Resist the urge to be funny

One of the mistakes that often comes up in writing, and especially problematic in business/commercial writing such as ad copy, is the attempt to be funny. Humour works, and works like gangbusters, when it hits the mark. But when it doesn’t the results can be disastrous. So here are a few reasons why humour is best avoided:

• We aren’t as funny as we think.

• What we think is funny and what someone else finds funny can vary – greatly.

• We may offend people, and that’s fine if it’s our intent or if we simply don’t care. But from a long term perspective (such as our reputation) it is not usually a good idea.

• If we do use humour, set what we’ve written aside for at least a day, then read it over. Is it still funny? More often than not, the answer will be no. But if we still think it’s funny, try running it by a few people. Do they think it’s funny? Do they even get it?

• A great deal of humour depends on context. Can we control or create the context? If not, our humour is likely to fall flat. (By context, I mean the set up. Punchlines are dependent on the set up. The set up creates the context. Humour isn’t always a joke but whatever kind of “funny” it is, the context, or set up, is what makes it funny.)

I’ve worked with writers in the past who have written what they thought was howlingly funny material only to find that what they had really done was annoy, disappoint or even offend a client or customer. And yes, I have been guilty of thinking I was Groucho Marx when in fact I was Richard Nixon.

It’s great to be funny. Unfortunately, it’s also very hard and surprisingly rare.