More Thoughts on "Being Funny" – Part 5

#10: Repetition, properly utilized is hilarious.

Well, it’s been 2 full weeks now since we started our series on My Thoughts on Being Funny. One final tool I want to share with you is Repetition. When someone learns to properly use repetition in conversation or in a presentation the end result can be absolutely hilarious.

David Letterman is one of the all time masters at this. Many of the funny things that David Letterman does are NOT in and of themselves, all that funny. (Remember how he tosses a pen up in the air while sitting at his desk…) But the fact that he repeats it over and over at awkward moments and then looks right into the camera while doing it, is absolutely hilarious about the fifth time.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of the those movies that gets ever increasingly hilarious the more you see it.

Once something obvious and funny has been pointed out in a group of people, returning to it at pinnacle moments can send people over the top.

Every once in a while, comedians can run for repetition and it falls flat, when that happens, move on and don’t try again. People will remember the last time they heard a word and if it was flat the last time, it’s not going to be any funnier the next time.

Try and pick up on when repetition is used in a comedic way sometime in the near future. Trust me, it’s there a lot more than you think.

I hope you’re weekend is a hilarious one,

Matt