Editor’s Note: Phew. This one’s been siting on my desk for a while. I just feel like the whole thing is a not–so–subtle subtweet at me, right? But now is the time to put aside my own suffering for the greater good. And that greater good is the growing research into humor’s impact on communications and leadership: There’s Peter McGraw’s book, discussed below, Humor, Seriously coming out this fall (I’ve read an advanced copy and it’s good), and, well, schmos like me. I have more thoughts about the power and science of humor — like an entire 20 year post–law–school career worth of thoughts – but, at the risk of killing the frog, let this article be our set up. Can’t wait for the punchline.

Hey! Have you recently felt like the world’s going to hell, the worst is yet to come or that you’ve unwittingly become the star of some dystopian version of Groundhog Day? Nice. Join us. Misery loves company, after all. (We’re FINE.)

But seriously…

Humans are hardwired to be good at seeing the bad. That’s normal. That’s our negativity bias, an ancient neurobiological quirk that helped us scan for and react to danger back in “good old days.” While this stranger–danger bias was once really helpful, it is less handy when we’re under a lot of weird stress in modern times — like, cough, cough, a pandemic — when we’re trying to survive, focus and get work done, all the while not snapping at our partner/child/roommate/spouse/pet for using too much toilet paper.

What if we had a way to flip that rote script? To see things positively, even when that seems like the hardest thing ever, and perform better as a result? And what if this whole switcheroo all begins with…thinking funny? (Editor’s note: A friend, Dan Gabriel, has a bit [paraphrasing] about how the Chinese word for “problem” is the same as “opportunity, which is a great because I definitely have a drinking ‘opportunity.’”)

Waddya mean, think funny?

That’s the question we asked Peter McGraw, author of Shtick to Business: What the Masters of Comedy Can Teach You about Breaking Rules, Being Fearless, and Building a Serious Career. McGraw, whose academic career has been steeped in studying the nuances and effects of humor, also co–authored The Humor Code.

Comedians, McGraw explained over the phone this past March during his sabbatical from his sabbatical (yes, you read that correctly), are masters at resilience mindset. This particular way of thinking helps comedians “leave ideas behind,” as McGraw outlined in our conversation, and “create novelty by constantly pushing forward.”

Consider, for a minute, what it takes to succeed as a stand–up comic. (Editor’s note: Trigger warning for comics turned writers of editor’s notes. Hold me.) Showing up for your 9pm time slot, your 11:45pm open mic, performing for a room of six people all staring at their phones, waiting for their turn on stage. (Because who shows up most often to an open mic night? Yup, other open micers.) In the meantime, you’re dealing with hecklers and competitive peers, haggling with club managers, making ten or twenty bucks for hundreds — thousands — of hours spent carefully crafting, chiseling, testing and refining the perfect story, turn of phrase or moment of expression. Night after night. Year after year. All for a laugh. If you’re lucky. (Editor’s note: I. Ummm. Ugh.)

Comedians… are masters at resilience mindset.

Now that’s grit, as psychologist Angela Duckworth would say. It’s perseverance over constant rejections, distracted audiences and rare validation. It’s believing that you can and will improve if you just keep practicing. That’s a growth mindset. It’s being promotion–focused, playing to win instead of playing not to lose, where “the worst thing is a chance not taken,” McGraw said in our call, “a reward unearned, a failure to advance.”

Talk to any comedian and you’ll start to understand why they go through all this. It’s the indescribable power of bringing a room of strangers to uncontrollable laughter. Laughing, reports Discover, is “a form of instinctive social bonding.” Or, as neuroscientist Sophie Scott, puts it, you laugh to “show people that you understand them, that you agree with them, that you’re part of the same group.”

Turns out that laughing, like playing, is a biological imperative (fun fact: even rats laugh.) And, like yawning, laughing is indeed contagious. (Case in point: you’re 30x more likely to laugh around other people.) But engineering those spasmodic bursts of contagious laughter? Like trying to tickle yourself, it’s mind–bogglingly hard to do. “But if it’s possible to get better at something like making people laugh,” McGraw told us, “we can get better at running businesses and excelling in our careers. You don’t need to be funny…think funny.”

“If it’s possible to get better at something like making people laugh, we can get better at running businesses and excelling in our careers.”

Start with reversals

One of the first things a comedian learns, according to McGraw’s Shtick to Business, is the art of reversals. That is, seeing the flip side. Turning a status quo on its head.

It’s this kind of reversal that Chris Rock has mastered (i.e. saying bullying is good for culture). “Bullies do half the work,” Rock quips. “Teachers do half the work, and bullies do the other half. Who gives a f*ck if you can code if you start crying because your boss didn’t say 'hi'?”

Okay, so we don’t want bullies running around ruining our lives, but it’s the thinking behind Rock’s joke that McGraw implores us to explore. Because the mental exercise of “turning a bug into a feature,” as the author explained on the phone, “works as effectively in the business world as it does in comedy.”

Take Buckley’s Cough syrup. In the late 1980s, this Canadian brand knew people were familiar with and bought their concoction — it’s just that everyone hated the taste. Buckley’s had a choice: change the product, or change how people saw it. So Buckley’s decided to turn that bad taste into a major selling point. Their new brutally honest tagline: “It tastes awful. And it works.” With follow–ups like, “People swear by us. And at us.” By 1992, Buckley’s became the #1 cough syrup in Canada.

That’s thinking creatively, like a comedian, in reversals, in what–ifs. And in a climate where analytical thinking, innovation and originality rank among the most highly–valued skills, if you want to improve your career or your business, McGraw added near the end of our call, “Get good at being creative because that’s where the refuge will be.”

The mental exercise of “turning a bug into a feature… works as effectively in the business world as it does in comedy.”

Computers can’t fart.

Refuge from what? Computers. AI is threatening to replace 40% of the workforce in the next 15 years. So how do you compete against that? By doing things computers can’t.

One thing computers excel at is following rules. Obeying the programmed status quo. But like a good comedian, “Good businesses and entrepreneurs don’t get trapped in the norm or give in to the naysayers,” McGraw said. “Instead, they spin the status quo upside down to recognize the opportunities that are sitting right there in front of them — in front of us all.”

So, is today’s pandemic the best of times or the worst of times? Will tomorrow bring more misery or present an opportunity others might miss? Depends how you choose to see it. Remember, comedians thrive in chaos and uncertainty because that’s from where the best jokes often come.

Will tomorrow bring more misery or present an opportunity others might miss? Depends how you choose to see it.

Perhaps the best response in times of massive, global uncertainty is to admit that you’re only human, after all. “It’s never been more important or refreshing to be honest,” McGraw explained in bringing our conversation back to the connection between comedy and business. “Authenticity is the cheat sheet to comedy, and authenticity in business leadership is incredibly valuable because people are great bullshit detectors.”

Like comedy itself, intelligence is being able to hold two opposing views simultaneously. Today might feel pretty awful, but the magic of being a human is that you can experiment with your thinking, with your actions and reactions, with your way of seeing. As Charlie Chaplin once said, “Comedy is taking your pain and playing with it.” Tomorrow when you wake up, you get to decide: what kind of day is it gonna be? (Editor’s note: I think I was remarkably restrained in my desire to make every line of this about me. That lack of narcissism is probably why I haven’t made it big yet… Please clap.)