“Dying is easy. Comedy is hard,” says Peter O’Toole in My Favorite Year. If you’ve ever tried your hand at humor blogging, you will likely agree. In fact, with the possible exception of the sestina, I’d say humor writing is the most difficult form of writing. To be good, it must be surprising, concise, sharp, timely, and consistent all at once. And humor bloggers turn out such polished gems every week or so. How do they do it? Here are some tips from the pros:
- Learn the rules. All forms of writing – the essay, the play, the short story – have some well-defined basic parameters and comedy writing is no exception. For example, specifics are funnier than generalizations and repeating something three times is funnier than repeating it two or four times. By mastering the fundamentals, you let those who have come before do some of the work for you.
- Keep up with the news. Good comedy is timely and relevant, even if it’s not specifically political. The best humor bloggers keep their fingers on the pulse. Read as much as you can, and keep up with what people are currently watching, reading, and talking about.
- Observe. Comedy is everywhere you look, and, as observational comics have found, sometimes the most ludicrous aspects of daily life are those we’ve grown so used to that we’ve stopped noticing them at all. Look closely at the ordinary and you will discover the absurd.
- Keep your temper. A controlled, targeted rant can be hilarious, but comedic rants are harder than they look, and even the best ranters grow tiresome after awhile. Outrage can be an excellent starting point for a good comedic piece, but bury that anger in the revision process if you want to reach an audience.
- Keep us on our toes. Laughter comes from the unexpected. Try turning a familiar pattern on its head. How can you invert a story or a joke to deliver an unexpected conclusion?
- Draw something. Many popular humor blogs are online comics, and no wonder – the visual aspect gives you an entirely new dimension in which to be funny. And as some of the most beloved sites prove, you don’t need to be an artist to draw a satisfying comic…although if you are, so much the better!
- Edit, edit, edit. While digressions and non-sequiturs can be amusing, the best humor writing doesn’t have a lot of fat. Look for anything in your piece that’s tired, dull, or not on point. Get rid of it, or replace it with something wittier.
Do you often use humor in your blog posts? Which bloggers make you laugh on a regular basis?
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I’ve just started my fledgeling blog… but I always try to inject some humor into my work. It’s my de-stressing mechanism. Also I think it’s essential to be able to laugh at yourself… and then your problems. Live life on the edge and spit into the wind!…. bring a towel
Would appreciate any comments or inputs on my site http://journeyintogeekdom.com
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Oooh humor! My fave! My blog, http://funnysideupandscrambled.wordpress.com/ was set out to uncover the lighter side of life’s most serious news and events. Read this one on Snoop Dogg’s conversion to Snoop Lion for example, http://funnysideupandscrambled.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/snoop-and-the-ghost-of-bob-marley/
I love to add a laugh in every blog I write, no matter how serious the situation.
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i tend to use my blog for a variety of purposes but i am a great appreciator of humour and so a lot of the time it is reporting on humour such as the asian KFC Colonel Sanders lookalike drummer [http://brettfish.wordpress.com/2012/09/12/he-did-it-his-way] or the latest round of crazily insane japanese game shows [http://brettfish.wordpress.com/2012/08/15/return-of-the-japanese-may-contain-traces-of-silly] but then often when i embrace my own humour it is with blogs that try to draw others in [http://brettfish.wordpress.com/2012/07/31/rejected-olympic-events] and share the humour while my blog also directs people to my primary humour outlet which is Dangerous Things You Can Least Expect videos on You Tube [http://brettfish.wordpress.com/2012/06/30/dangerous-things-you-can-least-expect-and-then-there-were-15] – i think i would like to try write some more pure funny though and these tips and links definitely help!
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My humor blog focuses on the absurdity of clip art and I enjoy other humor blogs that focus on one particular topic, such as the Funny Names blog: http://funnynamesblog.com/
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I always take humor seriously!
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and that s why i have written http://ininsanity.wordpress.com/2012/09/15/of-bathing-and-motivation/
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Like you’ve Got Something Better To Do (www.lygsbtd.wordpress.com
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Okay. So I’ve only just started this blog (2 posts) and it’s my first attempt at a humor blog, and I think it’s a little different: a fake self-help blog featuring terrible advice. Take a look if you’d like. http://www.betterlikeme.com
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85% of my blog posts are funny, like my most recent about me trying to tell a bedtime story to my children. it’s so not funny, you have to laugh.
Bedtime Story = Nightmare for Mommy
http://icescreammama.com/2012/09/13/bedt…
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You probably won’t find an ounce of humour on my site.
http://stuffthingsrants.wordpress.com/
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They say you can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs, then why is Hard Egg News so funny?
http://hardeggnews.wordpress.com/
It’s not funny, it’s peculiar.
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“. . .the best humor writing doesn’t have a lot of fat. Look for anything in your piece that’s tired, dull, or not on point. Get rid of it. . .”
Liposuction for humor-writing? I didn’t see this one coming.
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Rules, schmules! I find if I write the way I talk, and someone reading it pees a little, my job here is complete.
Just started a blog and still trying to find my way around. Looking forward to following many of you amazing posters who posted before me.
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Good luck! It’s overwhelming at first, but if you give it time, it get progressively worse.
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Thank you kind sir! Your blog has me laughing out loud! I look forward to getting worse LOL
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I love writing humor. If something I write makes someone laugh, it makes my day. I’ve reviewed awful children’s t.v., talked about the craziness in libraries, and most recently have been recapping the 50 Shades of Grey books with the snark they deserve. I’ve met a lot of very funny people through my blogging. This has been a great experience.
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Oh, and my blog address – http://aliceatwonderland.wordpress.com/
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When you get a chance, Alicea, check out my “Fifty Shades of Grey” post, and I’ll check yours. Good luck, and have fun!
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Sorry to hop on the bandwagon but I just posted a parody of “50 Shades of Grey” called “50 Shades of Glazed”. I’d appreciate it if you guys checked it out. 😀
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Will do.
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I’m a big fan of The Surfing Pizza. The essays all center on nostalgia (old toys, Ninja Turtles stuff, etc.) and the one on “Fiestada” just about made me lose it: http://thesurfingpizza.com/2011/11/18/thanksgiving-third-grade-lunch-style/
(My blog, The Lower Crust, is humor-focused, with the main topics being Lifetime Movie recaps and snarky reviews of pizza box graphic design. It’s at http://attemptedblog.wordpress.com )
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Great blog and thanks for the much needed tips. I have a sense of humor. I love to laugh. I seek out funny things. My friends and my husband think I’m witty. Yet, when I try to put puns to paper…not so much. Let’s just say it doesn’t oft come across eloquently (or humorously) in writing. Dig these tips. Laughter is potent medicine. I best figure out how to get it across in my writing. Thanks!
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Subtlety is the hallmark of humor in my opinion…a little bit here and a pinch there. Nothing worse than someone trying too hard to be funny.
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I just started blogging and I generally end up with a humor piece. It’s my way of venting without getting a divorce. wendstarr.wordpress.com
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Humour and seriousness are two sides of the one coin. Dorothy Parker said it best: “Wit has truth in it; wise-cracking is simply calisthenics with words”. (insert shameless plug for blog http://heybyronbaby.com/ without attempting to make a segue cos that’s just tacky).
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Humour.. well, life’s incomplete without it. Some of my regular doses of laughter are gotten by reading http://krishashok.wordpress.com.
I do not write humour all the time, but it does find its way into the occasional post. Yeah, I am very driven by what I see around me, so this will include write ups, pictures, fiction, everything.
https://spaghettithoughts.wordpress.com/tag/the-funnies/
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Assess the following statement: Potatoes are funny. Does it earn humor points if you make a generalization about a specific tuber? What if it is one of the enduring truths of the Universe? What if it’s not topical, but it should be?
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This is another humorous and informative story that I posted!!!!
http://sofiesdiary.com/2012/06/23/8-choosing-a-doctor/
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I use humor but my humor offends most people.
Thank you as I suck at humor posts!
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Everyone did enjoy this post of mine though:
http://awomeninherthirties.com/2012/09/14/wierd-shit-americans-do-chapter-one/
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Interestingly enough lots of people laugh at my blog but not because I am trying to be funny 🙂
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Reblogged this on wittythewu and commented:
Fantastic article for other aspiring comedy writers. 😀
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I absolutely love this. It’s hard to break down comedy into such a distinct rubric but you did a fantastic job. My blog focuses on puns, wordplay, and hyperbole so it’s pretty straight forward humor. For anyone else out there, I’d love to meet other bloggers within the same niche. Here is a sample of my work. 😀
http://wittythewu.wordpress.com/2012/08/29/affair-in-the-microsoft-office-confessions-of-a-type-face-adulterer/
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Have a look at my blog pal 🙂 tell me what you think. http://www.thecountryjournal.wordpress.com
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This humor blog from England exemplifies the best of the best: http://adventuresinthecopywritingtrade.wordpress.com/2012/08/18/believe-in-tweeting/
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I find it’s easier to be funny when I’m writing about an unfortunate topic and laughing at my own misfortunes. I hope you find my breast cancer blog amusing – http://thebigscarycword.wordpress.com/
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Hi there, great post and I may have just learned a thing or two… I’m pretty new to this whole blogging thing, but slowly I’m getting there. My blog takes the subject of fishing (a not so humerous subject) and I turn it on it’s head to find the humour. Take a gander. (Scottish term for look) http://www.thecountryjournal.wordpress.com
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Thing is with comedy, you just got to say what ever you want, no rules. Rant etc. as long as you don’t pick on any one person or racist etc. You have to just be honest and brave and say it. Mine is from rants or politics to my offending the literary establishment. You don’t stop laughing because you get old, you get old because you stop laughing!
http://jonnygibbings.wordpress.com/ (WARNING rude and often offensive)
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