The Art of the Joke: Humor in LARP

by Zoe

So a friend and reader of the blog, bakeneko, urged me to do a post on humor in larps, and I think that's a really interesting topic. One of the reasons I larp is because I like the community, and, more specifically, I like how people bring their senses of humor into play. Also, as anyone who has larped with me will know, I'm kind of a ham, and I like to be funny. Larps are one of the few places where my (bad) jokes are fully appreciated. In fact, now that I think about it, humor is one of the major things that drives me to larp-- I've never really considered it before. So, I posed a few questions to myself, and urge all of you to answer them as well. Most of my examples come from Accelerant's "Mirror, Mirror," so apologies to non-players... but it really is a funny game.

Why is larp humor so funny?

At larps, I often guffaw at things that would elicit, in real life, only a light chuckle. I chalk this up to two things. Firstly, consider the horror movie: a well-done horror movie has really funny moments, with laugh out loud jokes. These jokes are made all the funnier by the emotional switch to fear borne from suspense: the contrast between scary and funny makes the jumpy moments (as my sister calls them) terrifying-- and the comedic instances hilarious. Larp achieves this same effect: the seriousness of a significant battle makes the IG banter all the funnier. Also, during a larp, you're generally exhausted, so everything's a riot. 

Also, larp allows us to exploit fantastical situations more easily: some of the funniest things in Mirror, Mirror are the flavor traits that people use to flesh out character abilities. For instance, take "Heal by Darkness"-- admittedly, only lightly humorous on its own. However, when a "by Darkness" healer heals a downed Person of Righteous Goodliness, and that individual is agonized or traumatized by the effect, it turns into a subtle joke that really only comes across in a larp interaction.

What kind of humor works at a larp?

I think the more larp humor can play on in-game situations, the better. That way, no one's offended, and you really add to the immersion of a game. Mirror, Mirror offers some of these in-game based jokes: for example, consider unicorns and orphanages. Among a number of characters, there's the ongoing joke/completely serious concern that neither of these things is particularly good news: unicorns are constantly being corrupted, and orphanges are the origin of evil cult rituals 9 out of 10 times. This has lead to many player-spoken litanies against helping unicorns and/or orphanages. 

I generally think humor functions the best when it's worked directly into how a character interacts: if a character is naturally funny, to me, it feels more genuine than when a serious character looks for opportunities to be funny-- it turns into character-breaking jokes. An example of in-character humor: there was once a brilliant NPC who we referred to as the "wedding planner." His job, during a large field fight, was to "fix" the attacking monsters through in-fight adjustments-- he did so accompanied by a series of obsessive-perfectionist comments and criticisms, muttered under his breath. There was no obvious attempt at humor, which may have been jarring-- instead, comedy was worked deep into the character's personality; the character was fantastically acted, which made the whole thing effective.

How can you work humor into a character?

For me, working humor into a character can be difficult. Some people are naturally funny and gregarious: playing a character that exploits these personalities, for those sort of people, comes naturally. For others, myself included, it can be a bit more of a task to make a character funny: falling into the pit of "trying too hard" is exhausting and obnoxious. Instead, I try to seize on things that work towards in-character comedy-- especially ones that mesh well with the gameworld. I tend towards absurdism, so predilections towards odd obsessions, asking seemingly obvious questions, and sporting questionable morals (towards the darker shades of gray) all work well for me. Ultimately, I think comedy in a larp is not wholly reliant on clever jokes-- for me, the funnier characters depend on acting and full incorporation of humor into a character's larger personality.

What kind of humor doesn't work at a larp?

This is an important question to ask yourself. Humor is powerful. It can both build and sever bonds between players. Moreover, when people are getting laughs from half of the player base, they don't necessarily realize a group of people are not amused (in an out-of-game sort of way). Admittedly, you can't please everyone, and people may be un-amused for a variety of reason. However, your sense of humor, however artfully delivered, could border offense. For that reason, it's important to incorporate humor into your gameplay carefully. To this end, I have three basic rules. 

The first one: be nice. It's Rob Ciccolini's rule from Accelerant, and I think it works well in determining what is or isn't funny. Even if you're trying to be funny, don't be insensitive. Don't insult things like physical appearance, speech impediments, skill, or perceived intelligence. If someone sings a song or reads a poem, and it's less than stellar, don't say anything negative unless it's really obvious they were performing in jest. If you're character is an insensitive jerk, and you really want to make jokes at another player's expense, focus on in-game things: elf-ishness, in-game character traits, and obsessions with, say, unicorns. Also, make sure that the brunt of your jokes is ok with it-- if it's your plan to habitually joke at someone else's expense, talk about it before game. Say something like, "My character is an ass, and likes to make jokes about others-- is it ok if I do that to you? I don't actually mean anything by it, but I like interacting with you, and guessed that you probably wouldn't mind." And go with whatever they say.

Secondly-- don't make people uncomfortable. The big one for me on this hinges on OoG racism: I've run into out-of-game racist jokes one or two times, from individual players, and it made me supremely uncomfortable (to the point where I avoid the situation altogether). Rape jokes are another big one: avoid them. There's been a lot of discussion, out of the larp community, on why sexual abuse jokes aren't funny-- a larp situation is no different, in many ways, from an OoG social situation. Think before you speak, and recognize that people come into game with OoG sensitivities. Be nice. Be respectful. Be considerate.

Thirdly-- keep it in game. Don't break immersion by making a joke. Admittedly, I'm not an "all the time in game" person. Muttered jokes and conversations with friends, in the safety of my own cabin, sometimes dally outside of purely in-game conversation-- I come to larps to be with people. However, I avoid making jokes, loudly and publicly, that clearly break immersion for others. That's rude-- we all come to this game to play, and the general expectation is that you stay in-character at all times.

Not to end on a downer note... but what do you find funny? What are some of the funniest experiences you've had in a larp? What hasn't worked?