3 Easy Ways To Be Effortlessly Hilarious

Louis CK Is one of the most respected comedians in the world, and part of it is because he seems so effortlessly funny. There's no big action like with Jim Carrey or Robin Williams. No elaborately clever setups. Just simple truths that make audiences crack up.

Kids are mean, and it's because they're trying it out. They look at a kid and they go, you're fat. And then they see the kid's face scrunch up, and they go, ooh, that doesn't feel good to make a person do that. But they got to start with doing the mean thing. But when they write, you're fat, then they just go, mmm, that was fun. I like that.

But it's not that simple, because while the truth can make for great art, it isn't always funny. Louis, though, has developed a way of delivering his stories and jokes in packages that are very different from what most of us do. And because of that, he's able to create hilarious moments from everyday commentary. So today, we're going to explore three of Louis most common techniques that are going to allow you to make just about anything that you say funnier. For instance, one of the most basic yet difficult things that Louis does is to nail his timing. And that means specifically that after his jokes, he leaves a beat for people to laugh. Check it out in this next clip.

Yeah, Google pearl necklace. You'll see a bunch of pearl necklaces. And, yeah. And you end up just making.

This might seem like a small thing, but it is absolutely critical, because unless a joke is hilarious, people will need dead airspace that cues them to laugh. And using this space often allows Louis to get double from his punchlines, meaning that first he leaves that space before punchline, and he gets a laugh, and then again he finishes his point and people laugh. So take a look at this next clip, and you'll notice that the first laugh comes as Louis pauses, and the second one comes when he actually says the punchline that people were anticipating.

And then the kid from the other, he took another. His other hand had a paper bag, and he put the glue in, and he. And he huffed it, and his eyes rolled back and he got high, and then the group kept going. And I couldn't believe what I just saw, that the misery in this country at that time was so calculable and so predictable. This guy thought, my shoes broken. Oh, there's a child. He's sure to have some glue in his hand.

So you can see that silence is a very important ingredient to humor. The problem is that many beginning comedians, and maybe Even yourself typically try to fill any silence that they hear because they think that they're bombing that people do not like their jokes, and unfortunately, this is exactly the opposite of what they ought to do. For an example of how over talking can actually hurt your sense of humor, watch this earlier clip of Louis CK he's doing stand up and he blazes through a number of punchlines which could be funny, but don't get much reaction because they don't have a chance to hit without a moment of silence.

I'm doing okay, actually.

I just got over the flu, which is kind of crappy.

But the worst part is that I smoke. And I think that's one of the stupidest you feel about being a smoker, is when you're sick and you still smoke, you know, no matter how sick you are. I mean, you can wake up in the morning, you're coughing up little furry animals, you know, you're coughing up tickets to the Ice Capades, but you're really in bad shape. And first thing you reach for is a cigarette. Jesus. And you finish it, you'll force yourself to smoke all day long, no matter.

How much it hurts.

And in case you're wondering, even comedians that are well known for being fast talkers purposely leave space for the audience to catch up and laugh. Check out this clip of George Carlin. And notice how the audience is quiet when he's speaking, but catches up and laughs when he stops.

I'm a non believer in an overachiever, laid back, but fashion, forward up front, down home, low rent, high me, super sized, long lasting, high definition, fast acting, oven ready and built to last. I'm a hands on foot, loose, knee jerk, head case, prematurely post traumatic, and I have a love child who sends me hate mail.

I say all of this to make one major point. A critical component of humor is leaving space for people to get the joke. And in a group of friends, that means that you can come across as funnier if you just stop speaking and after you've cracked a joke. But of course, this feels like it can backfire because you might hear crickets and an awkward silence if the joke doesn't go over well. So to avoid this, you need to combine that short bit of silence, usually only as long as it takes to take one breath, with another technique. And this is a technique that Louis uses all the time. It turns dead jokes into riots. And it's the repeat punchline like this.

The joke was that the basic premise was that I think we don't keep, we don't need to keep making porn. There's enough porn.

So this is the first punchline and the one that Louie is going to riff on. We have too much porn the first time. It gets only a few chuckles in the audience. But watch how Louis expanding on that punchline will get more laughs each time.

So much porn. If we stopped, no one would, like, run out. No one's gonna see it all and go, what else? No one's gonna. It's not like Harry Potter. Like. But then what? Like, it's not. It's not. Yeah.

So the lesson here is, yes, to give a slight bit of silence and not crowd the end of your jokes, but also don't abandon your jokes prematurely. Sometimes when you get a small laugh, all you need to do is add more absurdity or descriptiveness in a repeat punchline to make people crack up. And while this technique can save jokes that are dying, it's especially powerful on jokes that are already working. Watch how often Louie loves to repeat these punchlines when jokes are just killing it. Typically, he does it in groups of three.

I went to Devil just. And in about 10 seconds, everything just. And I'm like, oh, this is an ordeal now. I'm not going to feel okay for a very long time. Women try to compete. They're like, well, I'm a pervert. You don't know. I have really sick sexual thoughts. No, you have no idea. You have no idea. Cause, see, you get to have those thoughts. I have to have them. You're a tourist in sexual perversion. I'm a prisoner there. You're Jane Fonda on a tank. I'm John McCain in the Hut. It's a nightmare. I can't. I can't lift my arms.

The rule of three is so strong that the audience has come to recognize it to the degree that they even begin to clap. As soon as Louis hits his third and most specific elaboration on the punchline, they know that that's the big one. And if you take this into your own life, you can repeat your own punchlines or build on punchlines that your friends have said, which typically makes them feel good. And we talk about that more in another video, which I will link to in the description. So if you want to check that out, click the button at the top right, or the description. Anyway, main idea here is that repeating a punchline in more absurd terms is a great way to milk humor in any situation and instantly become funnier because you don't need new material, just more of what's working. But there is one Last piece that is worth mentioning from Louis because it allows him to get as much from his punchlines as possible, and it's that he doesn't just tell the punchline, he shows it. Like, in these clips, sometimes I'm, like.

Sitting in an airport or wherever, and I remember that moment, and I go. Makes me feel upset. And I look at things that I know are gonna upset me. You know, I guess I just like the hit from going, ugh. Yeah. You know, like, I'll go on my computer and I'll, like, Google an image that I don't want to see. So then I see a whole wall of it. Yeah. You know, like big dicks with nails in them.

So you can see in those clips that Louis is physically embodying the joke, but also when he's speaking, he will take you into the present text. So rather than summarizing what someone said or what he said, he shows you in real time exactly as it was.

I don't know if you ever called 911, and you don't realize till they answer how you shouldn't be calling911. 9111, tell us your emergency. I'm sorry, very sorry to be bothering you. This doesn't qualify. The lady's like, sir, what's the problem? I said, there's a bat in my house, and I don't like it.

It's worth mentioning that Louis isn't much of a physical comedian. But these tiny bits of acting, of showing a physical reaction or acting out a scene push many of his bits over the edge into hilarious. And it's something that we can all do. So when you're taking a humorous angle, don't simply say, I told her that she was crazy. Show people. Say it in the tone that you said it. Make the face that you did at the time, and act it out with your hands and body. You'll be surprised by how much more humorous this makes every joke you tell and every story. Now, clearly, Louis is doing much more than this. All of his bits are well practiced, even in interviews. But here's a quick recap of three very simple things that you can do right now to make all of your jokes and stories funnier. First, don't crowd the funny pieces. Give them a bit of breathing room. And the time that it takes to take a breath is usually enough space. Second, after that breath, add on to the joke. Whether it's funny or it's not, keep pushing it in terms of descriptiveness and absurdity. And usually the third time that you do that will be the funniest. And lastly, act out your jokes. We've covered this before, but Louis CK Is rather special here because he acts out jokes in a way that would be appropriate in any context. So speak as the character in the joke would speak. Use your hands, show physical reactions like the shaking, rather than just describing them, and you're going to get more laughter laughs. So if you like this video and you want more, check out our videos on first impressions. This video covers four emotions that are going to help you make a great first impression on anyone. And one of those emotions is covered in this video, but the other three are not. So if you want to know what those are, in order to just be consistent in making people like you and want to see you again after a first meeting, click the button here or in the description, drop your email on the next page and you'll get access to that video Right now. If you if you want more videos like this, make sure to click the subscribe button. I'm getting back to uploading once a week. I've been a little bit off, but if you subscribe, you're gonna keep this stuff top of mind and that's really how it becomes a habit. So hope you click subscribe. Now click that notification button to watch along and of course to practice along in your real life. If you have any suggestions of video topics, please let me know in the comments. In honor of Guardians of the Galaxy 2, I'm thinking of doing one on Chris Pratt, who I think is hilarious. But if you have something better, definitely let me know and I can add that to the end of list or even do it before. I hope that you've enjoyed this video and I will see you in the next one.