This is not a funny article. I'm not really setting out to make you laugh. But I can give you the nuts and bolts of humor that you'll be able to use for the rest of your life. In one simple, kind of long, article. I can do that.
Up until recently I had this young kid in my life, and around a year ago I got the kid some software so that he could take his love of animation to the next level and actually make his own cartoons. As I saw it he had two hurdles to overcome: learning the software and learning how to turn his appreciation of cartoons into actually making enjoyable cartoons. I took him to a few animation festivals and shortly thereafter began to see him copying things he saw. I told him that was OK, to get started, but eventually he'd need, and want to, make something totally original. And so he did. And they were...not so great. I told him he was doing great, just keep going. And he did. But he had a hard time with the humor. And he asked me the big question; how do you make stuff funny?
Lots of people think kid's questions are childish, and sometimes that's true. But sometimes they ask questions that are eternal. Questions that they'll still be trying to answer as adults. And humor is a perfect example. What IS humor? It's hard enough to get a handle on defining it, but the mechanics of being humorous are downright greased pig territory.
