Self-deprecating humor

Post Reply New Topic

I see a lot of it here, and I tend to do it myself. I have toned it down since my sister told me I was turning people off by it. It seems a staple of Comedy performance, though, so I feel confused about it. Can someone describe a boundary for me to stay behind, or should I just leave it to the professionals?

I didn't know it turned people off. Hmm...

I have found that being overly cocky can be just as humorous.

NT: "Wow, you did really good on that last trig test."
Me: "Damn! How did I do that? Sometimes I even amaze myself."
NT: "You're full of yourself. Turn down the ego a little bit."
Me: "Ego? What ego? I'm pretty sure I was always this awesome."

NT: "I win!"
Me: "No, obviously, you cheated."
NT: "Why is that?"
Me: "There's no way you could have won without cheating. I'm too good to lose a fair game."
NT: "lol what?"
Me: "Come on, you know it's true. Just admit to cheating already."

Self-deprecating humor works the same way other humor works: it must fit the context. Making a joke for the sake of making a joke doesn't work. I'm good with self-deprecating humor, mainly because I'm very funny and my body language is strange to most people. Even so, if you make too many jokes to knock yourself in a short period of time, people will think you don't respect yourself, and who can respect someone who doesn't respect themselves? You never want to deliberately take away from what you are saying.

If there is a line to be drawn, it should be that you never want to use it outside of context. Some jokes can still be funny outside of context, but self-humor out of context always makes you look bad. However, everything is funnier in context.

I like to use self deprecating humor and be overly cocky. It's fun to switch between the two.

i usually take this approach to cover up mistakes i made, it takes the tension off the situation usually, becouse most people i meet are scared to react to the quirks i show, if i turn it into a joke, the 'allowed' reaction from their side is easy: just laugh at it.
being overly cocky is also something i do sometimes; usually when playing a game, and it's obvious that whatever i did was a matter of pure stinking luck, i'd say something like "yeah, could have gone better, but try to match this one first".

I know that one of my problems with cocky humor has been knowing when to stop, and not knowing when to stop seems to relate to my version of Aspergers. I'll try keeping it short and sweet with my self-deprecating humor, too.

OT, I get more and more impressed with the people here, the more I interact with them.