Improvisation games. They are designed to force you to think on your feet without having time to consider your options. If you are unable to find like-minded friends, then you can play such games via the Internet. Remember, the most important rule improvisation - saying “yes, and...” If your partner begins a scene in which they are trying to return something to storage, then don’t respond with “What are you talking about? This is not a storage facility! It will seem funny at first, but your partner may feel awkward, and the phrase will not allow the situation to develop. Instead, accept the original condition and continue to build on that foundation.

Pour yourself a drink: It's not a requirement and shouldn't be emphasized, but a little alcohol can help you relax and encourage creative thinking. According to Benjamin Errett, author of The Ingredients of Wit: How to Become interesting person", a couple of drinks won't hurt if you know how to stop in time. “I did some research and came to the conclusion that people become most witty after two drinks. If you drink more, you stop seeing yourself from the outside."

Wit– sophistication of thought, ingenuity in finding successful, bright, colorful or funny expressions, as well as successful decisions and actions.
Dictionary Russian language Ushakova

A witty person, in addition to the ability to create “witticisms,” must have another important quality: the ability to critically evaluate them immediately after the moment of their creation, but before they become known to others. A person who does not know how to “slow down” an unsuccessful joke in time is unlikely to be truly witty.
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• Wit is a storehouse of intelligence expressed in vivid verbal form.
• Wit is the ability to extinguish any negative manifestations with the help of an apt word.
• Wit is a way of interacting with others that attracts them like a magnet.
• Wit is the ability to enjoy life and generously share your joy.
• Wit is a successful combination of intelligence, education, sense of words and sense of proportion.

The Benefits of Wit

• Wit gives unlimited possibilities in expressing thoughts.
• Wit gives joy - from communicating with others and from life.
• Wit gives freedom - from despondency, pessimism and loneliness.
• Wit provides an influx of energy - it is fueled by the sincere admiration of others.
• Wit gives confidence - in own strength and possibilities.
• Witty gives you the advantage of always being heard.

Manifestations of wit in everyday life

• Communication. IN Everyday life, in communication, people are drawn to witty interlocutors; It is wit that can make a person the “life of the party.”
• Discussions. The more concise, vivid and witty the speech, the more supporters its author has in the dispute.
• Epigrams. Many poets compose epigrams; The wittier the epigrams, the longer they are remembered. To this day, the epigrams of the Russian poet Alexander Pushkin are famous for their wit (but not truthfulness).
• Proverbs of the peoples of the world. Each proverb - no matter what it says - is distinguished by its brevity, brilliance and wit, which is why it is remembered for centuries.

How to achieve wit

• Reading. The more educated a person is, the wider his vocabulary and the subtler his mind, the closer he is to wit.
• Teaching rhetoric. The ability to correctly structure your speech in front of an audience is one of the foundations, without which the manifestation of wit becomes impossible.
• Communication. Communicating with people of different views, social classes, different ages and nationalities - a person receives the ground for developing his own wit.
• Hearing. The more attentive a person is to listening to successful (witty) speeches, speeches, reports and speeches, the more his sense of humor develops, and therefore his wit.

Golden mean

Unresourcefulness

Wit

Sarcasm

Catchphrases about wit

WIT

WIT

1. Ingenuity in finding bright, successful, funny or sarcastic expressions. Inexhaustible o.

2. Ingenuity and subtlety of mind. Show about. in resolving the issue. The guess is not without wit.

Ozhegov's Explanatory Dictionary. S.I. Ozhegov, N.Yu. Shvedova. 1949-1992 .

See what “WIT” is in other dictionaries:

Wit... Spelling dictionary-reference book

Since the custom of carrying a sword at one's side has ceased, it is absolutely necessary to have wit in one's mind. Heinrich Heine Sharp mind magnifying glass; diminutive wit. Georg Lichtenberg With wit the situation is the same as with music: than... ... Consolidated encyclopedia of aphorisms

Wit, bonmo, pun, humor, play on words, catchphrase, salt (Attic). Hackneyed, cheap, flat edge, flatness. And how much anger, laughter and salt there is. Gogol. He let go of the bonmo and made a joke. Feuilleton wit... Dictionary of Russian synonyms... Synonym dictionary

WIT, wit, many. no, cf. 1. abstract noun to witty. The wit of the joke. 2. Sophistication of thought, ingenuity in finding successful, bright, colorful or funny expressions, as well as successful decisions and actions. Inexhaustible wit... Ushakov's Explanatory Dictionary

wit- WIT, colloquial. linguism witty, witty, colloquial. witty, colloquial witty, colloquial prankster, colloquial reduction banter, colloquial reduction Khokhmach WITTY, lively, sharp, colloquial. toothy, colloquial cool, colloquial tongue-in-cheek, colloquial decrease... ... Dictionary-thesaurus of synonyms of Russian speech

Or mental acuity. A witty writer. This is a witty conclusion. Wit, metz, wit, witty person. Pointy-eared lynx. The dog is witty. Sharp tailcoat. Sharp-tailed duck, sharptail, pintail, Anas acuta. | Gossip. Sharptail husband... Dahl's Explanatory Dictionary

Baroque theory term. In the treatise “Wit, or the Art of a Refined Mind” (1642) by the Spanish art theorist Baltasar Gracian, wit is defined as the mastery of a keen mind, inherent in true poets, some gifted natures,... ... Literary encyclopedia

A sense of humor is accompanied by a smile. A sense of humor is a person’s ability to understand humor. A sense of humor refers to a complex of perceptual, cognitive, emotional, physiological and behavioral processes. Lack of a sense of humor can... ... Wikipedia

wit- see: ladder wit... Dictionary of Russian argot

wit- ▲ ingenuity in attitude, humor wit ingenuity in humor. wit. witty. spicy (# joke). sharpness. Attic salt. moto. wit. wit. wit. witty (iron). self-taught wit (simple). sharp tongue… … Ideographic Dictionary of the Russian Language

Books

• The Wit of the World Encyclopedia, Artemov V. (compiled). Wit is a special sophistication of human thought, ingenuity in finding bright, sharp or funny expressions, definitions, but a sharp mind does not mean an exclusively mocking mind,...
• Wit and its relation to the unconscious, Sigmund Freud. The collection is composed of the works of the famous Austrian scientist, which were translated into Russian in 1923 - 1927, and then were not republished for a long time. For psychotherapists...

Wit can be bluntly called a special and rare gift, but one should not think that only a select few have access to it. In fact, this ability, like many other abilities, can be completely developed, and this can be done without much effort, although, of course, with a certain amount of perseverance and determination.

Wit is a “muscle” of the sense of humor, and if it is poorly developed, it is too early to talk about yourself as a joker, humorist, and especially a comedian. To be witty means to be able to break patterns, play with associations, observe people and what is happening and see the comical in it, change the perspective of situations. In addition, a witty person almost always has a quick, almost instantaneous reaction, because a good joke is one that is told at the right place and on time. If there is no such reaction, even the most funny jokes lose their strength and sharpness.

In addition, wit makes a person more interesting to other people, turns him into the life of the party and a magnet for others, and makes him more attractive to the opposite sex. So the development of wit carries many positive aspects regarding humor and more. And the fourth lesson of our course is devoted to this very topic.

• To always have the opportunity to show off your mind, expand your horizons, learn to joke by watching other people, read more useful thematic literature, for example, books by such masters of words as Bernard Shaw, Mark Twain, Gilbert Chesterton, Pelham Wodehouse and, of course, domestic wits - Garik Guberman, Ilya Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, Sergei Dovlatov, Mikhail Zoshchenko and others. By the way, the English sense of humor is considered the standard of wit, and is distinguished by the fact that the jokes in it may be incomprehensible to uninitiated people. Therefore, devote your time to English humorous literature (as well as films and TV shows) more attention.
• Try to joke accurately and tersely, because wit, like great joke, works precisely because of its surprise.
• Don't neglect self-irony. If you constantly make fun of others, you will gain fame as an evil wit, but if you regularly make fun of yourself, you will be able to.
• To develop wit, it is useful to look for hidden properties of phenomena, objects, people and situations that are not obvious. Having learned to compare the incomparable, you will learn to make great jokes.
• Try to avoid trivial phenomena. Remember that wit presupposes the absence of cliches and cliches. Be in search of new words and associations, mix heterogeneous terms, low and high, official and familiar, bureaucratic and romantic, etc.
• To enhance the effect of comparisons, bring concepts and phrases to the point of absurdity, because in wit, as, for example, in caricatures, it is quite possible to use exaggeration (hyperbole).
• Don't trust spontaneous improvisations. Professional and experienced comedians say that high-quality and effective impromptu must be prepared. Therefore, save up phrases, sayings, jokes and comparisons and repeat them regularly so that you can always apply them in conversation.
• Cultivate a humorous attitude towards life. Even the most difficult problems and situations can be perceived with a smile. Humor helps you avoid troubles and resolve them much faster and better. Excessive seriousness, on the contrary, makes you ossified and makes it difficult to solve problems.
• Do not burst out with jokes and jokes when interacting with other people. It’s best to calmly insert a cool one-liner at the right moment to evoke the strongest possible positive reaction, rather than bore the listener with an endless stream of fun. Be tactful and creative.
• Keep your intellect sharp and critically perceive reality and look for what goes beyond the ordinary. Never allow the mind to remain idle.
• The skill of creating witticisms is the skill of finding interesting and unusual associations. Strive to search for associations in everything that is in your field of vision. Moreover, associations can relate to anything, even something that has absolutely nothing to do with the original object.
• Learn to choose jokes for the main phrase right time. This means that there is no need to make unnecessary pauses, and there is no need to pronounce the text like a tongue twister. Only by making a joke at the right time can you achieve the desired result.
• Identify all kinds of connections between people, situations, objects and phenomena of the world. Learn to express yourself in metaphors, make comparisons, build the most unexpected associative chains.
• Become so strong man in order to negative situations, quarrels and conflicts, have the opportunity to joke and not show negative emotions. To learn this, you need to look at situations more often and characters from different sides: from one’s own side, from another person’s side, from society, from vital importance. This will allow you to perceive what is happening differently, which will make it possible to react more objectively, including humorously.
• Strive to keep your feelings and emotional state in a positive mood. Depression, sadness, melancholy, melancholy, anger - all this reduces the potential of a sense of humor to zero, and it can be quite difficult to get out of this. You should be in such a mood when you are able to joke and joke, even when you are out of sorts.

These recommendations should become constant companions of your behavior in everyday life. If you always adhere to them, you yourself will not notice how your mind has become sharper, and your attitude towards everything that happens to you and around you has changed in such a way that it allows you to stay in good shape, joke and perceive life with ease and positivity.

How to develop wit: techniques

Humor and wit seem spontaneous only at first glance. But if we look at them more carefully, then, as has already been noted, it turns out that there are special mechanisms that cause smiles and laughter in people. Therefore, next we want to introduce you to several simple techniques with which you can make anyone laugh and become known as a joker. They, of course, cannot be called new, but this is where their effectiveness lies, because professional comedians and humorists have been using them for many years.

We bring to your attention five cool humorous techniques.

Comic exaggerations

The technique of comic exaggeration is one of the simplest and most common in humor. At one time, American comedian Bill Cosby noted that in mathematics 1 + 1 always equals 2, but in humor 1 + 1 is 11. People themselves often lie, and it seems funny. So why not try to lie to absurd proportions?

EXAMPLE:

- How long have you been waiting for me?

- Yeah, since the Neolithic era

EXAMPLE:

- The films were so scary that even my cat turned grey!

EXAMPLE:

- The hangover was so strong that even the traffic cops understandingly let my car go ahead

New words

People tend to use the same words and expressions in their speech, which is why even funny phraseological units have already become covered with dust and no longer seem comical. To fix this, it’s enough to update them a little, inserting unexpected words instead of boring ones. The interesting thing is that the more appropriate the new word is, the funnier the joke will seem.

EXAMPLE: Glue fins - glue flip flops

EXAMPLE: Carrot and stick - hammer and cookie

EXAMPLE: Sunstroke- solar kick

Changing the places of words and letters

Changing the places of words and letters can be done automatically if you practice a little. You can swap letters in words and phrases, and you can swap words in sentences. The main trick here is surprise and speed - the sooner the replacement is made, the funnier the result will be. You shouldn’t pay attention to the semantic load of what happens, because the main thing in this case is not the essence, but the challenge positive emotions.

EXAMPLE: Deputy - teacher

EXAMPLE: Sweaty hands - mouth farts

EXAMPLE: Battleship Potemkin - armored carrier

EXAMPLE:

- Warm the kettle and wash the dishes

- Fine! I'll wash the kettle and warm the dishes!

Direct meaning

When people say something, you can simply pay attention to the direct meaning of their words, discarding the circumstances and context. Listen to everyday speech and focus on one detail, even if it seems unimportant. The simplest thing in the words of others can be an excellent reason for a cool and witty joke.

EXAMPLE:

- Got up like a cucumber today!

- What, turned green and covered with pimples?

EXAMPLE:

- Support me!

- Are you falling?

EXAMPLE:

- You have completely lost your conscience! What is this even called?

- Listen, I've never heard such a riddle before.

EXAMPLE:

- Yes, you have a complete madhouse here!

- Exactly! I am the chief physician. What are you coming to us with?

Inverted pattern

You can make cool jokes by simply turning speech patterns on their head, for example, proverbs, some quotes, sayings, etc. The method is not very simple, because... To use it, you also need to strain your imagination. At the beginning of a joke, you need to take some kind of template, build on it and unexpectedly end the statement.

EXAMPLE:

- I bet my head - why do I need it?

EXAMPLE:

- I'm ready to give up my right hand...to learn to write with my left!

EXAMPLE:

- For dear ladies! I'll pick it up the day after tomorrow

EXAMPLE:

- If you love to ride downhill, you also love to repair sleds!

Use these techniques as often as possible - when communicating with colleagues, family, friends, and even strangers. Over time, the habit of “being witty” will firmly take root in your mind, and you will be able to invent all sorts of jokes and jokes in the blink of an eye, causing others to laugh or just have a kind smile. To make your thinking more pliable and flexible, take note of several exercises to train your creativity and wit.

How to develop wit: exercises

The construction of jokes, even the funniest, most ridiculous and witty ones, should be approached with all seriousness. And they can provide good support in this special exercises. There are eight of them in total.

"Linguistic pyramids"

Linguistic pyramids are the connections between individual words and their classes and subtypes. For example, you look around you and see an ordinary pen. Individually, it does not represent anything special, but it can be classified as more high class- writing instruments. Having thought about it, we understand that the pen can be plastic, metal, with several refills, ballpoint, gel, etc. In other words, we have divided the pen into varieties.

This can be called the initial model of the linguistic pyramid, i.e. Almost every object is a subspecies of something, and can have varieties. Among other things, there may be similar objects within the same class. In the case of a pen, these are pencils, felt-tip pens, markers and other writing utensils. The first exercise is based on this idea.

Goal: determining the features of your thinking, developing the skills of generalization, dissociation and transition by analogy.

Fulfillment: Find an assistant for yourself. Let the assistant name some object that his gaze fell on. Your task is to show what can be done with this subject, find an analogy for it, generalize it to a large group or divide it into subspecies. It is best to complete the task silently, for which you should use sign language: thumb raised up - generalize, thumb down - separate, thumb points to the side - give an analogy. The exercise is performed with one object for at least 5 minutes. After this, you can switch roles with your assistant.

“What I see, I sing”

Goal: development of associativity and ease of speech.

Fulfillment: Find an assistant for yourself. Let him point to some object in his field of vision, and you must provide as much information as possible about this object within 5 minutes. This could be its history, purpose, functions, application features, etc. To add some humor to your story, tell your assistant why humanity cannot do without the subject being discussed.

"The Raven and the Table"

The third exercise came from famous riddle British writer and philosopher Lewis Carroll, which sounds like this: “How is a raven like a table?” The author, unfortunately, did not provide an answer to the riddle, but even today inquisitive minds and admirers of his work provide more and more new answers.

Goal: developing the skill of creating unusual analogies.

Execution: Find two assistants for yourself. The first one names something Living being, for example, the same raven, the second names an inanimate object - in our case it is a table, and the third must explain what these objects have in common. For example, the raven is black, like the table, the raven folds its wings, and the table has boxes, the raven screams, and the table may seem to creak, etc. After discussing the first subject, you can switch roles. In just one approach, you need to discuss at least 3 objects per person.

There is also a complicated option: the first participant voices a state or emotion, the second - an inanimate object, and the third names them general signs. After a dozen more repetitions of this exercise, you will easily be able to create funny analogies and compare anything.

"Continuation of the topic"

Goal: developing the ability to communicate on any topic.

Execution: gather a small group of friends - about six people. One plays the role of leader. At the leader’s sign, the first player begins a monologue on a free topic. Then the presenter gives new sign, after which the second player continues the story. All participants must speak in this way. One round of such a game lasts 5 minutes, after which a new leader is chosen.

"Mindflow"

Goal: to develop the skill of conducting a conversation on any topic and from any place.

Execution: stand in front of a mirror. Take 5 seconds to look at yourself and notice your thoughts. Then start saying out loud everything you think about for 10 minutes. To complicate the task, accompany your speech with jokes, funny remarks, and comparisons. Do the exercise 3 times a week, and after 1-2 months you will be able to maintain any conversation and skillfully make jokes.

"Sour Hat"

Goal: development of a creative view of things and the ability to consider what is happening from different angles. Thanks to this, you will learn to talk about banal things in unusual shape.

Fulfillment: Find an assistant for yourself. Let the assistant tell you one noun, and you select five adjectives for it that are suitable in sound, but do not fit with it in meaning. Adjectives should give the noun new properties and characteristics, for example: boring soup, pale glass, funny hat, red mood, quick pills, screaming sofa, etc. The exercise should be performed daily at least 20 times a day.

"Solution to the problem"

Goal: development of abstract, creative and extraordinary thinking.

Execution: Find one assistant for yourself. Let him tell you in detail about some of his problems or difficult situations. Your job is to offer possible options developments and problem solving. But the trick is this: for the first stage of the exercise, it is enough to select non-existent objects or creatures to solve your assistant’s problem. The second step is to figure out how the chosen object or creature solves the problem in a physically impossible way. And finally, at the third stage, it is necessary to supplement the actions performed with words in a non-existent language, but so that they obey all the laws of language (remember Lewis Carroll’s poem “Jabberwocky” from the fairy tale “Alice Through the Looking Glass”, where there are the lines: “It was barking. Flimsy blinkers they were poking around on the nave, and the zelyuks were grunting like mumziks in a movie" - you should get something similar).

"Alternative reality"

The eighth exercise can be called the result of all the previous ones.

Goal: training the skill of generating unusual thoughts of the “highest grade”.

Execution: imagine that you are in your own alternative reality, similar to the usual one with only one exception: everything in it is created not from molecules and atoms, but from other elements, for example, from hamsters. Everything that is around consists of a variety of hamsters of all sizes and their derivatives, obtained at hamster processing plants, hamster production plants, hamster smelting shops, etc.

Now you need an assistant - a psychiatrist. Joke J

Now you need a partner. You must blindfold him and then walk him around the room, leading his hand to any object and explaining exactly how it is made of hamsters. After 10 minutes, switch roles.

Naturally, hamsters are just an example. In the same way, an alternative reality could consist of pasta, foil, pine cones, raccoons, tomatoes, etc. The task is to learn to logically connect your feelings, fantasies and thoughts. The exercise can be repeated an infinite number of times.

On this hamster note, we summarize the fourth lesson, but finally, a few more tips for developing wit:

• Always to be able to see the humorous side of any event
• - it contributes adequate self-esteem, healthy self-irony and normal perception of jokes directed at oneself
• Participate in as often as possible creative events where you need to overcome uncertainty and fears, unlock your inner potential
• Find a few artists whose jokes you like the most, watch and analyze their performances
• Keep a “Joke Diary” and write down in it the jokes that you liked, including your own
• Hang out with positive people with a good sense of humor
• Read jokes and literature on humor

By the way, about literature: in addition to everything said above, we offer you a small few books and articles recommended by the famous Russian TV presenter, showman and wit - Ivan Urgant:

• Feofan Kaluzhsky “What people laugh at in Rus'”
• Olga Dermacheva “Laughing Women”
• Ravil Gulyamov “There, under the mustache”

And, of course, along with the ability to joke, it is very important to be able to avoid the so-called taboo topics- topics about which it is not customary to joke for one reason or another. And in the fifth lesson we will talk about just this, so that your sense of humor does not play with you bad joke.

Test your knowledge

If you want to test your knowledge on a topic this lesson, you can take a short test consisting of several questions. For each question, only 1 option can be correct. After you select one of the options, the system automatically moves on to the next question. The points you receive are affected by the correctness of your answers and the time spent on completion. Please note that the questions are different each time and the options are mixed.