Louis C.K. is one of the most respected comedians in the world
and part of it is because he seemed so effortlessly funny.
There's no big action like with Jim Carrey or Robin Williams —
no elaborately clever setups — just simple truths that make audiences crack up.
...kids are mean and it's because they're trying it out.
They look at a kid and they go, "You're fat,"
and then they see the kid's face scrunch up and they go,
"Ooh, that doesn't feel good to make person do that,"
but they got to start with doing the mean thing.
But when they write, "You're fat,"
then they just go, "Mmm, that was fun. I like that."
(Conan and audience laughing)
But it's not that simple because while the truth can make for great art,
it isn't always funny.
Louis, though, has developed a way of delivering his stories
and jokes in packages that are very different from what most of us do
and because of that, he's able to create hilarious moments from everyday commentary.
So today, we're going to explore three of Louis' most common techniques
that are going to allow you to make just about anything that you say funnier.
For instance, one of the most basic yet difficult things that Louis does
is to nail his timing and that means, specifically,
that after his jokes, he leaves a beat for people to laugh.
Check it out in this next clip.
Yeah, google pearl necklace, you'll see a bunch of pearl necklaces
and... what this joke mean.
This might seem like a small thing but it is absolutely critical
because unless a joke is hilarious, people will need
dead air space that ques them to laugh.
And using this space often allows Louis to get double from his punchlines
meaning that first, he leaves that space before punchline and he gets a laugh
and then again, he finishes his point and people laugh.
So take a look at this next clip and you'll notice
that the first laugh comes as Louis pauses and the second one comes
when he actually says the punchline that people were anticipating.
...and then the kid from the other— he took another—
his other hand had a paper bag and he put the glue in
and he (Louis huffs)... and he huffed it...
and his eyes rolled back...
and he got high...
and then the group kept going and I couldn't believe what I just saw
that the misery in this country at that time
was so calculable and so predictable that this guy thought,
"My shoe's broken... oh, there's a child,"
he's sort of have some glue in his hand...
So you can see that silence is a very important ingredient to humor.
The problem is that many beginning comedians, and maybe even yourself,
typically try to fill any silence that they hear
because they think that they're bombing — that people do not like their jokes —
and unfortunately, this is exactly the opposite of what they ought to do.
For an example of how over-talking can actually hurt your sense of humor,
watch this earlier clip of Louis C.K. —
he's doing stand-up and he blazes through a number of punchlines
which could be funny but don't get much reaction
because they don't have a chance to hit without a moment of silence.
I'm doing okay and actually I just got over the flu
which is kind of crappy but a the worst part is that I smoke
and I think it's one of the stupidest to feel about being a smoker is
when you're sick and you still smoke, you know, no matter how sick you are.
I mean you can wake up in the morning you're coughing up little furry animals, you know,
you're coughing up tickets to the Ice Capades but
you're really in bad shape and first thing you reach for is a cigarette,
(sound of huffing a cigarette then coughing) "Jesus."
And you finish it.
You force yourself to smoke all day long no matter how much it hurt.
And in case you're wondering, even comedians that are well-known for being fast talkers
purposely leave space for the audience to catch up and laugh.
Check out this clip of George Carlin and notice
how the audience is quiet when he's speaking
but catches up and laughs when he stops.
I'm a non-believer and an overachiever, laid back but fashion-forward,
upfront down-home low-rent high-maintenance,
super-sized long-lasting high definition fast-acting oven-ready and built to last.
I'm a hands-on Footloose knee-jerk head case,
prematurely post-traumatic and I have a love child who sends me hate mail.
(audience laughing)
I say all of this to make one major point —
a critical component of humor is leaving space for people to get the joke.
And in a group of friends, that means that you can come across as funnier
if you just stop speaking after you've cracked a joke.
But of course this feels like it can backfire because you might hear crickets
and an awkward silence if the joke doesn't go over well.
So to avoid this you, need to combine that short bit of silence,
usually only as long as it takes to take one breath, with another technique.
And this is a technique that Louis uses all the time.
It turns dead jokes into riots and it's the repeat punch line like this —
...and the joke was that the basic premise was that I think we don't keep...
we don't need to keep making porn — there's enough porn...
So this is the first punch line and the one that Louis is going to riff on —
"We have too much porn."
The first time, it gets only a few chuckles in the audience
but watch how Louis expanding on that punch line will get more laughs each time.
...so much porn.
If we stop no one would, like, run out. No one's going to see it all
and go, "What else?"
It's not like Harry Potter, like, "But then what?"
(Jimmy and audience laughing)
So the lesson here is, yes,
to give a slight bit of silence and not crowd the end of your jokes
but also, don't abandon your jokes prematurely.
Sometimes, when you get a small laugh,
all you need to do is have more absurdity or descriptiveness
in a repeat punchline to make people crack up.
And while this technique can save jokes that are dying,
it's especially powerful on jokes that are already working.
Watch how often Louis loves to repeat these punch lines when jokes
are just killing it — typically, he does it in groups of three.
(Louis sniffs then sings)
...and in about ten seconds, everything just...
(descending tone)
And I'm like, "Oh, shit."
(audience laughing)
"This is an ordeal now."
(audience laughing)
"I'm not going to feel okay for a very long time."
(audience laughing)
...women try to compete and they're like, "Well, I'm a pervert. You don't know?"
(audience laughing)
"I have really sick sexual thoughts. No, you have no idea."
"You have no idea."
"Because you get to have those thoughts — I have to have them."
(audience laughing)
"You're a... you're a tourist in sexual perversion — I'm a prisoner there."
(audience laughing)
"You're Jane Fonda on a tank — I'm John McCain in the hut. It's a nightmare."
"I can't... I can't lift my arms."
The rule of three is so strong that the audience has come to recognize it
to the degree that they even begin to clap as soon as Louis hits his third
and most specific elaboration on the punchline.
They know that that's the big one.
And if you take this into your own life,
you can repeat your own punchlines or build on punchlines
that your friends have said which typically makes them feel good
and we talk about that more in another video which I will link to in the description
so if you want to check that out, click the button the top right or the description.
Anyway, main idea here is that repeating a punchline in more absurd terms
is a great way to milk the humor in any situation and instantly become funnier
because you don't need new material — just more of what's working.
But there is one last piece that is worth mentioning from Louis
because it allows him to get as much from his punchlines as possible
and it's that he doesn't just tell the punchline, he shows it like in these clips.
...sometimes, I'm like sitting in an airport or wherever
and I remember that moment and I go... (startled sound)
...it's me feeling upset and I look at things that I know we're gonna upset me.
You know? I guess I just like the hit from going, "Ugh."
(audience laughing)
Like I'll go on my computer and I'll google an image that I don't want to see
so then I see a whole wall of it...
you know, like, big dicks with nails in them...
"Ah!"
(audience laughing)
"Ah!"
(audience laughing)
"Ugh!"
So you can see in those clips that Louis is physically embodying the joke
but also, when he's speaking, he will take you into the present text
so rather than summarizing what someone said or what he said,
he shows you, in real time, exactly as it was.
I don't if you've ever called 911
and you don't realize until they answer how you shouldn't be calling 911.
"911. Tell us your emergency."
"I-I'm sorry... very sorry to be bothering you. This doesn't qualify."
"Sir, what's the problem?" I said, "There's bat in my house."
(audience laughing)
"And I don't like it."
It's worth mentioning that Louis isn't much of a physical comedian
but these tiny bits of acting, of showing a physical reaction,
or acting out a scene push many of its bits over the edge into hilarious
and it's something that we can all do.
So when you're taking a humorous angle, don't simply say,
"I told her that she was crazy."
Show people. Say it in the tone that you said it.
Make the face that you did at the time and act it out with your hands and body.
You'll be surprised by how much more humorous this makes every joke you tell and every story.
all of his bits are well-practiced even in interviews.
But here's a quick recap of three very simple things that you can do
right now to make all of your jokes and stories funnier.
First, don't crowd the funny pieces.
Give them a bit of breathing room
and the time that it takes to take a breath is usually enough space.
Second, after that breath,
add on to the joke whether it's funny or it's not.
Keep pushing it in terms of descriptiveness and absurdity
and usually, the third time that you do that will be the funniest.
And lastly, act out your jokes.
We've covered this before but Louis C.K. is rather special here
because he acts out jokes in the way that would be appropriate in any context.
So speak as the character in the joke would speak,
use your hands, show physical reactions like the shaking
rather than just describing them and you're going to get more laughs.
So, if you like this video and you want more,
check out our videos on first impressions.
This video covers four emotions that are going to help you make a great first impression
on anyone and one of those emotions is covered in this video
but the other three are not.
So if you want to know what those are in order to just be consistent
in making people like you and want to see you again after a first meeting,
click the button here or in the description,
drop your email on the next page and you'll get access to that video right now.
If you want more videos like this, make sure to click the subscribe button.
I'm getting back to uploading once a week, I've been a little bit off
but if you subscribe, you're going to keep this stuff top of mind
and that's really how it becomes a habit.
So I hope you click subscribe now, click that notification button to watch along
and of course, to practice along in your real life.
If you have any suggestions of video topics,
please let me know in the comments.
In honor of Guardians of the Galaxy 2,
I'm thinking of doing one on Chris Pratt who I think is hilarious
but if you have something better, definitely let me know
and I can add that to the end of the list or even do it before.
I hope that you've enjoyed this video and I will see you in the next one.