A Funny Thing Happened on the way to the Boardroom, by Michael Iapoce

Using Humor in Business Speaking

A book 1st published way back in 1988. There’s been a revised edition since, but this review is based on the ’88 copy.

Which means this review will be fresh, original and highly entertaining. Or that’s what I’m hoping…aiming for. Whatever.

Part 1 of the book is The Skills.

This talks of the benefits of humor in the business world. It considers reasons people should add humor to their dealings, and why it often goes unused. That’s the 10 pages or so of chapter 1.

Next, chapter 2, which follows chapter 1. If you don’ like long chapters, the second one starts on page 14 and goes all the way to 54.

Which isn’t a consolation.

You still might want to read through for hints and tips, which Iapoce provides. There’s info on the style you might adopt, topics for choice and things to be avoided, how low you can when on the attack, and where you should draw the line.

Should you push a colleague over it, tip them over the edge, then you may feel the brunt of any fallout. But if someone leaves over it, it could create a potential job opening.

It’s all in the balance.

The author continues to advise caution, this time over touchy subjects. He provides a story or two to illustrate the point.

While on the subject of more vicious attacks, he says don’t go for colleagues, but use a self deprecating style instead (or hurl yourself into a shark pool). Whatever you do, just don’t joke about yourself to the point of looking incompetent. Unless your jokes which allude to your incompetence are done incompetently, which might cancel the effect.

Iapoce informs you an MC is an emcee, or Master of Ceremonies, so if you didn’t know that, page 49 will have you up to speed.

Another thing; if you digitize your joke files and keeps them on computer, the book refers to you as a ‘techie’. Fair enough, as in the eighties, when the book was published, 95% of people didn’t know a mouse could type letters.

(And the above could come full circle. With smartphones, tablets, phablets and cloud storage, keeping anything on computer in future will have you in the minority)

To close out chapter 2, there are hints of where to find humor, if you want jokes for inspiration, adaptation or ‘borrowing’ (Iapoce does say borrowing is a sin in show business, where it’s called stealing, but not in business business). Since it’s from 1988, it’s dated, but there are two interesting things to avoid, while the advice on searching out comedy is still very relevant today.

Another chapter, Delivering Humor with Style, advises you to test out different character types, to see what fits you. Meanwhile, puns are out of the question, even if you have a taste for them.

Yep. Those lovely, chewy puns. Chuck ’em out.

Michael Iapoce. This image represents him at his last ever speech, during which he transformed into a bird. Since then, he’s been unable to sit quietly without flapping or squawking, so his speaking career is over. He still does other work and likes to steal people’s chips.

Iapoce says the faint hearted can quote famous speakers and humorists for a funny line (or two or three or… however faint hearted you’re feeling. Perhaps see a doctor). That helps reduce the pressure on needing to be funny, since it wasn’t you who bombed, it was someone else.

Which means you can have a laugh after the presentation, at the quoted person’s expense.

As the you continue to read further into the book, there’s still more info to be had. There are tips on enhancing delivery, a bit on body language, some tricks of the trade, and some pretty good stuff on ad-libs.

Actually, around page 80, the book starts to steer towards proper comedy instructional.

That’s despite the talk in the preface, where it says the book won’t make you a comedian. Unlike some others, which if you take on stage, you could get paid millions… to never return.

Inflation adjusted, of course.

Moving on, chapter 4 talks you through switching jokes.

This is done in a five step process, which leads to improving your output in another seven steps. For a book about humor in business, rather than humor in the comedy profession itself, it’s quite impressive.

My minor quibble on Switching the Setup would be the used example; it wouldn’t quite work in the other suggested possibilities, because it’s missing a key element. Work around that, and it’s a great chapter for crafting jokes, adapting jokes, and analysing funny lines.

With that being a highlight of the book, the next part deals with writing your own jokes.

He gives you six formulas to try. Even though the book — as he says — doesn’t go too deeply into them, each one is well laid out, with easy to follow steps.

That leaves the process up to you.

On to the book’s second part.

This is all about jokes, as can be guessed by its title, The Jokes. All the talk is finished and pages 119–167 are filled with one liners. They’re waiting to be read, A-Z (although actually, it stops at W).

It’s a pretty helpful resource. Even if you don’t use or like the jokes provided, the listed topics and lines can be a springboard to come up with your own gags.

Then it’s the final chapter; chapter 7.

Another which isn’t to be read through page by page. Instead, it’s a collection of Stories to Make a Point. These fill pages 168–196. Alphabetically listed, again it stops at W.

Is the author a W?

(Wise Guy. Wait, that would be WG. I can’t disguise my insult. Maybe if I keep trying I can come up with something under W that can be printed.)

Is the author a writer? Of course he is.

9 pages of Index round out the book.

Verdict

Although it takes a while to build, the last 3rd of the Skills section is really good. The step by step instructions are nicely done and provide enough depth so you can try writing jokes for yourself.

Even though the first 2/3 of the Skills section feels like a gentle introduction to humor writing, it makes sense given for the intended audience; the business types. The comedy minded will be familiar with most of it.

Recommended for:

The intended audience. People wanting to find ways to add humor to their presentations or other work functions.

Joke writers — surprisingly informative on the provided instructions.

Not for:

Performers and general advice. The first 80 pages will be a retread of pretty much everything you already know, unless you’re just starting.

Other thoughts

Michael Iapoce says he doesn’t go deeply into joke writing in this book. For anyone who enjoys the analysis of creating jokes, it would be interesting to see his more in depth covering of the topic.

Length

205 pages. Mainly text with no wasted space.

It’s written in an easy enough style, but that page count might be daunting for some. It needn’t be, as not all the book is for reading. Yes, words are for reading, but the subject’s narrative only goes to page 116. After that, you can dip in and out of the stories and jokes as you please, without missing any of the book’s lessons.

Quicker readers will be done in a couple of days.

The slower, dedicated kind, will be able to finish in a week.