Live, Love & Laugh - By Gloria Guest

If I am going to attempt to include humour in my writing there are a few things that I believe must be paramount.

Humour must first begin with me. I need to have a healthy ability to laugh at myself and share my humorous foibles with others. Here are just a few for your amusement.

-As a reporter I once attended an interview with the owner of a fashion store, wearing my shirt inside out!  I had gotten dressed in the dark that morning and it wasn’t until I was seated and about to start the interview that I noticed the result of that decision. Perhaps she noticed the look on my face because she excused herself for a moment and that gave me just enough time to slip my sweater back on.

-I once walked out of a Subway store with another man’s sandwich. I hadn’t even ordered a sandwich! I returned sheepishly and when I walked in I was met with the laughter of the clerk and the entire line up. If I was still writing a column that experience would definitely make it in there.

-When I was fourteen, having just arrived in Saskatchewan from Ontario, I was amazed to see the word POOL written across a very tall, elevator shaped building and exclaimed, “Wow! That pool must have a very high diving board!” Imagine, as an avid swimmer, my disappointment to find out that it was a Wheat Pool and the only source for swimming in the hamlet was a slough. That experience did make it into one of my columns. J

Have a few muses in your life. For years my muses were my husband and two sons and sometimes their antics still make it into the occasional blog. Yes, I’ve heard that you need to be careful what you write about family and friends and to respect their privacy but in my case I used the excuse that if they were going to do such ridiculous things, knowing full well that their mother wrote a regular lifestyle column, well what should they expect? Just a couple examples of their redneck behavior that made it into a column or two include;

-My husband and son using a B-B-Gun to shoot mice in the basement after that son left the basement window open and we were sharing our living space with them, unable to trap any of the tricky pests.

-My husband once using a blowtorch to light the birthday candles upon not being able to find a lighter or matches.

Realize that humour can fit into even the most serious piece. Humour softens the blow so to speak and can be an excellent tool to help your readers to bond to you as the writer and be willing to then read the hard stuff. However there is definitely a subtle flair to it that needs to be just right if it is to come off in good taste and not macabre.

-The best example I have of using humour in a serious piece of writing would be my story titled The Christmas Carol that was published in the anthology Christmas Stories and More. The primary story was about a woman who had lost her son in Afghanistan and while writing it I realized that it was sounding just too depressing, even though in real life it would indeed be a depressing life event. But how could I keep my readers wanting to read this story? So I gave the main character some Carollers to listen to and allowed the readers a glimpse into her thoughts as she rather impatiently and without much interest put up with their performance at her door. I hope the effect was that humour lightened the load without taking away from the seriousness of the piece. It is always worth a try at least to add some humour to such writing.

Don’t go it alone.  Life is funnier when it involves another person and even better if it is another writer friend, as they will totally understand that you are going to include the hilarious incident that just happened to you both in your writing sometime, somewhere, somehow.

-It was during a writer’s conference in Saskatoon that my friend Pam Mytroen and I decided to take some time before the conference to go to the mall. So we google mapped it and set off only to come upon detour upon detour in construction. Still, we figured that we were following the detours adequately and listening to the many reconfigurations of Google Maps okay; until we found ourselves far out on a grid road, staring at the City Dump. “Uh Pam. I don’t think that’s the mall,” I said. That incident has made for many laughs between the two of us since and made for a few good writing opportunities including this one: D

So in summary; learn to laugh at yourself (often), laugh even more with your family, never underestimate the power of humour in your writing, find some funny friends, and finally; look for those humorous everyday moments, as what looks like just a smelly old dump could end up in a column, devotional or story or two: D

The Guest family LOL 

Gloria lives, loves, laughs and writes from her home in Caron, Sk., where she lives with her husband and two cats and enjoys  visits from her sons, daughter-in-laws and four little grand-daughters.

Laughter IS the Best Medicine by Lynn Dove

You don't have to be around me long to know I love to laugh.  I have been told that I have a very distinct, and hearty laugh.  My husband has spent thirty-nine years in the pursuit of trying to make me laugh every single day.  I don't know who's more thrilled when he succeeds, me or him, but when I laugh, it just tickles his fancy too and before we know it, we're reduced to tears and both of us are chortling uncontrollably.  It's a happy marriage.


My three children have learned to accept our frequent fits of laughter and though they don't always understand what their parents find so funny at times, they explain it away as one of our many parenting quirks and find it endearing, although sometimes embarrassing, especially when we laugh hysterically in front of their friends.  They don't realize that most of the time, we find THEM funny!  Sorry kids! 


In writing, there are times an unexpected pun or a misspelling of a word, that changes the whole meaning of a sentence, will catch me off guard.  I'm a grammar hound when it comes to media.  I can't help cringe and chuckle at the grotesque misspellings I discover in commercials, ads and social media.  Occasionally spellcheck will have me giggling for a day at the nonsensical word it comes up with to use in a certain context.  Even when reading or writing the most serious of articles, I can be reduced to fits of laughter because of a spellcheck or misspelled faux pas. 


I will admit there have been very few times in my life, when I didn't find something to make me laugh at least once during the day.  Whether in my writing or interacting with my family, friends, or seeing something in media or on television; life definitely makes for some very funny moments IF we choose to see them.  Case in point:


I was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2001.  That in itself is definitely NOT funny.  In fact, after the diagnosis, I wasn't sure I would ever be able to laugh again.  I was in a battle for my life and the usual twinkle of merriment in my husband's eyes was noticeably dimmed as we struggled as a couple to come to terms with our new reality.  My children ranged in age from five to fifteen, and I begged God to help me see the plan and purpose in this for me and my family. 


Days before my mastectomy surgery, I sat down at my computer and began to write a long letter to a friend asking her to pray for me.  I was terrified about the upcoming surgery and I honestly wasn't sure I would survive.  I was deeply depressed and I was facing a crisis of belief.  After the initial diagnosis I had "camped out" in Scripture, trying to find comfort in the Word, finally coming to Jesus' prayer in the Garden of Gethsemane before His Passion.  I wrote to my friend, "I feel like Jesus did when he prayed to His Father: "Going a little farther, he fell with his face to the ground and prayed, "My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will." Matthew 26:39.  After I had written that, my daughter who was fifteen at the time, leaned over my shoulder and began reading the letter.  She stopped when she read the scripture passage and gasped.  Then she started to giggle.  She couldn't stop and soon tears were streaming down her eyes and she pointed at the screen. 


I had thought my letter poignant and filled with pathos.  To see my child dissolved in laughter, was the least I had ever expected the letter to illicit and to tell the truth, I was more than a little upset by her insensitivity towards my dire health circumstances.  She was certainly old enough to understand the seriousness of the situation, and we had been very open with her about what I was about to face.  Then she pointed again and said, "Think about it, Mom...your surgery...a cup being taken from you...CUP?...bra cup...?"  It dawned on me the literal meaning she had picked up by reading the verse that I had connected to my particular circumstance and I started to laugh.  Before we knew it, we were hugging, laughing and crying uncontrollably.  After our laughter quieted, my oldest child, who had been bottling up her pent up emotions until then shared openly her real fear of losing me.  After reading my letter, she knew that if we could laugh, if God could allow laughter into our lives about something so very serious and at that VERY moment, she knew everything was going to be okay!


It was after that conversation, I revised my letter to my friend and changed it's original sombre tone to one of upbeat positivity and I shared what had just transpired between my daughter and me.  I asked my friend to pray of course for my upcoming surgery, but to also send me jokes, funny videos and humourous anecdotes throughout my recovery process.  Then I enlisted all my other friends and family to do the same, and from that day forward my email correspondence included every manner of frivolity that made me laugh and lifted my spirit through my surgeries and the chemotherapy treatments that followed.  My request went viral, and soon strangers from all over the world, were sending me encouraging scripture verses as well as fun, family-friendly jokes, riddles, puns and videos.  My husband, once again continued his quest of trying to make me laugh every day, so even on the day I asked him to shave my head bald after the first chemo treatment, I was laughing while he cried! 


I don't make light of the awful experience of cancer or the devastating consequences and treatments that accompany the disease.  I would NEVER wish the diagnosis on anyone, but I believe God used humour to encourage me through that most difficult time in my life.  Someone asked me how I could stay so upbeat during that two year battle and I responded, "I can laugh or I can cry, I choose to laugh." 


For me, laughter was, and still is, the best medicine.

Lynn Dove is the award-winning author, of the YA “Wounded Trilogy”- a contemporary Christian fiction series with coming-of-age themes.  A wife, mom, grandmother, and free-lance writer with articles published in several magazines and anthologies including Chicken Soup for the Soul books, her blog, “Journey Thoughts” is a Canadian Christian Writing Award winner.  Readers may connect with her on Facebook, Twitter, and at lynndove.com  

Leave Them Laughing by Nina Faye Morey

I’ve learned several ways to incorporate humour into my speeches and other writings. Toastmasters Advanced Communication Series manual, Humorously Speaking, taught me some useful techniques. I want to share these with you, along with some examples of how I’ve used them:

● Open with a humorous quote, joke, story, or personal anecdote. Here are a couple of opening lines with a famous writer’s witty quote from my “Becoming a Freelance Writer” speech:

“ . . . Do you see yourself travelling the world, dressed in glamorous outfits, signing your latest nonfiction book or novel for a long line of your adoring fans? Norman Mailer once famously quipped that ‘Writers don’t have lifestyles. They sit in little rooms and write.’”

● Add humorous personal stories to your opening and closing. The closing story should illustrate your main point. My speech, “Failure is a Stepping Stone to Success,” included personal dieting stories. Here are snippets of my concluding story, portraying holiday dieting pitfalls:

“ . . . ‘You simply have to taste this, it’s a fabulous new recipe I found in Good Housekeeping’s Christmas issue!’ . . . Each holiday seems like another discouraging battle in our war against weight gain. But we must not allow our diet to get permanently derailed. And, of course, it never hurts to cheer ourselves up with a bit of humour. As my sister-in-law would say, ‘Oh, well, isn’t that the reason they invented elastic waistbands?’” [Snap elastic waistband.]

● Take it up another notch by scattering jokes throughout your writing to illustrate the main points and engage your audience. Here’s a joke from the body of my speech, “Man’s Best Friend,” on training seeing-eye dogs:

“No professional trainer would want to match a handler with a disobedient guide dog who has a rap sheet that includes being ticketed for “running off leash while on duty.”

● Open with a self-deprecating joke, sprinkle sets of similar jokes throughout, and close with a humorous story. Jokes underscore your points and enliven dry, pedantic material. The closing story should accentuate your main point. Here’s a set of jokes I used in the body of my speech, “Murphy’s Law of PCs,” making fun of coping with new technologies:

“You see, as you get older, three things happen. The first is that your memory starts to go . . . Sorry, I seem to have forgotten what the other two are . . . Now . . . What was I saying? . . . Oh, yes, my son gets a bit touchy when he’s already explained the first three steps and I interrupt to ask if he could please repeat step one again. I perfectly understand his frustration though. It’s a lot like when I’m trying to figure out how to reset the digital clock on my microwave. It doesn’t appear too difficult until I actually attempt to do it. If you’re around my age, you’re probably familiar with how that goes [Mimic punching touchpad with each step.]: Read Step 1. Read Step 2. Repeat Step 1; Reread Step 2. Repeat Step 1; Repeat Step 2; Read Step 3. Repeat Step 1; Repeat Step 2; Reread Step 3  . . . [Pause & shake head] . . . Re-read Step 1 . . .”

● Use exaggerated comical stories and/or jokes to make a point about a particular theme/subject. Here’s an exaggerated joke about dealing with change I used to open my story, “If I’d Only Known”:

“I grew up in the era when you handwrote your manuscript on paper with a dip pen and inkwell and sent it off to a publisher through the Pony Express—no, just kidding!”

Go ahead and have some fun trying these techniques to add humour to your writing.

Photo Credits: Pixabay

Mrs K's Comedy Rules - Tracy Krauss

Humour goes a long way – in writing and in life. There is nothing like it to break tension and make people feel comfortable. However, we’ve probably all been witness to a joke gone bad. Either the punch line wasn’t delivered correctly, the timing was wrong, or it was inappropriate for the setting. In any of these scenarios, instead of putting people at ease, the blundered attempt at humour created an awkward moment. Some people just seem to ‘have it’ and some people don’t.

Phil Callaway comes to mind in the ‘have it’ camp. He has a way of telling even the most ordinary story and making it hilarious. The entire topic reminds me of a few principles I've used with acting students about improvisation. I’ll call them, “Mrs. K’s Rules of Comedy”.

The number one rule is: quit trying so hard. The best humour is unexpected. It happens naturally. When an actor (or a writer) tries to be funny it usually comes across as what I call ‘pathetic’. There may be a titter of nervous laughter and maybe even some eye rolls, but this probably isn’t the response intended. You know what I’m talking about. It’s awkward. It’s forced. It makes the audience feel sorry for the performer, and not in a good way. The best way to NOT be funny is to try to be funny. Be genuine instead.

Me in the hat... 

Next, and of equal importance, is: tell the truth. We’ve all heard a story that had us in stitches while gathered around the proverbial water cooler. What made that tale so engaging? Chances are, it was true. It’s why guys like Phil Callaway and Stuart Maclean are so darn funny. (And may I add our own Jack Popjes.) They tell stories about the mundane. The ordinary. And audiences connect to that. Good storytellers may add embellishments, but there is still a seed of truth there somewhere. We can place ourselves in that same situation. It reminds us of our own lives and that’s why we laugh. Truth is always funnier than fiction.

Which leads me to point number three: avoid getting laughs at the expense of others. The humourists we love the most use a lot of personal stories. They know it’s okay to poke a little fun at themselves. Usually we can relate and laugh along - as much at ourselves as at them. Sometimes they take some good-natured liberties with others, but as long as it doesn’t become mean spirited, it’s okay to a point. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case. Some comedians have made entire careers out of using sarcasm. (The late Joan Rivers comes to mind.) Political satire and ‘mother-in-law’ jokes may be funny sometimes, but can also deteriorate quickly into the distasteful realm. It’s why I’m not a fan of celebrity ‘roasts’. I have zero tolerance for students who try for laughs at the expense of their scene partners. Comedy comes through telling the truth about a situation, not exposing one another’s faults. Simply put, be kind!

These principles can be applied to all types of writing, not just theatrics and not just humour. “Mrs. K’s Rules of Comedy” even apply to life in general. 

Be genuine. Be truthful. Be kind. Like humour, a little of these go a long way.

This post originally appeared on the InScribe professional blog. 

FYI -  I'm facilitating an improv workshop at this year's conference called 'ACTING UP'. It is an interactive workshop that is sure to be loads of fun - and hopefully has some relevance, too. Don't be shy! Hope to see you there. 

Tracy Krauss is an author and playwright from northern BC who taught High School Drama for almost twenty years. In that time, she's had lots of opportunities to practice what she preaches - including laughing at herself!