The key to humor...

[nvictor]

A standup comedian said, "the key to humor is not taking yourself too seriously".

This confuses me. If I don't take my goal to build my sense of humour seriously, will I make it through? Plus I've read several articles that say successful people are the most serious.

So what do you think of that quote?

[RT Wolf]

I think successful people enjoy what they're doing the most. Then again, my definition of success includes happiness. So they may take their happiness seriously (I do).

In terms of the key to humour, I think the standup comedian was half joking. Being able to laugh at yourself is extremely important, especially if you're a self-effacing comic. And if you can't laugh at yourself and your life, you're missing out on one of the greatest sources of material, plus you're not living as happy a life as you could be.

And the comedian there said, "too seriously". You can take humour seriously, but don't take it too seriously. Being able to laugh at how seriously you're taking humour is a good sign that you might be taking things too seriously.

[nvictor]

Great insight on the subject, this clarifies a lot of things

[Mark Lapierre]

Originally Posted by RT Wolf

Being able to laugh at how seriously you're taking humour is a good sign that you might be taking things too seriously.

Ok now I'm confused. Surely laughing at how seriously you're taking humour is a sign that you're not really taking it seriously?

I tend to laugh at anything and everything, including myself, and I believe that attitude contributes to keeping my stress levels down. A few people have told me I'm the most relaxed person they know.

Unfortunately my sense of humour tends to be a little strange sometimes, so while I might laugh at some things, other people may not. Especially if it's something of a sensitive topic.

[RT Wolf]

^ I'm exactly the same way. I laugh at whatever is absurd and laugh a lot. I think life's just way too short to not be happy and laugh. Back in high school, a "friend" of mine actually chewed me out for being--get this--too happy.

It is a little confusing. Lemme see if I can come up with an example. Let's say me and my writing partner are writing a short comic script. And then there's a line of dialogue a character has to say but we can't agree on the wording of it. I'll say it one way and he'll say it another way. We're both taking things seriously. But as soon as the smiles disappear off our faces and we start arguing about it, we're taking it too seriously. Usually though, we're able to laugh about how we're arguing over one line of dialogue.

Fortunately, we haven't had an argument yet, but I hope you get my point.