如何讓你變得更有趣

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，遲早有用。

2. quirk： 怪癖。

3. clinical mirthologist： 臨床醫學的歡樂學家，mirth意為歡樂，歡笑；hard-core proponent： 鐵桿的支持者。

4. Discover： 發現金融服務公司（Discover Financial Services），美國金融服務業最知名的品牌之一；Match Media Group： 美國一家在線交友及婚戀公司。

5. bust out： 突然出現；DMV：美國車輛管理局（Division of Motor Vehicles）。

6. chuckle： 咯咯地笑，輕聲地笑。

7. quip： 妙語，俏皮話。

8. building block： 基本構成材料。

9. lol： laugh out loud的縮寫詞，意為“大聲笑”，通常用于電子郵件、手機短信等中表示認為某事很好笑；Calvin & Hobbes：《凱文的幻虎世界》，美國上世紀八九十年代的經典漫畫；strip：（報刊上的）連環畫；stony face： 面無表情的臉。

10. glimmery： 朦朧的，微露的。

11. benign violation： 良性沖突（理論），即只有當某些東西看起來違規（violation）了，令人不安或具有威脅性，但同時又可以接受或無危險（benign）時，才會產生幽默感；normalcy： 常態。

12. incongruity： 不協調，不適宜；Severus Snape： 西弗勒斯·斯內普，是小說《哈利·波特》中霍格沃茨魔法學校的教師，性格嚴厲且深不可測；Neville Longbottom： 納威·隆巴頓，同為小說《哈利·波特》中的人物，一個迷糊的角色。

13. outrageousness： 極端無理、令人不能容忍（的行為）。

14. incorporate sth. into： 把……納入。

15. cemetery： 墓地，公墓。

16. dead end： 盡頭，死胡同。這里和上文的墓地（cemetery）聯系在一起，既指“路的盡頭”，又指“人生命的盡頭”，營造出一語雙關的幽默效果。

17. hilarious： 極好笑的，極有趣的。

18. funky： 時髦獨特的；fodder：（創作等的）素材。

19. 譬如，喜愛雙關語和書呆子式笑話的桑頓奧夫一般會看《生活大爆炸》；另一方面，他已經認識到，有關奮斗中的20多歲的年輕人的情景喜?。ㄈ纭独嫌延洝罚╇y以戳中他的笑點，因此他不會浪費精力去看對他無益的節目。on the flip side： 在另一方面；sitcom： 情景喜??；sate：充分滿足（胃口、欲望）。

20. palate： 味覺，品嘗力；Cheers：《歡樂酒吧》， 美國情景喜劇，故事背景是在波士頓當地一個名為“干杯（Cheers）”的酒吧里，每個人都為生活奮斗，互相打趣鼓勵。