸》；另一方面，他已经认识到，有关奋斗中的20多岁的年轻人的情景喜剧（如《老友记》）难以戳中他的笑点，因此他不会浪费精力去看对他无益的节目。on the flip side： 在另一方面；sitcom： 情景喜剧；sate：充分满足（胃口、欲望）。

20. palate： 味觉，品尝力；Cheers：《欢乐酒吧》， 美国情景喜剧，故事背景是在波士顿当地一个名为“干杯（Cheers）”的酒吧里，每个人都为生活奋斗，互相打趣鼓励。

21. facilitate： 促进，促使。

22. 最后，桑顿奥夫说道，大多数幽默都是透过情境转化而成的，因此，人们未免高估了培养“职场特有的笑话”之类的想法，毕竟构成幽默的元素都是类似的，只要说对了场合即可。overrate： 过高估计……。

23. 例如，伪纪录片式的情景喜剧《办公室》就利用滑稽场面（制造不协调性，或许借助道具），将简单的、反复出现的笑话完美地融合到办公室的环境中，如第一集中吉姆将德怀特的订书机放进果冻里的场景。gag： 插科打诨，滑稽场面；prop：（戏剧、电影等中的）道具；mockumentary： 伪纪录片；Jell-O： 吉露果子冻，美国同名食品公司旗下一种果冻甜点的商标。

24. deadpan： 面无表情的；parallel： n.（发生在另一地点或时间的）可相比拟的事物；corporate workspace： 公司的工作区域。

25. batty： 古怪的，疯疯癫癫的。

26. prank： （使人难堪的）玩笑，恶作剧。