To Be, or Not to Be…That Is Two Questions: or, 7 Tips to Write Funny Headlines (On Humor)
Humor columnist Karim Shamsi-Basha shares seven tips to write funny headlines that will pull readers in to your articles.
Could you see the headline above and not read this article? Perhaps, but more likely, you will grin and read on, after canceling whatever you had planned.
Son’s first soccer game? He’ll have hundreds more. Parents’ 50th wedding anniversary? If they made it 50 years, they’re probably too old to notice my absence. Wife’s, husband’s, partner’s birthday? Just tell them you’re too busy practicing an interpretive dance routine to celebrate their birthday.
Humor in your headlines pulls the reader in, regardless of the genre. It’s much like standup, good any time. I’ve attempted standup a few times. You should as well. It’s a blast, and it will sharpen the bits you employ in writing humor. Here’s a bit from my standup routine: “When I first immigrated to this country from Damascus, Syria, friendly Americans would ask me, 'How do you like it so far?' I would say, 'Yeah, it’s pretty far!'”
There is so much riding on your headline. So, without further ado, here are seven tips on writing a headline that makes people snicker, chuckle, or spit coffee out of their nose, along with examples:
Consider the main idea
This may seem obvious, but I’ve read plenty that had little to do with the headline. Your headline must communicate the core of your piece. These two examples below are from my humor column at Mosaic.nj.com: Seriously, Karim!
- It’s hot enough to fry pork roll on the sidewalk
- My dad jokes might tickle your funny bone, guaranteed!
Play with words
Several linguistic techniques serve comedy like puns, rhymes, alliteration, idioms and cliches with a twist. In this case however, less is more.
- Rhyme: Study finds: More mice, fewer lice
- Alliteration: A double dose of march madness
- Puns: Now, the oyster is his world
- Idioms: Local weather forecaster says it’s raining cats and dogs, but no actual pets were injured
- Cliché with a twist: Where there’s a will, there’s a family fighting over it
Surprise your reader
Comedy hinges on that surprise at the end—the punchline. When you shock the reader in a headline, it could be super effective.
- Local man solves world hunger, but still can’t find his keys
- Study finds eating cheese boosts brainpower, but only if you’re a mouse
- Woman wins Lottery, spends it all on rare breed of invisible hamsters
Embrace absurdity
The more bizarre, harebrained, cuckoo, and wacky your headline is, the better. Strange. I now have this massive urge to use the word “cuckoo” in my writing!
- A guinea pig became a father to 400 after breaking into a female enclosure
- City unsure why sewer smells
- Meeting on open meetings is closed
Befriend ambiguity
Comedians don’t need to explain jokes, and headlines don’t need to reveal the whole kit and caboodle. They can intrigue while utilizing some mystery.
- Safety meeting ends in accident
- Iraqi head seeks arms
- Cold wave linked to temperature
Overreact to the mundane
Exaggerating is one of the tenets of comedy. I recently saw a comedian go on and on about his expensive car requiring Perrier for the radiator.
- When the phone battery reaches 1%, life becomes a high stakes action movie
- Missing sock found in cereal box. Breakfast chaos ensues
- Local high school dropouts cut in half
Master irony
You ought to be a regular at sites that use satire. My favorite is The Onion, an outlandish parodies site guaranteed to make you hoot and holler. Here are some from the site Orwell would have loved.
- Jurisprudence fetishist gets off on technicality
- Drugs win drug war
- Winner didn’t even know it was a pie eating contest
I hope this column helps you incorporate some fun in your writing. We need more of it, fun. Just read the newspaper (yes, I still read actual newspapers), and the world will seem like it’s careening toward a ravenous black hole.
Send in your ideas for funny headlines, and I may share in a future column. Ok. Now it’s time to make a cocktail from my favorite recipe book: Tequilla Mockingbird. That title of an actual book is a pun; in case you’re wondering.
