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Ever wanted to create your own jokes? The best way to begin is to indulge in the simplest form of humor – ‘deviation from the normal’.

For example: You start telling a joke about an elephant. You say: “There was this he-elephant, and he wanted to get married.”

Your audience is already thinking of a she-elephant as the bride

You say: “And then it falls in love with an ant”

Your audience is suddenly interested. A smile erupts on their faces

You say: “So, the he-elephant carries the ant in his palm and they go meet his parents.”

Your audience is keen to know what will happen next. They know it can’t get worse than the parents not agreeing

You say: “As soon as the he-elephant tells his parents about his love for the ant, they agree for their marriage.”

Your audience is now left wondering. At this point they have the highest level of interest in your joke

You say: “The happy he-elephant walks up to his father and gives a high-five!”

The way you said the last line tells your audience that it’s the punch line and they start thinking…and soon realize that the ant is dead and they start laughing

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To be able to tell a good ‘deviation from the normal’ joke one has to have strong ‘lateral thinking’ which, obviously will also help at solving work and personal problems.

Here is one question to test your lateral thinking prowess –

One fine day, many good-for-nothings start to play cards on the roadside. The money being betted is large and the game is pretty serious. Suddenly one of the men accuses the dealer of cheating. One being accused in front of everybody the dealer brandishes a knife and kills the man. One of the on-lookers calls the police who promptly interview everybody who was playing the cards at the time. In the end, no man was arrested or charged with murder. Why?

Leave your answer as a comment or if you think you are sure and don’t want others to know, mail it to jv [dot] rajan [@] gmail.com