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Sprinkling Humour Into Your Blogs

Sprinkling Humour Into Your Blogs

by on July 3, 2010 · 31 comments

Humour is a very effective tool to attract the reading crowd. It can also make them come back for more.

So how do you write funny blogs?

There’s no hard and fast rule to writing humorous blogs.

However, you can keep the following in mind when you want to bring in that ‘fun’ element into your blogs, so… let me show you how we can it!

Know your niche

When you know your niche really well, then humour will just occur to you. For example, if your niche is politics, you should know the what, when, where, who and how of it all. You’ll then be able to use your knowledge at the right time to strike the right punch line in your blog.

Don’t hold back

As soon as something funny occurs to you, put it into your blog. Don’t brood over whether to include it or not. You can always go back and alter it later on. Or make a friend read it and watch their reaction to see how funny your blog is. It is not necessary that you always give “LOL” kind of humour. Something subtle or simple can also make the mood of the blog, light.

Use sarcasm and exaggeration

These are 2 powerful weapons that can send the target audience into peals of laughter.

For example – TechnicalMarkus, in his blog about a luxury mobile phone made of gold, with sharp cuts and bends on its surface, describes the phone as follows:

“In the case of this mobile phone, the phrase ’sculpted from solid gold’ could be interpreted, based on the looks, as ‘got a hippo to repeatedly stamp on a lump of gold’.”

There’s exaggeration. But it is funny.

Use related anecdotes or jokes or other current incidents

If certain anecdotes or some funny current affair is related to your topic, you can as well mention it in your blog. Usually some famous personality caught up in controversy ends up being the butt of jokes in many blogs.

Make fun of people selectively

You can make fun of yourself or someone related to you, who would not mind having his leg pulled. Sometimes, you can even include some bloopers of some famous personality, if it is relevant to your blog. However, make sure you do not make fun of your target audience.

For example – In a mobile phone review in Mobileshop.com, the author does not agree with the battery life that has been specified. This is how he expresses his disagreement:

“The chances of you actually getting 300 hours out of this are about as good as the chances of me winning the London Marathon, with both legs tied to my head, while dressed as the Honey Monster, and being eaten by a pack of thylacines.”

Choosing words

Try using simple language as far as possible, when writing humour. Using complicated words and sentences might spoil all the fun. You could also use synonymous words which are more funny than the regular words.

For example – The luxury mobile phone described in TechnicalMarkus’ blog is supposed to be evocative of the brand’s jewellery house. To this, TechnicalMarkus says:

“Really, the only reaction I can give to that is… well… I dread to think what the brand‘s jewellery looks like if it’s anything like this monstrosity.”

The usage of the word “monstrosity” instead of “ugly” induces humour into the sentence.

Sometimes using crude language or curses can also tickle the readers’ ribs. Some authors, when writing about something frustrating, do use the F-word. While using crude language at the right place can make the humour effective, over-using the words can be displeasing too.

Punning and playing with words can be quite an interesting humour-tool as well.

For example – After the Tiger Woods controversy, the following one liner made rounds:-

A lion would not cheat, but a tiger wood.

The Don’ts

  • Finally let’s take a look at a few important things that you need to ensure when including humour in your blogs:-
  • Do it. But do NOT over-do it.
  • Do not hurt anyone’s sentiments or feelings, especially when dealing with sensitive matters, like religion.
  • Do not explain the joke, when you throw in a punch line.
  • Do not make fun of your target audience.
  • Do not use over-familiar jokes. The readers will tend to get bored.

Share your thoughts!




View all posts by Trinity Nick

Article by Trinity Nick

Trinity is a blogger from the UK. She reviews Laptops and Mobile Phones that are launched in the UK market. She also contributes guest posts to other technical and non-technical websites.

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{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

Murlu
Twitter:
July 13, 2010 at 6:44 pm

Sarcasm can be a great way to cover your opinion but also leave enough room for others to question it without having it be so definitive. People remember funny; write with a bit of comedy and you’ll keep people entertained :)
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Trinity Nick July 14, 2010 at 3:46 am

Hi Murlu

You’re absolutely right about sarcasm being used by a blogger to indirectly convey his opinion. It is funny and memorable. That’s why I especially remembered TechnicalMarkus’ blog when I was doing this post.
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Robert July 10, 2010 at 10:55 am

well in my opinion humour is something you can’t learn
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Charles July 7, 2010 at 1:33 pm

Humor is the best way to break the ice, calm an argument and entertain while informing. I tend to use humor as a way to alleviate the stressful environment my job can create, in the same manner I use humor to alleviate some of the stress a particular topic can create in a blog.

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Trinity Nick July 14, 2010 at 3:33 am

Hi Charles

I’m with you on this…

The name of your blog-site, “Chatterboxchuck”, itself creates a light environment… :)
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Charles July 14, 2010 at 9:42 am

Thank you. I figured the name suited me and added a touch of humor. I did run for Class Chatterbox when I graduated from High School although I didn’t win. I do talk a lot, blogging is the perfect place for a guy like me.

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Julius July 7, 2010 at 4:19 am

Humor is good. I try to put humor into everything I do (without overdoing it), especially on my blogs whenever I feel like it. I don’t really mind that much if people gets me wrong with my humorous punches, as long as I’m able to express myself without hurting anybody, it’s all good.

(by the way, does that make me insensitive?.. hehehe…)
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Trinity Nick July 8, 2010 at 1:00 pm

Hi Julius

Since you’ve mentioned that you take care not to hurt anyone, I feel it is fine. You’re not being insensitive.
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Asad July 5, 2010 at 3:44 pm

By bringing humour into articles,you can really make your article interesting and your readers will not get bored.Its a quite effective blogging technique.
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Dennis Edell July 5, 2010 at 1:34 pm

I can vouch! Excellent stuff and the readers eat it up. But I would like to add two points.

1. Make sure it is actually part of your natural personality. Forced will be noticed and not appreciated.

2. Do it as close to the first post on up as possible. You start throwing this stuff around 300 posts in and the sudden personality shift may not be appreciated.
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Trinity Nick July 8, 2010 at 12:57 pm

Hi Dennis

I completely agree with you on the first point. The second one – as long as you give something original everytime and don’t repeat the same humour in 2 posts, the readers are going to love it. But its not possible to make every post humorous. So do it whenever possible and appropriate.
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Joe boyle July 5, 2010 at 9:08 am

Humor is good for most posts, but you can’t use it in all of them. Sometimes, if the post is more serious, adding humor will make your audience view you as less serious or professional. Great post, though!

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Jake July 5, 2010 at 9:16 am

This is very true. I work in the health niche, and most the time it really wouldn’t be appropriate to add much in the way of humor to my posts.

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Trinity Nick July 8, 2010 at 12:49 pm

Hi Joe

You are absolutely right about this. Certain topics do require a serious and responsible approach, while there are others which can have a lighter tone to them. The ball is always in the blogger’s court first.
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Nabeel from Create Your First Website July 4, 2010 at 11:52 am

Great article.

I definitely would never make fun of someone else (except politicians or people in news).

I really like “A lion would not cheat, but a tiger wood.” What a clever little sentence. Sometimes you have to be smart and think of sentences like these, which are unique and funny.

sitesketch101 actually did a humorous post, and it was actually pretty good, although it is not a humor blog.

Nabeel

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Kimi July 4, 2010 at 10:09 am

Whoaa, this is a cool post! love it, this is true, i myself love to read a blog which can bring humor and quality content all at once.

I can’t apply it to my blog yet, but still trying, i guess this is what matters.

The cool humor and having quality content, is pearsonified.com
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Tushar July 4, 2010 at 5:20 am

i like to use humor in my blog and will like to read more humor in blogosphere….
looks like bloggers are serious people…. lolz
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Jakes July 3, 2010 at 9:44 pm

I think a little humour cannot harm. In niche blogs, one must always be careful humour is sprinkled,i.e. they are used only little, and humour should be such that it never tease or insult someone.
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Colleen July 3, 2010 at 8:13 pm

We’ll use video to inject some humor into our blogs. I’ve linked to one using our commentluv link below. In our niche, it’s hard to find where we can add humor, but video does the trick. Nice post Trinity. :)
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Trinity Nick July 5, 2010 at 2:34 am

Hi Colleen

You’ve got a great point there. Videos can prove to be good humour boosters too. Thanks.

Trinity

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Kristi Hines July 3, 2010 at 7:20 pm

Humor is great in writing, but definitely don’t use humor at someone else’s expense. You may feel like you’re just picking on someone you know won’t take offense, but someone else who may have not visited your blog before may wonder why you are picking on people!
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AJ July 3, 2010 at 5:31 pm

I think adding humor into your blog posts is a nice. However, it really is going to depend on your niche. I don’t think you want much humor if your site is about cancer…

Julius makes another good point. You mention sarcasm…Personally I love sarcasm, but if you have readers from all over the world they may not understand your sarcasm and you may come off looking bad.

Maybe instead of adding humour to your blog posts…just make them interesting and valuable. :)
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Ryan July 3, 2010 at 5:22 pm

Hi Trinity,

Using levity in your blog can be a disarming quality. Great insight here.

The best way to add humour is to sprinkle it in without trying. When you try, it sounds forced and doesn’t come off as natural.

If something funny crossed my mind as I pen the blog post I’ll include it.

Ryan
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David from professional SEO consultant
Twitter:
July 3, 2010 at 5:05 pm

Thanks! I love humour…writing it as much as reading it. One of my posts, for instance, is The Bugs Bunny Guide to link-building. Humour is so much fun to write. I highly recommend reading the Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. If you emulate the humour in that series, you can’t go wrong.

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Trinity Nick July 5, 2010 at 2:11 am

Hi David

Thanks for stopping by. I enjoyed “The Bugs Bunny Guide to link-building”.

Trinity

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Melinda
Twitter:
July 3, 2010 at 4:38 pm

I love to read posts that have a humorous take on subjects. The examples you have are creative. I think people love to share humorous posts because who doesn’t need a good chuckle once in awhile. Adding a splash of humor naturally is better than trying to force something funny into your posts.
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DiTesco
Twitter:
July 3, 2010 at 3:28 pm

I’m with Julius. I myself find it hard to add humor when I write and I have to admit that with the right “spice” it could be more interesting for the readers as it “breaks” the ice as well. Will try to “sprinkle” a little bit of humor in my next post. We’ll see how it goes
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Julius Kuhn-Regnier July 3, 2010 at 3:07 pm

To be honest I find it extremely hard to add some humor to blogs in general. I think that’s because it could always be understood wrong. Another issue could be that usually people that visit your blog come from all around the world. That makes it a lot harder to be funny in everyone’s eyes. What do you think?

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Trinity Nick July 5, 2010 at 1:12 am

Hi Julius

Yes, I agree with you that many of us bloggers fear humour in our blogs being wrongly interpreted. Personally, I feel that you can risk taking the plunge if you are not dealing with sensitive subjects.

Trinity

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