Video: Dave and Andrew Tarvin Explore Psychology of Humor In TEDx Talk 'What Kind Of Funny Are You?'

One is an engineer-turned-comedian; the other, a communication professor at Texas A&M University. As founders of the consulting firm Humor That Works, brothers Dave and Andrew Tarvin teach people how laughter can improve their personal and professional lives. But after years of teaching others to be funny, it took a stranger to help them realize how different their own styles were and discover new insights into helping others through humor.

"We were speaking at a conference in Morocco," Andrew said. "A woman in the audience commented how Dave's humor was very relaxed, while mine seemed 'cold.' She was right; Dave is more improvisational whereas I like to test jokes ahead of time and prefer to stick to a script. It got us thinking about how different styles of humor can work for different people in different ways, so we decided to research it."

Over the next five years, the Tarvin brothers had more than 10,000 people from diverse backgrounds complete a humor assessment to determine their humor profiles. The brothers are sharing the results of their study in the new TEDx talk, "What Kind of Funny Are You?," taped recently as part of the TEDxGreenhouse Road series in Houston, Texas, and now streaming on the TEDx Talks channel on YouTube.

"We found seven primary ways that people tend to express their humor, even those who might not realize it," Dave said. "The question is not 'are you funny?' It's 'what kind of funny are you?' or 'what kind of funny do you want to be?'"

The Tarvin brothers' study is not the first to explore the psychology of humor. Books have been written on the subject, including "The Psychology of Humor" by Rod A. Martin and "Humor, Seriously" by Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas. But unlike previous studies, which focus on four basic styles of humor, the Tarvins identified seven different "humor personas" that people can present:

• Enthusiast- Appreciates the joys of everyday life and laughs frequently.
• Curator- Collects and shares things they find funny, such as a meme, interesting quote or video.
• Inventor- Creates original comedy, based on their experiences or observations.
• Entertainer- Knows how to speak in such a way that other people want to listen.
• Engineer- Solves problems using humor, such as making a task at work more fun.
• Advocate- Creates space for others to share their humor.
• Skeptic- Understands that what one person finds funny, another person might find offensive.

"Maybe you aren't an 'entertainer,' but if you like to share jokes or funny videos on social media, you might be a 'curator,'" Dave said. "Maybe you're an 'advocate' who supports and creates opportunities for the 'entertainer' to tell jokes. Or maybe you have one style of humor at work and another one when you're out with friends. You don't have to fit just one category."

"What Kind of Funny Are You?" is Andrew's third TEDx talk. His first talk, "Humor at Work," has been viewed more than 500,000 times, and his second, "The Skill of Humor," has been viewed more than 14 million times since it was taped in 2017.

"What I discovered from that talk going viral and the work that we have done since is that a lot of people have a misconception that humor only comes naturally to certain people," Andrew said. "The reality is that it can be learned."

Since 2009, through Humor That Works, Andrew and Dave Tarvin have taught more than 50,000 people at more than 500 organizations how to use humor to achieve greater success and happiness. Their clients have included NASA, FBI, United Nations, Procter & Gamble, and others. Their videos and streaming seminars have helped millions more.

"If you've ever thought, 'I'm just not funny,' well it's possible that you're not in the traditional sense of being an 'entertainer,' but chances are you do one of the other personas pretty well naturally," Andrew said. "Start with that one, and as you get more comfortable over time, you can start to adopt the other personas as well."

"What Kind of Funny Are You?" is now streaming at TEDx Talks on YouTube. Information about Humor That Works is available at humorthatworks.com.

About the Tarvin brothers

Andrew Tarvin is an author, speaker, and corporate humorist. He graduated with distinction from The Ohio State University with a degree in Computer Science & Engineering before starting his career at Procter & Gamble as an international project manager and customer analyst. He founded Humor That Works in 2009 as a way to help others create a more enjoyable work experience using humor and left P&G to run the company full-time in 2012. His clients include NASA, FBI, UN, the Red Cross, Microsoft, IBM, Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Morgan Stanley, PwC, Procter & Gamble, and Nationwide. He has been featured in THE WALL Street Journal, Inc. and FastCompany, and was named a 'Visionary Under 40' by the P&G Alumni Network. As a comedian, he has performed over 1,000 shows across all 50 US states and 30+ countries.

Dave Tarvin holds a BA in Spanish (2005), MA in Communication (2008) and PhD in Rhetoric (2013). He began his career as a top salesperson at a leading manufacturer before earning his Ph.D. in Communication from Louisiana State University. In addition to teaching communication courses at Texas A&M University, he is a speaker specializing in high-impact practices that enhance work and life experiences through humor and improvisation. He helps people enjoy their work more by using their sense of humor in the workplace. His clients include NASA, FBI, UN, Procter & Gamble, US Postal Service, Gorilla Glue, and Sanofi. David has studied abroad in Mexico and taught English in China.

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