Humour, puns and word-games - a question
So here’s a question for debate - and I’m not going to accept the answer “see what the client thinks”, OK?
Inspired by a recent bit of work for a client, and a line I just very, very nearly wrote in an email about my experience (referring to the “hot topic of global warming”), I’m wondering what opinions are on inserting humour, puns, plays on words and so on into writing.
Personally, I think it can make an otherwise dull bit of work a little more accessible, but only if it’s in line with the brand. It’s good to personalise your product and website if you can - rather than being a faceless organisation it’s nice to be seen as real people from time to time. Humour - mostly inadvertent, but humour nonetheless - also has the potential to go “viral” quite quickly and incredibly cost effectively.
The big risk, though, is using a lame pun like my example above and making it seem strained. Do you accept that it’s bad and make a joke about that? There’s a risk people will see it and think it’s accidental, which is far from what you want. There’s also a risk of coming across as very smug, every joke becoming a “look how clever I am” cry for attention.
One of the main things stand-up comedy (and performance poetry) have taught me is that humour is a very, very subjective matter. While a good joke may work with a wide range of different audiences, you start to notice - when you do the same bit over and over - that the laugh can have a very different quality every time you tell it. There are so many factors contributing to the way an audience reacts - from their background to the stage lighting - that it’s impossible to know how it will be received. You can read an audience from the stage, but an audience you can’t see and - profiling aside - don’t know - is a risky one to try humour on.
So, audience, I leave it to you - joking, puns and word-games in professional writing? What do you think?
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