One of my favorite copywriters is Bob Bly. His newsletters are normally full of advice, tools, etc. for copywriters and wannabe copywriters. They are supercalifragilisticexpialidociously good.
However, March 3 his newsletter was aptly titled Something Completely Different.
I wondered what Bob would serve up. A fundraiser for Ukraine? Personal news? No matter the topic, I knew it would be well written.
What I didn’t expect was humor.
What Bly served up weren’t just any jokes. They were all related to his craft — and to the writers the newsletter serves. Like Mary Poppins dropping by to bring lightheartedness to the household — Bly knew exactly was he was doing.
I submit into evidence several of the jokes:
- Two quotation marks walk into a “bar.”
- Times Roman and Arial walk into a bar. The bartender says, “Get out — we don’t serve your type.”
- A mixed metaphor walks into a bar, seeing the handwriting on the wall but hoping to nip it in the bud.
- A synonym strolls into a tavern.
- At the end of the day, a cliché walks into a bar — fresh as a daisy, cute as a button, and sharp as a tack.
And my favorite:
- A dyslexic walks into a bra.
Funny the ways humor can be used.
There’s a joke I heard at the National Speakers’ Association convention:
Q Do you have to include humor in your speeches?
A Only if you want to be paid.
Like a spoonful of sugar, and as Mary Poppins knew, humor can make difficult-to-digest messages more palatable.
I hope this newsletter lightens whatever may be heavy on your mind. Hoping I elicited a laugh and that you may choose to pass it on!
This blog is originally published in Marilee's newsletter.
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Posted in Speaking of Strategy
