Three Humor Habits to Live Happier

The world is tough but that doesn't mean your life has to be.

Over the course of my 20+ years of doing some type of formal humoring (improv, stand-up, puns to whoever will listen), I’ve developed some humor habits that have helped me enjoy my work and add levity to each day.

Some served me well in my early days (like when I committed to publishing a joke every single day for a year, what I aptly called the 365 Days of Drewy Goodness challenge), and others are still with me all these years later.

The following three habits are the ones that made the biggest impact on my humor journey, and ultimately on my work and life. Hopefully they may do the same for you.

1. Saying “Yes, And...”

As I've said before, improv changed my life.

My Musical Improv Team from 2012

Over time, it’s made me more resilient, more confident, and more capable in nearly every aspect of my existence. Saying “Yes And” is the shortcut for having an improv mindset and was the key to my humor journey.

That’s because “Yes And” makes it easier to add humor (and positivity) in everyday interactions. For me, I got quicker at sharing ideas in conversation and I became a more positive person to be around.

The cue for "yes, and..." started whenever I would go to improv class. But as the years (and classes) rolled on, I realized “Yes And” wasn’t just for the stage.

The cue can be at the end of pretty much any sentence someone says or any thought that you have.

When I first started using Yes And, I focused entirely on other people. In the process, I forgot to Yes, And myself. I would start to write something in my notebook and then scratch it out, thinking “but that’s not funny enough…” Or I’d think about adding some humor to my work but then stop because I thought “but I’m supposed to be ‘professional.’”

Yes Anding your own ideas, and your individual progress on your humor journey is a key part of the process you don’t want to miss.

2. Writing in my humor notebook

Saying "Yes, And..." also led to me writing in my humor notebook. In a way, finding the humor in everyday life is a way of yes anding the things that happen to you. Yes, this thing happened, and here’s what’s funny about it.

Daily entries into my notebook were particularly valuable when I first started being more intentional with my humor because it helped me realize how I could use it more. Simply by forcing myself to write in the notebook every single day, I started seeing more humor in the world around me.

The cue started as a timer that I would set on my phone at 8pm at night. Eventually, the cue went from happening at a certain time of day to any time I noticed myself thinking, “That’s interesting.”

3. One Smile Per Hour

The last habit is one that I’ve only more crystallized recently. The past few years have been tough for just about every human on the planet. At the beginning of the pandemic, there was so much uncertainty, fear, and a sense of overwhelm.

During those early days, throughout the Groundhog Day of fear that was our lives, I started to actually implement this idea of One Smile Per Hour that I wrote about in my book Humor That Works.

Prior to 2020, the concept was simply a fun play on words—a reminder to have fun every now and then. But throughout the pandemic, it became my third habit. And it’s the most important habit for making sure I’m intentional about bringing more levity into my life.

My goal is to successfully drive one smile per hour, every hour, of every day (that I’m awake, though I assume my dreams are full of puns).

That newly generated smile could be on the face of a client as I share an interesting story, Pretzel (my wife) as I tell her a silly joke, or my daughter as we do the Hokey Pokey (because that’s what it’s all about). It might be on the audience’s faces multiple times throughout a presentation I give or someone checking out a new post on the Humor That Works Instagram feed.

Oftentimes, the smile is on my own face, when I intentionally seek out some comedy to help me laugh and relieve tension from work. It might be when I call a friend that I haven't spoken with in a while or we go on a family bike ride to shake off the stress of a long day. About 10 minutes ago it was from a silly joke I came across on reddit.

The cue is simple, each time the clock hits a new number, ask: how can I drive one smile this hour?

• Sitting down to go through email? Put on the Hamilton soundtrack as you work.

• Running errands? Politely smile at the other humans who make it possible for you to check those things off on your list (shout out to the cashier who didn’t judge me for using a credit card for buying a single Snickers bar when I was at the store yesterday).

• Going into a meeting? Start with a fun icebreaker question to get know your team members better.

Speaking of “fun” questions, here’s one I asked in yesterday’s webinar:

What’s a boring fact about yourself?

I shared that I’m left-handed but right-footed. What about you?

The smile you drive is less important than the intention you set to do so.

Those are the three humor habits that have served me well. Which one are you going to implement to live happier?

(an)drew

Note: This lesson comes from our Whole Humorist Course. Sign up to unlock your skill of humor. 25% off for the next 7 days.

Dumb Joke at the End: I got into the elevator on the first floor and pressed 5. The doors closed and the elevator went up to floor 4, then down to floor 3, then 2, before it finally went back up to the 5th floor. Confused, I walked out and it was only then that I noticed the sign on the door: “Elevator out of order.”