Cantu's Comedy Wit and Humor Wisdom

Here is an excerpt from
Cantu's Comedy Wit and Humor Wisdom

How to Make Any Subject More Humorous

by John Cantu © HumorMall.com

No Matter How Inherently Dull or Boring it Seems at First

Section I

The main thing to keep in mind is to not be afraid to add your personality and/or some humor. It is the FEAR of humor that makes a dull topic so much more deadly dull. This is the problem much more so than the rare occasion of inappropriate humor or failed humor.

If you have the reputation of someone who knows their subject, then few will hold a weak joke against you - they will often admire your attempt to add some levity.

Always, always write a real speech first - then add your humor. If the speech is real, it will often boost the humor. Write a real speech so even if your humor bombs, your speech doesn't.

The Real Speech:

• In some locations, especially flat areas around rivers and canals, provision for navigation can mean building a high bridge. You then have to find the right compromise between the length and the steepness of the approaches. These approaches can be expensive.
  
  
• A possible solution is to build a low bridge, and move some part of it when water craft need to pass. The main methods are - lifting the bridge on one or two horizontal axes (bascule bridge), rolling it into a vertical position, rotating it about a vertical axis (swing bridge), and lifting it vertically without rotation. Against this is the interruption to road traffic when the bridge is moved.
  
  
• A famous example is the Tower bridge in London, opened in 1894. This very strange construction includes two 100-foot lifting trussed cantilevers between the towers, and an asymmetric suspension bridge at each end. These suspension bridges could almost be described as cable-stiffened, as opposed to the usual deck-stiffened design.
  
  
• Over the central span, trusses carry the chains that take the tension between the two suspension bridges, so that the towers are not pulled sideways. The footways across the top are no longer in use.
  
  
• The suspension spans are held up by unusual chains, which cross over, and are linked by diagonal bracing, making them rather truss-like.

I went to this web site on bridge making http://www.brantacan.co.uk/moving.htm and took out the above chunk. I’m no lawyer, but this is only 217 words and it is for teaching purposes, so don’t think permission had be obtained to use it. (Used under the Fair Use doctrine of the copyright laws.)

End Real Speech

Pretty dry, dull and boring, eh? How to punch this up? The first thing I did, was to rewrite the material to fit my speech rhythm:

• In some locations, especially flat areas around rivers and canals, provision for navigation can mean building a high bridge. You then have to find the right compromise between the length and the steepness of the approaches. These approaches can be expensive.
  
  One possible solution is a low bridge, and move some part of it when water craft need to pass.
  
  The main methods are:
  
  lifting the bridge on one or two horizontal axes (bascule bridge)
  rolling it into a vertical position
  rotating it about a vertical axis (swing bridge)
  lifting it vertically without rotation.
  Against this is the interruption to road traffic when the bridge is moved.
  
  A famous example is the Tower bridge in London, opened in 1894. This very strange construction includes two 100-foot lifting trussed cantilevers between the towers, and an asymmetric suspension bridge at each end.
  
  These suspension bridges could almost be described as cable-stiffened, as opposed to the usual deck-stiffened design.
  
  Trusses carry the chains over the central span, taking the tension between the two suspension bridges, so that the towers are not pulled sideways.
  
  The footways across the top are not used.
  
  The suspension spans are held up by unusual chains, which cross over, and are linked by diagonal bracing, making them rather truss-like.
  
  

End My Re-Write

Still pretty dull and boring eh? Okay, I'm going to make this a real world work exercise. I am going to give you an assignment to add humor to this material. I really like to give people the option of discovering some approaches on their own, without being influence by me ('the expert'). So go ahead and give this piece a whirl. See what ideas come to you for "punching up" this dry, technical content. Then come back and see what I did.

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Here are just some of the topics you'll find in CANTU'S COMEDY WIT AND HUMOR WISDOM Four years of Cantu Humor Ezine by John Cantu FOR FULL LIST CLICK HERE Durability of Your Material Keeping it Fresh Learn how to discover humor techniques on your own Your Goals - Big Enough? Pattern Jokes - The Art of Riffing Writer's Block? Look Around You and Create Stage Fright - How the Pros Deal with It The Endless Segue Story Telling Technique and the Backward Story Technique Boost Your Audience Response and Appear More Charismatic AND MUCH MUCH MORE!!!

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