Humour - spice for stories
- hbsingh
- Jun 6
- 5 min read
“If you want to tell people the truth, make them laugh, otherwise they'll kill you.” — George Bernard Shaw
Humour in storytelling is like seasoning a meal: the right amount enhances the experience, but too much or poorly timed can spoil it.
This week's blog reflects on how we can use humour thoughtfully and effectively in storytelling - and why it matters. I love stand-up comedy and admire how skilled comedians connect deeply through humour.
Why Humour Matters in Storytelling
Humour creates connection. It invites listeners into shared experiences. It can ease tension or highlight how absurd a situation is. It makes points memorable, and maintains engagement by holding our attention. We want to be around people who make us laugh, but it requires effort and skill, so not something everyone can deliver.
Ways Humour Engages Us
Humour often follows a familiar path. Set expectations, misdirect, and then offer a surprising twist. Humour engages our brains in three ways:
Pattern Recognition and Surprise: The brain enjoys detecting patterns; the break in them stimulates reward centres and makes us more engaged.
Release of Neurotransmitters: Laughter triggers dopamine, endorphins, and serotonin—boosting mood, bonding, and stress relief.
Social Bonding: Shared laughter activates mirror neurons, strengthening empathy and connections, making humour an effective tool for building relationships.
Effective humour can appear in many forms:
Surprise: Saying something unexpected.
“I used to struggle with indecision, but now I’m not so sure.”
Relatability: Capturing universal yet awkward inner dialogues we all share.
“Every time the waiter says, ‘Enjoy your meal,’ I accidentally reply ‘You too!’. Why can't I just keep my mouth shut!"
Creative: Pairing unexpected ideas in a fresh, amusing way.
“Trying to get my toddler dressed is like folding a fitted sheet - looks easy but is complicated beyond reason.”
Gentle Truths: Voicing quiet truths we feel but rarely articulate openly.
“Parenting taught me patience…and not to believe anything people tell you about being a parent.”
Tension Relief: Using humour to ease emotional or heavy moments.
After sharing a challenging personal experience, adding, “But on the bright side, my rough start meant, that just by keeping out of prison, people would be impressed.”
The history and media of humour
Humour has been accessed differently through human history. It probably started with storytelling and fireside tales and then moved to performances of plays. In imperial courts, there might was humour for entertainment like court jesters. The telling of jokes would have been the precursor of today's stand-up comics.
Humour developed into the written word or drawings with satire, and caricatures. This allowed humour to be enjoyed at different times by different people.
As radio and television developed, we have films, shows and series with humour. Whether the silent slapstick of Charlie Chaplin or the punchlines of Laurel and Hardy humour moved very naturally into radio and television. This was followed up by sitcoms, movies and series. Variety performances could be beamed into everyone's living room.
The internet allowed more targeted content by age group. Web forums, YouTube and TikTok made humour in different formats. Anyone could caption an image, remix a clip, or duet a skit within minutes of a news event. The pace of joke cycles compressed from months to minutes. Podcasts have also allowed more comic content to be shared without the need to pass through a channel.
With AI-generated content commonplace, we might be entering a new dawn of comedy, with content even more targeted towards us, with audio and visual trained on what we have previously found funny, or what might be expected given our profile. Memes can also be tailored more to our sense of humour.
When Humour Can Be Risky
Humour can be risky. A joke falling flat is bad. It shows disconnection and creates a divide between the storyteller and the audience. Worse still though is when a joke feels nasty or insensitive.
A bad joke often has one of the following attributes:
Timing: delivered too early or late.
Context: Is out of context with the things said previously
Nasty: feels mobbish or insensitive (reactions can vary hugely in today's polarised world)
Unknown elements: Is so niche that once explained is no longer funny.
Tone: Seems mean-spirited
How Great Storytellers Use Humour
Skillful storytellers use humour naturally but sparingly:
They blend humour into serious topics, not detracting from the focus.
They deliver it naturally, not announcing they are about to make a joke
They understand and respect their audience, choosing humour that resonates and includes rather than isolates.
They weave moments of humour throughout their stories, not cracking one-liners
They use variety, changing pace and intensity.
In a recent conversation between Andrew Huberman the podcaster and Tom Segura the comedian, they went into how an atmosphere for humour can be developed. This makes the job of a storyteller easier.
One of the most surprising things I heard (which now makes sense) was that you want someone to already be in the mood for laughing. This is why many people have warm-up acts, to get the audience in the right place. Even if the warm-up act does an incredible job, it will be better to access the audience when they are already in the mood for laughing.
How humour might manipulate us
Whilst humour is generally a force for good, it can be used manipulatively:
We drop our guard with humour. When we are laughing we can be told things that would otherwise be treated with scrutiny.
It allows mockery of out groups. It was completely acceptable when I grew up in 1980s England to make jokes about Irish people being dim-witted. A friend of mine who is a doctor and has red hair, says that he stills regularly gets told 'ginger jokes'. Humour can be a desensitisation technique, for establishing bias.
People can hide behind the fact they were 'just joking' if we try and call them out.
Misinformation can travel more quickly with humour as it is more entertaining.
There is also a lot of social pressure to laugh when others are laughing, creating an atmosphere where you cannot challenge something.
Humour is also a weapon.
So what?
An important spice: Humour is a potent narrative spice—handled thoughtfully it connects and uplifts; misused it manipulates and divides.
Neuro-social mechanics: Good jokes exploit pattern-breaks, triggering bonding and happy hormones. From the campfire to AI-generated content, humans seek humour as a form of entertainment.
When jokes go wrong: Poor timing, missing context, niche references, nasty tone, or mean-spiritedness turn humour into a wedge.
Master storytellers’ playbook: Blend humour sparingly into serious topics, keep delivery natural, read the room, and vary pace. It also helps to prime the audience with warm-up acts raising their readiness to laugh.
Dark side of humour: Laughter lowers critical defences, masks prejudice, and pressures dissenters to stay silent.
Next week I will explore "Vision and storytelling". Until then, please sign up to receive the blog directly to your email at Blog | Deciders.
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