I was in tears on my neighbour’s doorstep

I stood there, unable to speak, tears welling up in my eyes.

Yeah, not the first thing you’d expect to read in a post about how to improve your sense of humour.

It wasn’t because I’d watched a sappy movie. Nope, this was parrot-induced hilarity. I stood at my neighbour’s front door with tears gently falling down my cheeks as I contemplated the ridiculousness of what I was about to ask them. By the time they opened the front door, my chest hurt from belly laughing!

The situation occurred some years ago when my previous parrot, Chico, climbed from the deck and into the branches of the enormous Frangipani tree in my garden. He got right up to the top, but he was struggling to find his way back down. No matter how much I encouraged him, he remained stuck.

There was only one option.

‘Parrot rescue mission’

I’d have to borrow my next-door neighbour’s ladder, climb the tree and rescue my wayward bird.

As I walked around to my long-suffering neighbours, I wondered how the heck I was going to explain that I needed their ladder to rescue my bird — from a tree! That’s when I started laughing. I stood at their door like some crazed lunatic, wiping my tears away with my sleeve.

“Chico’s stuck up the tree!”

I eventually blurted out in between hysterical laughing and sharp intakes of breath.

“But he’s a bird”, said Bill, “can’t he fly down?” The question just made me double up, to the point I could hardly breathe. I knew the situation was completely absurd — that’s what made it so hilarious.

In the end, Bill gave up asking questions and just handed me the ladder. The incident no doubt gave him further evidence to support his opinion that the woman next door was a complete nut-job.

Even today, just writing about this event makes me laugh.

Why improve your sense of humour?

If you need logical reasons — other than humour is fun — here are just a few:

• When you improve your sense of humour, you can get your message across in ways that people can remember more easily. A funny story can help embed a message.
• When you teach something and make it funny, people will remember and retain the information because they will associate the laughter with what they learnt. The learning and the laughter become anchored together.
• People are more likely to listen to humorous material than to bland information.
• Many singles list a sense of humour as an important attribute in a potential mate.
• Humorous people have higher verbal, non-verbal and emotional intelligence.
• Laughter causes your body to release endorphins, oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. These naturally reduce stress and pain, boost immunity and help us feel closer to others.
• Laughter protects the heart, burns calories and relaxes your entire body.
• It’s fun to be around people with a sense of humour.
• It makes problems seem easier to deal with. My post How Belly Aching Laughter Helps You Resolve a Problem will give you more specific information.

“I think the next best thing to solving a problem is finding some humor in it.” ~ Frank A. Clark

So, you can safely improve your sense of humour knowing you’ll reap the benefits in just about every aspect of your life.

What other reasons do you need to improve your sense of humour?

Using humour is a skill—which means you can learn it and get better with practice and repetition.

If you’re someone who would like to improve your sense of humour—or even if you’d just like to laugh more — this post will help.

Let’s get into it!

Here’s an overview of the 14 ways to improve your sense of humour

1. Ask yourself, will you look back and laugh?
2. Watch comedy on TV or at the movies
3. Notice the ridiculousness of everyday situations
4. Stop watching the news!
5. Be playful
6. Organise a comedy evening
7. Find and improve your unique sense of humour
8. Watch stand-up comedians
9. Smile!
10. Add a humour item to your ‘to do list’ each day
11. Learn to tell jokes
12. Notice what’s funny when you’re out and about
13. Laugh at yourself
14. Examine your own ways of thinking and your approach to life

1. Ask yourself, will you look back and laugh?

If something goes wrong in your life, ask yourself, “Is this something I’ll look back on and laugh about in the months or years to come?” If the answer is yes — then why wait months or years? Start laughing straight away! Think about how you could relate the incident in a way that others will find funny.

2. Watch comedy on TV or at the movies

Even without consciously learning how to improve your sense of humour, experiencing it regularly will make you more likely to notice potentially humorous situations. Norman Cousins, in his 1979 book ‘Anatomy of an Illness as Perceived by the Patient’ remarked that laughing at Marx Brothers films helped him control pain, improve his illness, and helped with his stress levels.

“Laughter is an antidote to apprehension and panic. It creates a mood in which the other positive emotions can be put to work too. When you laugh, you are more likely to see the bright side of a situation and have a more positive outlook, which ultimately promotes healing” he wrote.

3. Notice the ridiculousness of everyday situations

Most things are funny… just not always at the time. Comedians are adept at finding the funny side of bog-standard situations and circumstances. They develop an ability to observe and exaggerate the ridiculousness of normal, everyday situations.

By taking a fresh look at the conditions of your day-to-day life, you’ll describe your life in uniquely funny and insightful ways — and improve your sense of humour.

For example, when leaving a big event, I saw the people conducting the traffic were wearing camouflage clothing! Camouflage should minimise the risk of you being seen; it’s designed to hide you! Some of these traffic controllers wore day-glow orange jackets on top of their camouflage gear — apparently confused about whether they were supposed to be hidden, or seen!

I began to imagine a world where traffic controllers in camouflage cause uproarious confusion

My mind drifted to some imaginary newspaper headlines:

• ’Invisible traffic controllers run over by bus.’
• ’Camouflaged traffic controllers ignored as traffic jams gridlock city.’
• ’Public claim traffic controllers were invisible’

OK. Well, it seemed funny to me at the time! But I have a quirky sense of humour.

It’s often these twists on simple daily observations that comedians use as the basis for making us laugh.

4. Stop watching the news!

TV news is perfect if you want to focus on everything that’s wrong with the world. It’s like being stuck in quick sand — you can’t pull yourself out, even though you know you’re going under!  But think about this logically; If you watch the news every day, it would be easy to believe there’s nothing good happening in the world. In fact, if you only watched the news, you’d probably be too afraid to venture out of your house!

There are millions of people all around the world creating delightful opportunities, doing good deeds, living happy lives and having lots of laughs. Those stories don’t make the news each evening.

Only the comparatively tiny ‘bad news’ articles make the headlines — and then they’re milked for all they’re worth to create fear and anxiety.

Nothing travels faster than the speed of light, with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.~ Douglas Adams

It’s easy to become obsessive about negative news programmes. (Why do you think they call it ‘programming’?) Wean yourself off this addiction if you want to live a happier life. If you want to improve your sense of humour, watch comedy instead.

5. Be playful

You don’t have to be silly to be playful. Cultivate an attitude and demeanour of playfulness and curiosity. You know how some people always seem to have that little twinkle in their eye, and you wonder what they’re up to? That’s it! If you feel playful, your playfulness will express itself. Watch children for clues.

6. Organise a comedy evening

Find a funny film. Invite your friends. Laugh! Share a meal if you feel like it. Ask them all to bring a joke to share. According to Robert R Provine in his book, Laughter: A Scientific Investigation, you are 30 times more likely to laugh when you’re around other people than when you’re on your own. Laughing is contagious, so when we hear others laugh, we join in.

7. Find and improve your unique sense of humour

A sense of humour is not the same as being funny. You don’t have to be funny to have a sense of humour. Find the type of humour that makes you laugh, then read, watch or listen to more of it.

8. Watch stand-up comedians

As I mentioned in no.3, many comedians have an ability to notice and then exaggerate the ridiculousness of everyday situations. By watching stand up regularly, you’ll realise the elements that contribute to making something funny.

Use what you notice to take a fresh look at the circumstances of your day-to-day life. You’ll look at life in a uniquely light-hearted way and discover ways to express yourself in a manner that makes people smile.

9. Smile!

Did you know that some research done in Australia showed that when people are smiling, they automatically speak more positively? If you’re thinking more positively it’s easier to see the funny side of life.

“A sense of humor is part of the art of leadership, of getting along with people, of getting things done”  ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower

10. Add a humour item to your ‘to do list’ each day

Seriously, if you want to improve your sense of humour, give it some attention. Read a couple of paragraphs from a funny book, watch an amusing video, learn a joke. It only need take a few minutes. Cross it off when you’ve done it and remember to add humour to the following day’s list. Humour isn’t a one-off event!

11. Learn to tell jokes

Anyone can tell a joke. I’d suggest sticking to inoffensive ‘dad’ jokes to start with! There are thousands on the internet if you do a search. Or have a look at the jokes in my Tommy Cooper Classics post. Find one that makes you laugh and make it your own. Tell it to as many people as will listen. Then learn another and repeat the exercise.

Be careful, though; it can become addictive! You could also maintain a joke file on your computer, or in a book. I find I don’t need to write the whole joke out, just a few key words will jog my memory.

12. Notice what’s funny when you’re out and about

Road signs can be hilarious! Even street names. What’s earnest and grave in one language can be hysterical in another. Solemn signs can be completely mad! Here’s one I saw on a trip to the West Coast of New Zealand’s South Island. (By the way a Punga is a tree fern!)

13. Laugh at yourself

You don’t have to take yourself seriously. If you’re alive, you’ve probably done some embarrassing or silly things. I’ll admit to more than my fair share; probably 5 or 6 people’s worth!

“It is a curious fact that people are never so trivial as when they take themselves seriously.” ~ Oscar Wilde

Sharing those experiences with others not only gives them a laugh, but shows you’re human. It’ll improve your ability to find and express humour. Having other people giggle is a great way to experience laughter yourself, and helps build good relationships with others.

14. Examine your own ways of thinking and your approach to life

• Exaggerate your frustrations and annoyances to find the humour and create an entertaining story. In the process of finding it, you’ll improve your sense of humour and lose the associated stress.
• What unpleasant experiences have you had that you can describe to others in an entertaining way?
• Children say the darndest things. If you have kids, they can be a valuable source of humour.

As you intentionally look for ways to improve your sense of humour and bring more laughter into your life, you’ll focus the Reticular Activating System (RAS) at the back of your brain.

The RAS connects the conscious part of your brain with the unconscious part of your brain, and makes you notice what you’ve shown an interest in. So, the more you pay attention to humour, the more hilarity your brain will show you.

Here’s an example: After laughing over a song with misheard lyrics, your RAS tunes into every song on the radio, turning each one into a potential comedy hit. Suddenly, Ed Sheeran is singing about his “Lego house” sounding suspiciously like a “Lego horse,” and your morning drive becomes a karaoke of comical confusion.

And another example: Ever noticed when you’re thinking of buying a red car, suddenly the roads are swarming with red cars? The RAS doesn’t stop there; it starts pointing out everything red—from Mrs. Smith’s fiery red hat at the supermarket to the red ketchup stain on your shirt. It’s like living in a bizarre, red-themed sitcom.

Remind yourself of this quote from Elbert Hubbard

“Do not take life too seriously. You will never get out alive.”

You don’t need a parrot to make you laugh

Or get you into trouble ,  but mine have always done both! Parrots are very entertaining and companionable (if delinquent) avians with a distinct sense of humour and fun.

If you think your ears can take it listen to me and Shaggy (my current parrot) singing together. (Neither of us can sing—take this as a warning!). But you will hear how he loves to laugh.

By the way,I didn’t shove Shaggy into this pipe, it’s one of his favourite places to ‘hide’—and it’s much easier to retrieve him from his hidey-hole than climbing a ladder to the top of a tree!

So, there you have it, a whirlwind tour through the land of laughs and chuckles

Remember, injecting humour into your life isn’t just about cracking jokes or watching sitcoms. It’s about embracing a mindset that sees the lighter side of life, even when things seem as topsy-turvy as a parrot who prefers tree-hopping to flying.

Humour isn’t just a way to pass time; it’s a lifeline that connects us to joy, eases our burdens, and draws us closer to each other. Start with a smile, a giggle, or even a full-blown guffaw. Let laughter be the soundtrack of your days.

It’s contagious, it’s heartwarming, and heck, it’s a lot more fun than frowning. So, go on, give your funny bone a good tickle and watch as the world brightens up, one titter at a time. Who knows, maybe you’ll even inspire a parrot or two to join in the fun!

The dog in the title photo is Rowf, my first Bearded Collie — he was a nut case! Although I trained him for obedience and agility competitions, he had his own ideas. He lived just to entertain people (can’t you tell?). I could write a book about some of the hilarious situations he landed me in.

While I’ve always had a great sense of humour, I have to admit it was Rowf who taught me to laugh at myself. I’m pretty sure that was his sole purpose in life. Between Rowf and Chico I didn’t really have much of a chance to be miserable! Here’s an image of them together—no doubt conspiring new ways to make a fool of me!

As Chico will attest, a little laughter can turn even a tree-climbing debacle into a day-brightener. And yes, I do seem to have a penchant for peculiar pets! So just remember, if life gives you parrots, make sure you have a sturdy ladder and are happy to improve your sense of humour; you’re going to need both!

Humour isn’t just a way to pass time. It changes how you experience what’s happening — often in ways you don’t notice until you start paying attention.

And once you do, you’ll start to see it everywhere.

If you’ve ever had one of those moments where something should have been annoying… but somehow turned funny instead, there’s a bit more going on than just “having a sense of humour”.

I wrote about that here → A Shark, a Sheepdog… and a Shift in Perspective

Like this mix of humour and insight?

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If this gave you a laugh—or made you look at something slightly differently — feel free to share it with someone who might enjoy it too.

And I’d love to know… what makes you laugh when you least expect it?

Tags: Communication skills, Fun and laughter, Health and wellbeing, Interpersonal skills, Thinking and mindset