Barry Kirkey Comedy Lesson 2: “Straight Facing”

Guys, I laughed out loud just reading this article from Barry. I want to thank him again for his contribution to the how to get a girlfriend blog this week.

Here goes…(brace yourself)…

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Straight Facing

Laughing at your own jokes is all well and good, but there comes a point where people find it annoying and will simply walk away and not want to talk with you.

Opposite to this is the art of maintaining a straight face. This is a key element to developing a broad-ranged sense of humor. It can be used effectively with almost any style.

You might think that keeping a straight face in itself is a funny skill. However, there’s a catch 22: the funniest comedians actually think their own jokes are funny – they write them for themselves, they know what works.

Keep this in mind, and then consider that most of them can successfully keep a straight face while telling their own jokes. It’s like a constant struggle between good and evil, or light and dark, or smart and retarded.

Granted, it’s not always necessary to keep a straight face, and sometimes it’s a bad idea if you’re trying to warm up to a group of people – but overall, if you can do it right, you’ll gain a lot of credibility with your jokes.

You can practice by telling ridiculous lies that nobody would believe. If someone approaches you at work to get a status up dates about those documents you need to hand in by Monday, you can respond by saying:

I’m sorry but I ran out of beans for the Honda. Italy, the country, is on its way over to feed the cat.

Or

But my dad molested me last night!

Or

I hate my life. What? Oh, no you must have heard me wrong. I meant to say “I want to skate with my knife.”

Or

That’s what you think. Chump.

Or

Sandra ate it (ensure there is no Sandra in your workplace).

Don’t get yourself in trouble by doing something inappropriate (or do get yourself in trouble and then send me an e-mail about how you lost your job because of me – that would be very funny because you’re stupid).

You can also practice by engaging in classic staring contests (the ones where you’re allowed to blink – it’s not supposed to be a “who-has-the-most-hydrated-eyes” contest you morons). Those are usually fun – but difficult to do well. I used to practice with my friend Stefan, who seems to have a natural gift for doing this – I think he’s a true Staring Contest Master.

There is no real proper way to keep a straight face. You just have to go with what works best. I like to stare at a specific spot in someone’s eyeball and go over the steps on how to make good lasagna. If you don’t know how to make lasagna, consider another famous Italian pasta dish, such as:

- Spaghetti
- Fettuccini
- Penne
- Mexican Food
- Butter Chicken
- Buffalo Wings
- Famous Toronto Cheese Soup
- Sliced Pears
- Spanish Rice
- McDonald’s Hamburgers
- Blue.

And by the way: because I am such a good cookist (person who cooks), I will be opening my new office supply store next year.

Try that on for size! Case closed!

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Thanks Barry! Again, if you’re totally unclear about what is happening here – Barry Kirkey (aka “26″/”Extramask”) my old buddy from Project Hollywood has started a new company called Revolution 31 which both trains men on developing their sense of humor as well as teaches guys how to meet women.

And trust me, Barry knows A LOT about both of those topics…(just read “The Game”, and you’ll see what I mean).

He’ll be here again next Monday, teaching us all more about being funny, cool and altogether BETTER with women.

Thanks again to him for this killer article on the how to get a girlfriend blog.

Over ‘n out,
Sn.

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