Everyone enjoys a good laugh. And sometimes that laugh can make us think, prick our conscious, or enlighten us. Writers from Mark Twain to Lewis Grizzard to Dave Barry have found humor a valuable tool in tackling topics from political pundits to religious institutions to their own ways of writing. Pulitzer Prize-winning editorialist Richard Aregood has shown that humor can be used with serious topics such as gun control. He says the main element missing in most editorial writing is passion, writing about something one really cares about. According to Aregood, "tone and timing are the secrets in any kind of writing" (226). But what makes humor work? Most of the professional writers agree that humor has to be natural, like you speak. If it is forced, the humor simply is not going to work. The writers do caution, though, about the thin line between humor and ridicule. They also caution that some words we use in everyday speech have simply lost their punch in written language, for example the words "crazy" and "schizoid" (Journal-Bulletin 1) So where do you find humor and how do you make it work?

In their in-house bulletin of writers talking to writers, some Providence Journal humorists offer suggestions. Martha Smith says that the best place to find ideas for humor was the ladies' room. She notes that the funniest things are said in an informal setting. The writers suggest that playing off what people say is a good way to interject humor: "Quote them exactly, and the very humor of what they say becomes funny" (Journal-Bulletin 1). Celeste Katz offers that animals make good humor stories. A good example is the story told by private investigator Gary Dixon. In a NPR interview, he tells about an African Gray parrot that was not allowed to testify in a murder trial in California. The defense objected to the parrot's testimony, noting that at best it was hearsay -- or at least birdsay. Dixon agrees but suggests that the bird may now be in the witness protection program. Finally, the writers suggest that humor is everywhere; we just need to be observant and note it -- then use it to add sparkle to a story -- or jab to a conscience.

Glossary of Comedy