Slag yourself and you'll get the birds

by Brian McKim & Traci Skene on September 8th, 2008

From the Independent (Ireland), comes this news of another study involving humor:

Forget the big car, the big heart, or even the big house. The quickest way to a woman’s heart is the ability to poke fun at yourself.

Anthropologist Gil Greengross, who conducted a two-year study into the art of seduction, has discovered that self-deprecating humour is the most attractive trait in a man.

The less serious he is, the more women seriously want him. A witty man can, apparently, have us laughing all the way to the bed.

Article author Siobhan Cronin quotes from the New Mexico University study and even provides examples and an archetype or two (think Hugh Grant’s character in “Notting Hill”).

It winds up with a pitch for exactly why comedians should consider self-deprecating humor, or, as the Irish put it, “taking the mickey out of yourself.” Explains Irish comic Jarlath Regan:

“Well, if there’s one thing Irish people hate more than anything, it’s someone who talks themselves up,” he says.

“It makes us uneasy. We struggle to know what to say when someone starts to tell you how great they are.”

He says the same rules apply to stand-up comedy. Self-deprecating humour is essential for a stand-up comedian to convince the audience that they are not simply on stage because they think they’re brilliant.

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