Some studies have indicated males may actually be five times funnier (as compared to females). They may try harder to be funny and are often rewarded differently for being funny, starting in early childhood. Perhaps this is why more stand-up comics are male. There have been some very funny female situational comedians such as Lucille Ball, but that is a slightly different type of humor as compared to stand-up comedy.

You won’t find it. As far as I know it doesn’t exist! I probably was sharing examples of my adolescent and sometimes misguided sense of humor! As a preacher’s kid, I had plenty of opportunity to hear scripture quoted or misquoted and I did my share of misquoting. For example, when attending the children’s division of a church where my father was a guest speaker, I was sometimes asked to repeat a Bible verse from memory. It was such fun (if I thought I could get away with it) to repeat Hezekiah 13:13—Better to be silent and be thought a fool than to open one’s mouth and remove all doubt. It sounded very authentic! Later on of course, I’d dissolve in laughter as I recalled the puzzled expressions on some faces.

I thought it was double the fun because what sounded like a wise saying was attributed to someone who was quite unwise, to say nothing of the fact that the book of Hezekiah didn’t exist. By way of excuse, let me point out that I was quite young at the time and my brain was still developing!

Around 700 BC, so the story goes, King Hezekiah became very sick and feared for his life. Ambassadors from Babylon came bearing gifts because they’d heard of his illness. Unfortunately, Hezekiah opened his big mouth and voluntarily showed the visitors every item of value in his palace and in his kingdom. The King recovered, but years later all his treasures were stolen in a raid—based on information gleaned from that visit. Too bad! Obviously Hezekiah didn’t know my preacher-father who regularly quoted the mythical 11th commandment: “Thou shalt not explain.”

There does seem to be a difference between males and females in terms of what they find humorous. First, several categories of humor have been identified including:

• Cognitive humor – a fairly sophisticated type including off-the-wall humor (e.g., Larson’s The Far Side cartoons). When you get the joke a sensation comes over you from the sudden mental integration of incongruous ideas, attitudes, or situations.
• Conative humor – involves other people’s misfortune including slapstick humor and the vagaries of life. It can produce a smug feeling of superiority such as when we laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel.
• Affective humor – involves racial, cultural, ethnic, and so-called smutty jokes.
• Orectic humor – combines conative and affective types of humor. Studies show that men and extroverted women are the most likely to appreciate orectic jokes.

Studies have indicated that females tend to find jokes less funny overall and may chuckle rather than laugh outright. (Does this contribute to a higher incidence of depression?) They tend to be less amused by what they perceive as poor jokes but tend to rate jokes defined as very funny even higher than do males. In general, males give most jokes a higher rating, tend to find them funnier, and are more likely to laugh harder at them.

Males may be funnier because they may try harder to be funny. Some studies have indicated males may actually be five times funnier (as compared to females). Perhaps this is why more stand-up comics are male. There have been some very funny females (e.g., Lucille Ball), but I tend to think of her more as a situation comic versus a stand-up comic.

Used judiciously humor can positively impact almost any situation and environment, including the workplace. Overall a healthy sense of humor is related to being able to laugh at oneself and one’s life. Laughing at oneself can be a way of accepting and respecting oneself. A lack of a sense of humor tends to be related to lower self esteem.

A well-developed sense of humor can be used to trigger laughter. Under acute stress, the two hemispheres of the brain become disconnected. Laughter has been found to improve creativity and problem-solving, and activates the limbic system in the brain, connecting the right and left sides. It helps you do more whole brain work. Laughter can enhance brain abilities that are necessary for doing good work.

Studies have shown that employees who laugh together “stay together.” They tend to work better as a team, are more creative, and produce more work.

A study of outstanding leaders revealed that they got the interviewer to laugh with them twice as often as individuals judged to be average or less effective leaders. The outstanding leaders used humorous comments three times more frequently (e.g., once every 4 minutes). They used humor to reduce stress and positively impact their interactions.

Women who can interact easily with the more aggressive humor of men in business are a step ahead of women who negatively interpret these interactions.

According to Webster’s Dictionary humor is a mental faculty, the ability to discover, perceive, effectively express, or appreciate the ludicrous, the comical, or the absurdly incongruous.

Laughter is a sound; the expression of mirth, joy, or scorn through a chuckle or explosive noise. A form of audible speech, laughter may come from Broca’s Area (audible speech) in the left frontal lobe.

While closely connected, laughter and humor are not synonyms. They represent two different concepts, with each cerebral hemisphere contributing specialized functions.

The functions necessary to develop a sense of humor appear to be centered in the right frontal lobe. This part of the brain is alert to subtleties, nuances, and pulls all the threads together (e.g., context, assumptions, knowledge of personal prejudice) in order to “get” the joke including meaning. As Rita Carter put it in Mapping the Mind, seeing a nice-looking person slip on a banana peel may not be very funny, but watching a pompous bully come a cropper, is!

The left hemisphere understands the actual words and appears to be attracted by wordplay. It tends to be very literal in developing an interpretation of a joke. It is also responsible for the sense of amusement and can trigger laughter when something prompts it to do so.

Having said that, a fully rounded sense of humor requires the combined effort of both hemispheres. The left hemisphere alone likely would not make the instant connection between the twins and the punch line in this joke:

A girl goes on a blind date with Siamese twins. Next morning her mother asks, “Did you have a good time, honey?” The girl replied, “Ah, yes and no.”

While not every person develops a keen sense of humor, almost everyone can choose to laugh—although not everyone does. Some people have been heard to say, “I have a good sense of humor but I don’t laugh very often.” That’s too bad because laughter can help to strengthen our immune system and age-proof our brain! It’s a bit like changing a baby’s diaper. It may not permanently solve any problems, but it makes things much more acceptable for a while!

According to Webster’s Dictionary humor is a mental faculty, the ability to discover, perceive, effectively express, or appreciate the ludicrous, the comical, or the absurdly incongruous.

Laughter is a sound; the expression of mirth, joy, or scorn through a chuckle or explosive noise. A form of audible speech, laughter may come from Broca’s Area (audible speech) in the left frontal lobe.

While closely connected, laughter and humor are not synonyms. They represent two different concepts, with each cerebral hemisphere contributing specialized functions.

The functions necessary to develop a sense of humor appear to be centered in the right frontal lobe. This part of the brain is alert to subtleties, nuances, and pulls all the threads together (e.g., context, assumptions, knowledge of personal prejudice) in order to “get” the joke including meaning. As Rita Carter put it in Mapping the Mind, seeing a nice-looking person slip on a banana peel may not be very funny, but watching a pompous bully come a cropper, is!

The left hemisphere understands the actual words and appears to be attracted by wordplay. It tends to be very literal in developing an interpretation of a joke. It is also responsible for the sense of amusement and can trigger laughter when something prompts it to do so.

Having said that, a fully rounded sense of humor requires the combined effort of both hemispheres. The left hemisphere alone likely would not make the instant connection between the twins and the punch line in this joke:

A girl goes on a blind date with Siamese twins. Next morning her mother asks, “Did you have a good time, honey?” The girl replied, “Ah, yes and no.”

When asking this type of question, many brains would expect an either-or response: Yes, or No. To receive both would likely be unexpected. Such an answer might trigger a sense of humor in some brains.

While not every person develops a keen sense of humor, almost everyone can choose to laugh-although not everyone does. Some people have been heard to say, “I have a good sense of humor but I don’t laugh very often.” That’s too bad because laughter can help to strengthen our immune system and age-proof our brain! It’s a bit like changing a baby’s diaper. It may not permanently solve any problems, but it makes things much more acceptable for a while!

Studies have shown that men and women typically differ in their use of and appreciation of humor. Males and females do not laugh at the same things and usually tend to become upset by different things.

Self-ridicule (subjective reality) is the basis of most humor used by women and may be one of the most significant differences between how men and women use humor. In general, males tend to laugh at others more than at themselves.

fMRI Studies have shown that when viewing funny cartoons, women activated the parts of the brain involved in language processing and working memory more than men did. Women were also more likely to activate with greater intensity the part of the brain that generates rewarding feelings in response to new experiences.

Several categories of humor have been identified including:

• Cognitive humor – a fairly sophisticated type including off-the-wall humor (e.g., Larson’s The Far Side cartoons). When you get the joke a sensation comes over you from the sudden mental integration of incongruous ideas, attitudes, or situations.

• Conative humor – involves other people’s misfortune including slapstick humor and the vagaries of life. It can produce a smug feeling of superiority such as when we laugh at someone slipping on a banana peel.

• Affective humor – involves racial, cultural, ethnic, and so-called smutty jokes.

• Orectic humor – combines conative and affective types of humor. Studies show that men and extroverted women are the most likely to appreciate orectic jokes.

Studies have indicated that females tend to find jokes less funny overall and may chuckle rather than laugh outright. (Does this contribute to a higher incidence of depression?) They tend to be less amused by what they perceive as poor jokes but tend to rate jokes defined as very funny even higher than do males.

In general, males give most jokes a higher rating, tend to find them funnier, and are more likely to laugh harder at them.

Being asked personal questions can be frustrating. After years of being asked questions from A to Z, I don’t think most people set out to be deliberately rude. They just don’t think! Depending on how curious they really are, they may ask you directly, ask someone behind your back, or even persist in trying to obtain an answer from you when one is not forthcoming.

My belief is that you do not owe others an answer just because they chose to ask a question. In childhood many people were socialized to answer any and every question put to them by an adult. Consequently, as adults they tend to answer automatically or to feel guilty if they don’t answer every question. It is high time to get past that!

What can you do? Try a variety of techniques. Deflect unwanted questions with humor. Brainstorm in advance how to respond neutrally without really answering the question. Become adept at changing the subject. If none of those techniques work, and you truly do not want to answer the question, just say something like “I prefer not to discuss that topic.”

You probably would have difficulty believing some of the questions seminar participants have asked me—most of which are none of their business, although that hasn’t stopped them from asking. Here are a few examples.

Question: Since you are a speaker I suppose you’ll be having a facelift one of these days, right?
Response: I get a temporary facelift every time I smile or laugh, and your question just triggered a laugh. 

Question: Are you wearing makeup on your face?
Response: I was last time I checked but that was before the seminar began. (Where else would I be wearing it?)

Question: How old are you? 
Response: That depends on what age you are talking about. I am younger biologically and psychologically than I am chronologically. 

Question: No, really, how old are you?
Response: As really old as I am.

Question: How come you wear glitzy pins?
Response: Because I enjoy wearing glitzy pins.

Question: Do you believe in sex at your age?
Response: I was unaware that sex was a belief system.

Question: Just what do you do at holidays?
Response: I just be.

And so it goes. Realizing that each person’s brain is as unique as the owner’s thumbprint helps me to avoid becoming defensive, taking things personally, or overreacting. Usually! I suggest you imagine some potential question scenarios in your mind’s eye and craft responses that work for your brain. Rehearse them a few times, and voila, when the situation presents itself you’ll have some ready responses.

I promote laughter because it stimulates the release of endorphins in the brain, increases levels of serotonin (a mild anti-depressant), boosts immune system function, and facilitates the storage of information in the brain’s long-term memory banks, to name just a few.

I can be very serious about life without taking everything too seriously, especially myself! I believe this world needs more laughter—not less!