This experience will help determine your comedic style.

 

 

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Start Your Experience!

1. Check all of the words below that best describe how you initiate humor.

Chaffing

Taunting

Silly

Dramatic

Irreverent

Responsible

Harsh

Flippant

Perceptive

Cynical

Smart

Kidding

Ridiculous

Sure

Shocking

Insulting

Bizarre

Blatant

Optimistic

Dry

Resourceful

Sneering

Coarse

Hateful

Positive

Sharp

Harmless

Teasing

Wholesome

Satirical

Outrageous

Sarcastic

2.

During your formative years of 0 to 8, was the humor in your household used positively, negatively, or none?

None

Negatively

Positively

3.

Do you initiate humor?

No

Yes

4.

Is the humor you initiate typically pointed inward towards yourself or outward towards others?

Outward towards others

Inward towards yourself

5. If your humor is pointed out, does it match your belly button?  "Just curious."

 

No

Yes

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Ohhhh I LUV to LOL…laugh out loud. Don’t you? This is me surprising my darlin’, Jerry, that I was creating a video with him in the back ground. I wasn’t going to use it, but it cracks me up everytime I see it. I hope it does you too AND I hope it encourages you to notice what cracks you up. This kind of belly laugh is not only good for the Soul…it’s good for your “innards” too…as my grandpappy use to say.  Whatever makes you laugh out loud this hard, share it.  Heck, share this. It might just brighten someone’s day. So, remember to…

Make someone LOL today. The world needs us.

The post What cracks you up? first appeared on The Talking Strategist.

The Backstory…

Standing in line to pay for my breakfast and pretty proud I’d said no to the double chocolate banana whipped cream cinnamon bun waffle when the man behind me pipes up and says, “My wife says I’m too old for denim.” I glanced back and sure nuf this 60 plus year old man was talkin’ to me standing there in my denim.  I wanted to say, “Are you making a statement to me or do I look like your Mother?” Being raised Southern, I would never say anything unkind, bless his heart. Seriously?  There is  no such thing as too old for denim!  Click on the video to learn the rest of this story.  It’s time to rethink what you think you are too old for.  And, it sure ain’t denim!

The post Too Old for Denim? first appeared on The Talking Strategist.

I double triple dog dare you to don a red nose for a day. I promise it will change your life. And, today, it will change the life of impoverished children. How do I know it can change your life, you ask? Done it! And, got a nose blister to prove it.
If only I’d known 25 years ago that I would become a professional speaker and writer, I would have taken better notes and remembered names easier to accredit quicker. But I don’t have the memory to even remember the 5K, or was it a 10K, ‘cause’ that I ran for 20 years ago in Atlanta Georgia while sporting the only red nose in the race—just for fun.
That event floods my mind today. Why? The first ever ‘Red Nose Day’ is invading us from the UK. Today, May 21st, 2015,Red Nose Day is proclaimed here in the United State, with NBC partnering up for the first and biggest ‘Red Nose Day’ party ever. This 30-year UK tradition is a day to “have fun, raise money and changes lives, for children and young people in poverty around the world.” What a noble cause for the red nose. Apparently I was pre-mature in understanding the power of the red nose. What, you ask?
Inspired by chaos and change to lighten up my workplace environment, I was using playful implements a long time ago as just a little levity and fun to shock and awe and please my clients and colleagues. Often I announced my arrival to business meetings on just about every college campus in the Southeast, with a rubber chicken in my arm pit and wearing a red nose.
I travel across the United States and Canada professing the power of initiating laughter and making people laugh out loud. LOL! I was presenting a session on leaders using the power of humor as a professional tool, at an American Society of Association Executives, (ASAE), Conference in Toronto, Canada. A CEO wearing a red nose sat on the front row. He was the ONLY one of about 150 attendees wearing a red nose. He explained that both he and his former boss, the CEO he had just replaced, carried a dozen red noses with them on planes. They would give them out randomly to passengers boarding the plane. He said this act literally made some LOL and actually brought other recipients to tears. With shock and awe and the surprise of receiving a red nose, grateful enthusiasm often followed with, “THANK YOU! I needed this so much today!” See, told you it changes lives.
My most beloved red nose moment is captured in a picture or ‘pic” as we say now say in Social Media, of me and my Momma on her 75th birthday. Dementia had really begun to take its toll on her precious mind. But she sure did reach for that red nose and was willing to pose for a picture that day. I know it brought her a “titch” of joy and maybe even a memory of a better day. A way to play again, even if just for a moment. She’s been gone four years now and this ‘pic’ still brings a smile to my face and a tear to my heart. Mom changed my life that day with a ‘red nose’ memory-making moment that I get to share with the world.
NBC has taken on this new awareness and tradition of helping impoverished kids, both here and abroad, with party vengeance by supporting and sporting a red nose for a day. I double, triple dog dare you to put one on today, or any day. You will be shocked and amazed at the fun you will have, the lives you will change, particularly yours, and the memories you will make.
On this day, donate, give, and help raise money for such a worthy cause. Red Nose Day will be a game changer for you, I promise. It’s “a good laugh for a good cause.” Check out some of the celebrities that kick start the party tonight at 8:00pm EST on NBC to raise awareness and money with the power of a red nose:
http://www.nbc.com/red-nose-day/video/a-red-nose-first/2859062
https://www.rednoseday.org/the-show
I was so relieved to see that Matt Lower of NBC fame was NOT wearing his red nose on his 226.5 mile ride from Boston back to the New York City, NBC studio to highlight, benefit and kick start Red Nose Day. He would have been sporting a nose blister for sure. How do I know? Done it! Apparently sweat and adjusting a red nose on race day do not mix. TMI? But you don’t have to sweat. You just have to put on a red nose and donate. It’s real red nose magic. It will change your life, I promise.

PS… Another post that may interest you from June Cline: http://junecline.com/?p=1019

The post Real Red Nose Magic! first appeared on The Talking Strategist.

“Crayons! Oh, this is going to be FUN!” “Whoopie! I LUV to color!” ” At 9:00am any session with crayons and candy talking about ‘Happiness’ can’t be all bad.”

These are just some of the many ‘happy’ remarks I heard as people took their seats in my session at the 37th Annual Troubled Youth Conference. My breakout session was one of six choices for 750 plus attendees. The title “Sustaining Happiness: What’s YOUR Happiness Recipe?” attracted over 150 adults to a full, standing room only and sitting on the floor, “this session is closed” sign outside of Ballroom #3 at Snowbird Resort.

The professionals in the room provide every service required to help our troubled youth get back on track to live more productive and happier lives. Their work is noble, honorable and needed. These adults, in high stress jobs, wanted to know more about their own personal recipe for happiness.

Imagine my surprise and happiness with the media validation when this week’s evening news reported the importance and relevance of coloring for adults. “Relax, be creative and reduce stress” are just some of the reasons being sited in this NBC News Report that coloring is making a comeback:

http://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/why-grown-ups-are-embracing-coloring-books-of-their-own-443514435837

For me, in 25 years of keynotes and workshops on humor and happiness, coloring never left. And it has consistently been received with the same enthusiasm of this last session.”Ouuuu, Crayons! I KNEW this would be a FUN session!” The purpose and focus of coloring in my “Sustaining Happiness” workshop was for participants to think about and to identify who, what, where, when and how,” they are happy. Then, with a blank piece of paper, they were asked to color what makes them happy. “Color YOU Happy!” were their instructions.

Yes, ‘why’ was omitted on purpose and the ‘how’ referenced how do you honor or leave room for those things in your life that make you happy and bring you joy? The astonishing awareness is that most don’t. The revealing conversations and post-session hallway insights were remarkable.

“My wife has been telling me I am unhappy. After your session today, I think she may be right.”

“I couldn’t write down one thing that makes me happy,” said the woman who touched my arm to stop me, “How can I find my ‘happy’?”

We had an intimate and touching conversation right there, helping her to understand that it was a wake-up call to figure out her happiness recipe with some specific tips and techniques.

Here at the Center for Laughing and Learning, we take this humor and happiness thing VERY seriously and we are spreading it out to the world. Sandy Weaver Carmen and I co-host an international weekly radio show on http://www.happinessrecipe.net/happiness-recipe-radio/ and iTunes. The best of our first year’s interviews were complied into an Amazon #1 Best Selling Book called Happiness Recipe: Whippin’ up happiness with wit, wisdom and wonderful food. Our Happiness Recipe Community, which we invite you to join, has grown to include people in almost all 50 States and 42 Countries.

Even when just watching the news could make us want to crawl in to a hole, every now and then, we get a News nugget of lighter, relevant information such as coloring is making a comeback for adults to relax, relieve stress and increase creativity.

“June Cline, the last time I saw you speak was at least 20 years ago in a hotel near the Atlanta Airport. We colored in your class. I always remember that.”  Yes, for me coloring never left!

Well color me happy! And, now, it’s your turn. Grab some crayons, a blank piece of paper and color YOU happy!

Let me know what that looks like! Heck, send me a picture. I’d love to know.

The post Crayons Making a Comeback–for Adults! first appeared on The Talking Strategist.

Over two weeks later, I’m still thinking about the perfection of Neil Patrick Harris’s (aka, NPH) opening line in the first fifteen seconds of the 87^th Oscars. You’ve probably seen it a dozen times by now. And, politically correct or not, depending on your beliefs, eight seconds of solid punch line laughter is golden in any venue when you are the speaker.

“Today we honor Hollywood’s best and whitest…I mean brightest,”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nayBCUM9JW8

As a professional speaker and humorist, I love to make people laugh and learn through the power of humor. Dissecting what makes humor work is a passion for me. In fact, in my research and study of humor and laughter I determined there are four distinctive styles of humor–four C’s that totally categorize the humor approach of comedian and humorist alike.

I call them the Four Quadrants Of Comedic Styles©. The four C’s are: Crazy, Caring, Cerebral, and Caustic. Neil Patrick Harris’s “crazy” comedic style had many of us at hello.

Here are three points I believe every speaker can take away from his ten word, crazy comedic style opening.

1. Address the elephant in the room. What are you really facing when you stand in front of your audience? Do you know? You should. And, while each situation determines how and if the elephant should be handled, taking on the obvious can provide instant relief when humor is applied and laughter breaks out. Yes, it can backfire. The crazy comedic styles know that and are willing to risk it anyway. Neil Patrick Harris was masterful in blatantly delivering comic relief to the obvious hottest topic of the Oscars.

2. Misspeak yourself. This is one of the most powerful techniques I teach when coaching clients on adding humor to their speeches and presentations. Intentionally say the wrong thing. Is there anyone on the planet who has not had a wrong word fall out of their month?  The misspeak is often the loudest laughter of the speech and sometimes creates its own shelf life. Making the ridiculous funny is another trait of the crazy comedic style; often being remembered long after the speech is gone. That will be the case with this opening Oscar line.  The brilliance of the Neil Patrick Harris misspeak is he put the onus on himself. His humor was pointed in. Harris became the “butt” of his joke.  The lovable blunder from a likable man brought laughter to an awkwardly tense topic. “The best and whitest…I mean brightest,” will go down in the annals of Oscar comedic history. Just wait and see. The intentional misspeak heard around the world.

3. Play the moment physically. NPH did it beautifully. He allowed himself, for just a moment, to bask in the outrageous-ness of “accidentally” confusing ’whitest‘ with ‘brightest.’ He allowed us in on the joke with his sheepish grin and “Aw shucks, I messed that up,” body language. Physical extension is another characteristic of the crazy comedic style. Just think, no–study comedian Jim Carrey for outrageous physical humor going for the laugh.

Neil Patrick Harris, though ‘lite’ years more subtle than Carrey, still extended the laugh life of his misspeak with his physicality of letting us in on what he knew. A full eight seconds of hard-core laughter followed. In comedy world and laugh land that can feel like a glorious eternity that still fades to fast. On the Harris vs. Carrey spectrum of movement, how physical are you willing to be? Do you play in the moment milking the laughter for all that its worth with your physical movement?

Can you have your audience hollowing with laughter in ten words? Sure you can. But it takes hard work. It takes blatantly addressing the obvious, making the ridiculous funny maybe with a misspeak or becoming the butt of the joke, and getting physical enough to extend the laughter longer. Crazy? It can feel like it, especially for those not in the crazy comedic style quadrant. But as Neil Patrick Harris showed us (right down to his underwear—did I mention his comedic style is crazy?) with a solid punch line, the laughter is golden–even befitting an Oscar. So, go for it! Get a little crazy. The crazy comedic styles do it naturally–shocking the rest of us in to laughter that we love.

The post  “Crazy” Comedic Style of Neil Patrick Harris Wins at Oscars first appeared on The Talking Strategist.

How and why do humorous attempts blow up in the public face of the media and in our daily lives? It’s the serious side of funny that comes down to three points: pain, power and punch. You’ve heard it a thousand times, especially in the wake of the deaths of Robin Williams and Joan Rivers. A lot of humor comes from pain. In fact, the age old saying, the formula is “tragedy + time = humor.” The critical tipping point of tragedy equaling humor is who pays for the joke. That’s exactly what failed on Fox & Friends attempt at making a Ray Rice quip, which literally blew up social media.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uh7Qhc_LX18&feature=youtu.be

Let’s look deeper at the reasons why all three commentators failed to be funny in their live, on-set bantering. Let’s also look at the lessons we can learn from this horrendous media spectacle.

1. Pain

OUCH! I can’t stand to watch the video. It hurts, because it hurts (most of us) to see anybody get hurt. Many have been physically and/or emotionally hurt so we feel Rice’s knockout punch to his girlfriend-turned-wife, right though the media screen. Instantly we identify with the horror of her getting knocked out in an elevator. A universal connection is made with the victim, Rice’s girlfriend, being knocked out.

In comedy, to make a universal connection is usually exactly what we want, and, it’s called a punch line. Though painful, it’s painfully funny, particular when it’s someone else’s pain. America’s Funniest Home Video’s TV show is a prime example as are the iconic classics of the “The Three Stooges.” In these shows, getting physically knocked out is funny either because it’s not real, as with The Three Stooges.” Or, it’s real and really stupid but everyone is OK., This explains why we laugh out loud at the unintentional craziness people get themselves in to and then post on-line or send a video to a TV show for the world to see. Laughter usually comes from a self -identifying, bonding link connecting us through the pain. It’s a “me too” moment. Which is exactly why the Fox & Friends news commentators banter over the Rice event did not create a knockout punch line. The remark delivered by Brian Kilmeade, “I think the message is to take the stairs” miss the mark so much because it is not a “me too’ moment. Nobody wants that moment, either as Ray Rice or as his girlfriend.. His colleague, Steve Doocy, then compounded the comedic fracture with his even more authoritative comment, “The message “IS” when you’re in an elevator, there’s a camera.”  Double OUCH! And, let’s not leave out the nervous twittered laugh of female colleague, Elisabeth Hasselbeck. What was that about? A third punch to the knocked out girlfriend/wife from the arm chair quarterback media seats.

2. Power

As we sometimes like to say in the South, “Don’t have a dog in that hunt.” And, these commentators didn’t. This situation was not the personal truth of any of the three. Judgment and opinion is what commentators do. It’s their job. And it’s always at the mercy of public opinion. Their humor died because the brutality of the Ray Rice event is horrendous.  But throw in the cultural taboo of hitting a woman and it was double -down trouble. Remarks in any serious situation have to be carefully weighed and strategically delivered in a split second before they glibly rolling out of your mouth. Planned spontaneity is key.  What’s that, you ask? This team knew they would be taking about this hot topic. A little pre-planned bantering could have saved the day, the faces and the butts of three commentators. The power comes in shifting the focus to the predator or even back to themselves. They could have switched it and made Ray the real villain that he admittedly is.  For example, “The message is HE should take the stairs and walk off some of that “dirty” Rice.” Or “Rice’s elevator didn’t go to the top on this one and neither will his career, now.” Or “That’s one elevator ride I don’t want to take!” Do anything other than verbally punch out the victim again, which is what they did.  It is often said that anger is about power and control. The ironic thing is, humor, delivered strategically and pointed in the appropriate direction is real power and control. Humor has been attributed to helping President’s win elections and it’s even averted wars. Talk about power and control!

3. Punch:

If you are going to throw a comedic punch at a potentially hot point of contention, two split -second considerations should be cost and consequences. Is it worth it? Will there be a bang for your comedic buck with this punch line? Your first question to yourself should be, “Is my humor pointed out or pointed in? In other words, who is the butt of the joke, you or them? Second question, “Do I have enough deposits in their ‘emotional bank account’,” as author, Stephen R. Covey called it. In other words, will this punch line cost me? Will the positives of our relationship outweigh the cost of this withdrawal? Again, who’s the butt of the joke? Clearly in the comment “take the stairs,” Girlfriend was the intended “butt.” The humor was pointed out. “There are cameras in the elevator,” was pointed out at Rice. The bigger foul there is the thousands of implied messages to be interpreted by the public on Social Media, which, it was. “Hey Rice, you’ll get caught in an elevator.” If you’d just waited to get back to your room, you’d still be an NFL Pro. Seriously? Really? Off the cuff pointed out humor can have huge consequences.  And, on an even deeper level, what does it say about who we are as an individual and our culture as a society?

One of my favorite quotes by anonymous paraphrased is, “Nothing defines a man so much as that to which he will not laugh.This brings us back to the nervous twitter laugh of Hasselbeck. I could write, another entire article on women and laughter. It is a natural nervous reaction particularly for women. Was she twittering laughter because she was: a) nervous over the comments, b) knew she didn’t have time to comment due to air time constrains, c) didn’t get or didn’t care the context that Girlfriend was still the victim of the joke or d) uncomfortable with the absurdness of the implication if Rice had just waited until he was out of elevator camera range, he’d still be an NFL Pro? Who knows? Only Hasselbeck. What this failed attempt at funny does do is heighten our awareness, at least for exploration, of that to which we will laugh. It says much about who we are individually and culturally.

There will always be caustic humor. It’s the nature of many. And, there’s no right or wrong with your style of humor. But there can always be cost and consequences.

When humor strikes a universal truth, the connection can pack a positive punch in the right direction. Remembering these three questions can help you find that universal truth. It’s the serious side of funny:

1. Do I have a dog in this hunt—authentically, do I know this pain?

2. Is my humor power pointed out or pointed in—who’s paying for the joke?

3. Do I have enough deposits in their emotional bank account to deliver the punch?

June Cline, is a Certified, Speaking Professional (CSP), Harley Riding Humorist, Author and Co-host of HappinessRecipe.net online radio program  Contact her at JuneCline.com.

The post Fox & Friends Missed the Elevator with Ray Rice Humor first appeared on The Talking Strategist.