Last week a team from Funny Women descended on the London headquarters of JLL for an evening of funny. We delivered workshops to almost 200 women on the art of mixing comedy and business. As a freelance education consultant I’m used to talking to and training large groups of people and I know that a bit of humour always helps the medicine go down. In fact I’d go so far as saying it’s essential when teaching teachers how to deliver sex education. Try keeping a straight face when playing puberty bingo with a bunch of slightly embarrassed adults and you’ll see what I mean.
So here’s what I learned from this and from last week’s evening at JLL:
- Humour helps. At the beginning of the evening the CEO delivered a speech. It was full of important key words like ‘diversity’ and ‘equality’ and ‘valuing people’ and we listened attentively and seriously. It was only when he stopped for a second and said something along the lines of, ‘God, I’m nervous,’ that we relaxed and laughed. With him, not at him you understand. It wasn’t joke of the year material and Peter Kay won’t be troubled by it, but in context it was very funny and suddenly the whole room was on his side. A little gentle humour helps things tick along.
- You can do it! I ran a workshop on comedy improvisation. I’m not a stand-up comedian (the idea makes my knees sweat) but I don’t mind making a fool of myself and having a bit of fun in the right situations. I got the women to do some improvisation games and although one or two hesitated, every single person took the leap and had a go. Some really went for it and we had Beyoncé impressions and pantomime horses and it was all spontaneous and very, very funny. It doesn’t matter if you make the tea or run the whole shebang, comedy is a great leveller and as a bonus, it can be done in heels.
- You are funnier than you think. The ones who said, ‘oh no, I’m not funny, not me,’ sometimes turned out to be the best. At the end of each session I told the group they were funny and I meant it. Funny is not necessarily about telling jokes or being the focus of attention, it’s about being natural and having fun. I ran an unscientific straw poll on Facebook and asked ‘would you describe yourself as funny?’ Several friends said something along the lines of, ‘well the kids/dog/ postman seem to think I’m funny but I’m not sure…’ I reckon it’s time to reclaim the funny. Stand up and tell the world we are funny women!
- Let yourself go… I wonder if we become more inhibited as we get older and the responsibilities pile on. As working adults we spend so much time thinking about appraisals and targets and making the right impression it’s easy to lose that uninhibited side. One friend wrote, ‘I used to be very funny and was constantly coming out with things that made people laugh. However, as I have got older and responsibilities have taken over, I seem to have lost that natural sense of fun.‘ I suspect she’s not alone and I have no doubt that a good chuckle and a bit of silliness can only be healthy for all so us. We just have to pick our moments. Humour when delivering a workshop: yes. Clown shoes and stink bombs in the morning debrief: not so much.
- Keep it safe and supportive. Being funny can feel a bit like jumping out of an aeroplane in just your knickers with no parachute. Being in a safe situation where you can be confident that people are laughing with you and supporting you helps. The JLL evening felt safe because we were in rooms with no one watching or listening in… apart from one or two workers staying late who wondered what all the racing car impressions were about. Oh and the film crew. My heart sank when I walked into a room ready to start and saw a film crew in the corner. We all just had to take a deep breath and go for it. I wouldn’t go so far as to say I forgot the film crew were there but when they started giggling along with the participants I knew it was ok. It takes confidence and time to find your inner funny so the best thing we can all do is support each other’s efforts wherever we happen to be.
So hitch yer knickers up and jump out of that plane shouting, ‘I’m proud to be a funny woman!’ with no reservations.
