The Humorous Speech Analyzed – 1

Let me start with a confession: I never gave a humorous speech.
But soon I will, at the humorous speech contest, so I better start studying.

In my previous life as an improv player I was used to humor – every performance was filled with it. But sitting down at the kitchen table and racking your brain to think up a joke must be different from improvising on the spot. Or is it?

Let’s watch some humorous speeches to find out how humor works.

Today’s video is Andy Dooly’s date with destiny.

Don’t be intimidated after seeing this speech. I’m sure that even for somebody as gifted as Andy this has been a lot of work. A LOT of work. If you can get your speech to that level, you’re a champion. If not, nothing lost. Just use speeches like this as inspiration.

It’s a speech

The first and maybe most important lesson is that a humorous speech is still a speech. It needs to have a strong opening and ending, a structured organization, and come to the point. Body language and vocal variety are often more important than in regular speeches, but this depends on your style of humor.
Andy’s speech is extra strong because it has a powerful message. This is no hard requirement for a humorous speech but it does make the speech stronger.

Style

Andy’s style is very upbeat, there is no dull moment in the speech. It is a performance rather than a speech. This may not be your style, few people can do it and some will not like it but it works for me. His style includes jumping around, shouting and using exaggerated expressions. Even between the jokes the audience smiles.

Possibilities for humor everywhere

Andy’s humor starts with the title. The absurdly long title makes the audience laugh even before he is on stage, setting the tone for a great humorous speech. Now if we all start creating sentence long titles the fun would soon end, but there is so much more  you can do with your title. Give it some thought.
You can’t fail to notice that Andy dressed for the occasion. Even if the clothing is not funny in itself, it provides a wonderful backdrop for the story. Humorous speeches give you more opportunities to dress up than regular speeches.

Repetition

Repetition works in any speech. In humorous speeches though you are allowed to go really over the top. Notice the biscuits and pork chops hitting people’s heads.
The strongest use of repetition is the description of the tall guy. “I bet he plays professional basketball”. The second time around he doesn’t even have to finish his sentence and there is a laugh. The audience understands that it’s Tony Robbins.
The echo too is a nice form of repetition, not hilariously funny, but it keeps the speech going nicely.
One nice form of repetition works well for humorous speeches but not so much for regular speeches: absurdification. What I mean is that every time something is repeated it gets weirder. Andy stopped at flying pork chops but I’m quite sure that somewhere during the draft he had chickens, goats and whales flying around. Clearly, you have to know when to stop.

Shared knowledge

If you share certain knowledge with the audience you can get big laughs by humor related to this knowledge. Very powerful, but a bit risky if your assumption turns out to be wrong. In this case most of the audience seemed to know who Tony Robbins was, and what’s more, they know what he looks like. So the description “He’s a motivational guru who walks on fire and has perfect white teeth” is an explanation for those who don’t know Tony Robbins, and a joke for those who do. Later Andy just grins the broad white Tony Robbins smile and that is enough for a laugh: a combination of shared knowledge and repetition.

Keep it personal

Good clean fun doesn’t insult anybody. The rule of thumb is that you can only poke fun at the group(s) you yourself belong to. If you are an smoker, you can make fun of smokers, if you’re not, leave them alone. The smallest group you always belong to is yourself. Poking fun at  yourself doesn’t hurt anyone and it is rumored to be healthy too. Andy talks about his encounter, his life, and while doing so portraits himself as a shallow-thinking jaw-gaping idiot. Well, maybe not an idiot but I’m sure he’s smarter than he makes us believe.

Body language

Body language in speech like this can be more exuberant, there is more room for just fun.
Some examples of body language you probably wouldn’t see in a ‘serious’ speech:

Here come the girls, hey hey hey hey (1:57) wouldn’t work so well without the weird pose.
But (2:56) – the connection he makes here with butt might be offensive to some, but I think that he stays well within the limits, for a humorous speech at least. I like it.
Smile (3:20) – just the Tony Robbins smile, exaggerated.
Walk on fire (3:55) – another example of humor that doesn’t need text.

His expressions also convey a lot of information. The surprise, the shock, the awe. Body language and expressions give you endless extra possibilities to get a laugh.

Vocal variety

Humorous speeches give you the opportunity to play with your voice. Andy uses the higher registers frequently when he enacts himself on the mountain. The lower voice is reserved for Tony, the regular voice for the story teller. There is variety in speed as well as pitch. Exaggeration fits well into a humorous speech, too.

Leave time for laughter

If you write a humorous speech, allow some extra time for laughter. The bigger the audience, and the funnier you are, the more laughter time you need.
I think Andy cut it rather sharp, his speech time must have come dangerously close to the disqualification time. However, he did leave enough time for laughter.

End with a twist

At the end his date with destiny is not over. He bumps into a tall guy and the audience assumes it’s Tony Robbins again. BUT: it isn’t. Simple and effective.

Stupid grin

He’s working hard to hide it, but when the title of his speech is announced you can see what I would like to call the “stupid grin”. I recognize that grin. I have it if I am being funny, know that I am being funny, and enjoy myself.  Having fun before, during and after your speech might well be the most important ingredient in a humorous speech.

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