Lesson 1: Critical Humor Part I

Utilizing the Subconscious
for Reactive Humor.

(Introduction, Study, Real World Practice & Conclusion)

Introduction:

What do children and improv comedians have in common?  They can be both funny.  And how they do that, well one of the ways…a major way, is through utilizing the reactionary responses of the subconscious to others comments and/or actions and/or the surrounding environment.   They listen to what the response is from the subconscious and repeat the first thing that comes out from the subconscious.  They don't stop and analyze the response with their conscious as that would stop the flow of things.  They simply say it.

In other words – they have no filters between the subconscious and the conscious response.  They have considerations (e.g., no adult content in front of children), but they do not reevaluate what the subconscious spits out with the conscious mind.  So, no matter how silly or absurd it is the response from the subconscious mind - they simple say the first thing that comes to mind via the subconscious…and that can be extremely funny.

Now children do this naturally with no ill will for the most part.  They can do this all day long as they giggle and laugh at what adults say, what other children say and what they say.  Improv comedians practice techniques to achieve this with each other.  Some may still have that child like quality of off the cuff responses and do it naturally, but it can be learned and practiced.  On a side note the more natural the individual is at doing this technique - the better they are at it.

One of the best ways to raise your awareness and get you on your way to reading others subconscious and being able to Jiggle them is by learning this technique and practicing it yourself.  That is what this lesson is learning how to utilize the subconscious for humor.

Study:  Subconscious Reactive Humor

There are basic rules or guidelines to how this technique works –

1. Simply say the first positive thing that comes to mind (that is via your subconscious) no matter how silly or absurd it may be.  Don’t hold back.
2. Learn to keep the flow or rhythm of things going.  There is a natural flow that will develop that you don’t want to break so keep it going no matter what.
3. Keep the flow or rhythm going in a positive way.  Notice I said Positive?  What this means is no ill will.   If you do a negative response it can kill the flow or rhythm of things.
4. Keep the flow or rhythm going even if you bomb (mess up).  Just keep going is the most important thing as you will more than likely catch yourself later in most cases as long as you keep going.
5. Don’t try to be funny by making up something funny with the conscious as that can kill the flow or rhythm of things as you stop to try to come up with something funny.
6. Don’t try to fit in something funny as if you were doing a stand up routine and you wanted to share the latest joke you heard and are trying to squeeze it in.

As you can see the keeping the flow or rhythm going in a positive way is very important and I could probably throw out some more rules or guidelines above, but that is just the basics.  That is there just to give you an idea of how it works.  You can do more research and/or ask questions by using the comments below.

Real World Practice:  Guerrilla Humor

Now for the fun part - here is where the lesson gets real interesting.  What I want you do is to go out in the world everyday all day long and practice that on everyone you run into while watching there response.

So, here are the general guidelines to this RWP’s (Real World Practices) which is part of what I call Guerilla Humor (there will be other subconscious humor techniques coming soon in other lessons).

• Practice everywhere within reason.  Do it with the store clerk, waitress, guys, gals – you name it.  Online, Chat, even walking down the street and you over hear a conversation.  Have fun and go for it.  Within reason means – maybe not at work or during certain times at work etc.
• Watch, study and learn from others reactions as you jiggle them with your subconscious.
• You will embarrass yourself.  Learn to let it slide as you are practicing and that is part of learning.  Remember to watch others reactions, study them and learn from them.
• If you offend someone – first off don’t apologize, don’t suck up.  Simply tell them you were joking and let them know you were practicing.   Reassure them you mean no ill will.
• This real world – the flow or rhythm can be easily broken and you may not get a second chance right then and there to catch yourself.  Learn to get over it and deal with it.   Keep practicing.
• Important:  If someone is a jerk to you and insults you or threatens you – safety first.  Do what you have to to protect yourself which could be – walk away, call for help or whatever is necessary.  Don’t bother with losers.

Those are some basics, but hopefully you get the jest.  Feel free to ask questions in comments below.

Get out there and Jiggle people.

Conclusion:

This very first lesson I gave you the Introductory, Study and Real World Practice all-in-one to get your feet wet.   Practice this and jiggle others subconscious with your subconscious and you will be well on your way to being a Jiggle Dance Master and be able to lead this dance.  You will be able to jiggle others, yourself and decide who and when you let jiggle you.

This is the an introductory lesson into one type of 'Critical Humor' more 'Critical Humor' types will be covered in later lessons.

Do You Jiggle Dance?