A great photo book isn’t just about the layout, although that’s what we tend to focus on. It’s about so much more: the story, the theme, and the details. Our favorite books to create here at OrganizingPhotos.net are the funny photo books, so we thought we’d offer up some tips that you can use in your own storytelling to make your project a hit! Who better to talk us through it than our amazing team member Shastina Leonard? Shastina has worked as a joke writer for some of the most famous comedians in Hollywood, so she knows funny. Here’s her take on this topic! Enjoy!
Comedy Enhances Any Story
Welcome to a light-hearted tutorial on something that we all need a little more of these days: Memories of love and laughter! As you read this post, let yourself forget anything stressful for fifteen minutes. Look at this as a short break and entertain the idea of revisiting your fondest memories. That means memories that filled you with joy or had you laughing so hard you could barely breathe. Can you think of some? Who were they with?
Now, have you ever wanted to share those memories and hold on to them? Of course you have. That’s why we all have thousands of photos and videos on our phones and tablets. We can’t get enough. As technology keeps advancing, one day we’ll probably have entire running movies of our lives. If there was ever a more perfect season to push your creativity and share your happy memories, now is the time. Luckily, storing your memories is as easy as simply creating a photo book. In this post, we are focusing on how and why to add humor to your personal photo book.
Let’s get started.
Why Use Comedy in a Photo Book?
Comedy evokes laughter. Laughter benefits our health by enhancing our intake of oxygen, stimulating organs, curbing tension, and improving the immune system. Plus, it’s just all-around fun. We’ve all been at someone’s house and picked up a photo book. Each one tends to have a specific theme or year that tells a story. Whether it is a wedding, graduation, baby shower, birthday, anniversary, or any celebration, it is worth putting the time and effort into making a photo book that is entertaining. Adding humor is one way to do it.
Start with the Audience
You’ve set off to create something that will make someone laugh. And like anything else that you set out to do, you want to make it the best it can be, right? That means bringing a smile to whomever opens the first page. This is why the first thing you want to think about is WHO you are making it for.
Ask yourself who your audience is: Are you making this photo book for your grandma? For your kids? Your husband or wife? Your best friend? Yourself? This is an important question you want to answer because you can angle it towards whoever you are creating it for. For example, what is funny to your grandmother may be different than what is funny to your kids. Trust me, it’ll make it so much easier to know who you are trying to engage. This also gives you a place to start.
What does your audience love? If this is for your best friends then what do they like? What is funny to them? Do you share any inside jokes with each other? The more specific, the better. For example, maybe your best friend loves the movie “Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?” If so, you could use that as a theme in your photo book.
Do You Need a Theme?
You can organize your photo book however you want, but if you pick a theme, it will be easier for people to understand what you are going for, and a theme will also define your book a little better. For example, if you have a bunch of family photos from 1984 you could go with an 80’s theme. Or… maybe you have a bunch of summer photos and can focus on a Hawaiian theme? Some themes lend themselves to comedy more than others, but you can always play around with this. For example, if you have a Halloween theme, you could aim for a dark comedic photo book. Sometimes contrast is poignant too.
The Story is Your Core!
What’s your story? This goes hand in hand with your theme. Sometimes the story you want to tell is already connected to a theme. For example, if you are aiming for a Halloween theme because you are making a Halloween photo book then your story might mimic a popular Halloween tale. You can be as creative as you want with your story plot, or parody something else you love.
Another thing to keep in mind is “Do I want to keep this story true to life, or create a story around my photos?” For example, if you are making up a story around your photos then you could use the fact that your kids were dressed up as a werewolf and mummy for Halloween as a story about them as those characters. If you want your story to be shown in order of the correct timeline then you can organize your photos by date and find a story in what you already have. Above all, you want to aim for a simple fun story that will entertain.
What Photos Tell the Story Best?
When you go through photos, pick out the best ones that will tell your story. Is there a funny story you can create around the photos you have? Is there anything funny that you notice in any of the photos? Once you think about your story and how you want to tell it, think about what would make it funny. Is there anything quirky or odd you can highlight?
You can do a lot with a photo book if you have planned to create it before even taking the photos. Don’t get me wrong, there is something nice about being in the moment and snapping a picture. However, if you already know what you’re doing ahead of time and you have the opportunity to stage your photos while on your quest to make a funny photo book, then do it – as long as nobody gets hurt.
Storyboard It!
When you have a general idea. Plot out your story. Who? What? When? Where? How can you make this funny? How is it organized? What is the beginning, middle, or end? Your story could also be completely true based on what is going on in the photos. Those tend to be the best.
I’m a Perfect Pinnable!
Let’s Make It Funny!
Now, if you have a bunch of funny photos that aren’t connected to any story you can always gather all the funny photos and make a photo book of those – like some of the commercial photo books out there, for example, “Awkward Family Photos.” Chances are that if you don’t have a ton of funny photos, your photo book will have to get across humor in different ways. This is where it is good to explore all your options for ways to incorporate a laugh.
Let’s look at the different types of comedy. Knowing these will give you a broader sense of ways you can go.
Types of Comedy
Here are some of the different types of humor you can use in your photo book to make it funny:
1. Physical humor: Form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. Examples: slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts. How do you make a photo book physically funny? Other than directly using it as a prop, you can always add something to the cover. For example, you can make the cover for your photo book funny by putting googly eyes or a mustache on it.
2. Surreal humor: Humor based on deliberate violations of causal reasoning. Includes bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, son-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense. Think of things like Alice in Wonderland, Mr. Bean, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride, or Monty Python. Dancing hippos are funny. This means you can add silly objects or animals to go along with the theme or photos in your book. The stranger the better. To quote Portlandia: “Keep It Weird.”
3. Self-Defeating Humor: Detrimental humor that is self-disparaging. Using this kind of humor can help people sympathize with us and get them on our side. Rodney Dangerfield was known for this. You are using this type of comedy in a photo book any time you have a photo that is making fun of yourself, or if you include a quote that is self-deprecating. Maybe when you were a kid you were caught off guard and someone snapped a photo of you on the toilet? Ideal for this type of humor. Thanks childhood friend!
4. Affiliative Humor (Similar to Self-Enhancing): Used in a positive, self-accepting way. Spontaneous, eases tension, witty banter. Things that everyone else might find funny or laugh at. For example, we all love watching funny animal videos. And, if you haven’t seen a screaming goat, you need to look that up right now! This type of humor is great to add to a photo book. Honestly, you could add a screaming goat photo to just about any photo book and get a laugh. But, don’t stop there. You can add all types of different things we all think are funny (*depending on culture).
5. Aggressive Humor: This type of humor uses sarcasm, put-downs, teasing, criticism, ridicule that is used at the expense of others. Don’t use this type of humor unless you are really familiar with your audience. If you’ve ever seen comedians roasting another comedian on television then you know what this is, and the key is that the audience is in on the jokes. You might have some photos from a wedding or a party that is promoting someone where you would include this type of humor with a quote. You know, it is the type of humor where people can pass a mic around and laugh at your expense. It’s basically a form of congratulatory hazing, but yes, use with caution.
Different Ways to Add Humor
You can also add humor to a photo book in many different ways – here are a few:
1. Make the Story Funny: Tell the story in the best way possible to make it funny. Don’t change the events, if they are true. Try shifting your point of view. Our perspective is what makes something funny. The way you see the world is your particular view. Use this to your advantage.
2. Use funny photos: Not all photos are funny. That means when you do come across particular photos that make you laugh, it’s important to include them. A photo by itself may not be funny, but putting another photo beside it or on the next page can create juxtaposition. For example, one photo might be of your mom with a quote from her saying “I am never going on roller coasters!” The next photo might be a photo of your mom screaming while riding the newest hydraulic launch rocket coaster, Kingda Ka. That would be funny.
3. Incorporate Funny Art, or use Photoshop: If you like to draw, why not see if you can create something funny? If you can’t draw, even drawing stick figures could work to your advantage and make someone laugh. You can even cut up magazines, or cut out heads and put them on different bodies. There’s just something about a huge head on a tiny body that everybody loves. You can also use Photoshop to do this. Think outside the box. Challenge yourself! You don’t have to damage your original photos either. Make photocopies of the photos you want to use or do it all digitally.
4. Add Captions and quotes: Adding captions allow for you to have a narrative. Quotes allow you to capture someone’s personality. Both are fun to play around with. You can add captions and quotes in different ways. For example, when I was a kid my brother told me milk was “cow spit.” If I had a photo of me drinking milk, I might put a quote that read: “Just another day drinking cow spit.”
5. Create Puns (wordplay that exploits multiple meanings): People love to read puns. They are fun to come up with and can be addictive when you get going. For example, if you were making a photo book with a movie theme and the person’s favorite animal was a cat you could do puns like… Bonnie and Claw, Slumcat Millionaire, Apocalypse Meow, Catsablanca, The Big Meowski, Schindler’s Hiss, Pitch Purrfect, and let’s not forget the best picture that took the Oscars this year, Purrasite. You get the point.
6. Play around with Transitions: Think of what photos are back to back in the layout. Remember juxtaposition is an old trick for a reason. It works. For example, mom before the roller coaster shot and then mom ON the roller coaster.
7. Add Inside Jokes: If you have some inside jokes between you and your audience, it can add a personal touch.
8. Running Gags: Is there something that is a running joke in your family? Is there something that someone always does or says that catches on? For example, in my family my great uncle would always tell my mom (when she was a kid) that he worked at the DMV. When she got a little older she found out he never worked at the DMV. The truth was that he was a detective. However, even after she found out the truth, he would still say he was going to the DMV. This became a running joke between them, so whenever he said he was going to the DMV, she knew he was actually doing detective work. It’s was a small thing, but always made her laugh.
9. Add Conflict: Do you have any photos of two people trying to get through a door at the same time? There can be all types of conflict, but make sure it is something that will be funny to your audience.
10. Go Big: If you want someone to laugh, go over the top. If you are too subtle, it might go unnoticed. You can always pull something back if you need to. For example, use the photo that is the most animated or has the most action. Use a quote that’s bold. You can use these intermittently to pair with less bold photos or quotes and they will stand out more.
11. Add Details: Be specific. This is what can take your photo book to a whole new level. People love to know details and sometimes those can be hilarious. For example, it might be funny if you have a photo of someone in a pie eating contest, but how much funnier would it be if you knew those pies were made out of Spam? To go even further, what if those people weren’t allowed to use their hands? What if we knew intimate or compelling details about some of those people eating pies? Funny stuff.
12. Funny TV or movie quotes: Adding a funny quote from something your audience likes can make it feel more personal. You can also quote songs, poems, friends, or relatives.
13. Take funny photos: Hey, nobody will fault you for trying to make your photo book funny. You can always take recent photos that will add more humor to the mix.
14. Add funny photo memes: Are there memes you think are funny? Add them to your photo book. Or you can make your own memes! Easy to do nowadays!
15. Come up with a hilarious title: Do you have a title that sums up your photo book? How funny can you make it?
Need More Ideas? Brainstorm!
If you are having a hard time coming up with things that might be funny, start brainstorming. For example, start writing a list of memories and talk to other family or friends about what they remember. Sift through photos and old videos. There might be something in those that will bring something back. Was there a certain song or movie attached to your memories? Mind-mapping works great for this purpose!
Photo Books Ideas that Already Include Humor
We’ve given you a bunch of ideas on where to start, but you are probably curious about what others have put out there in regards to this topic, right? There are a lot of photo books ideas online in general, but not all of them focus on being funny. That’s why if you haven’t tried doing it, it might be a fun new project to tackle. With that being said, here are some examples that will hopefully help to inspire you:
1. Blooper Photo Books: Every year here at the Swedish Organizer, Caroline puts together a book from our best blooper shots. This type of photo book is always a hit. On the inside she writes “We’re not the most photogenic bunch, but at least we have fun.” It has got photos of people drooling, falling over, awkward anglers, etc. You get it. It’s hilarious. It’s based off the Awkward Family series that have gone viral and are now all over the place. Check out their website here!
2. Awkward Pet Photo book: Pets are a part of our family too, which is why you can’t go wrong creating a book full of strange pet shots. Check out a few examples here and here!
3. Picture Photo Book: You can also create more of a picture book, or do a mix of pictures and photos. Take a look at this article on making children’s books!
QUICK RECAP (for Reference!)
Alright, I hope that gave you some ideas about what types of funny photo books you can make! Here is a quick reference – Feel free to copy and paste this as a checklist for yourself!
Why Use Comedy in a Photo Book?
- Comedy evokes laughter
- Laughter benefits health
- It makes your book more entertaining
Where Do I Start?
- Audience: Who am I making this for?
- Theme: Create a theme for clarity and cohesiveness
- Story: Work with your photos to create the best story possible while thinking of what is the funniest way to tell it.
Types of Comedy:
- Physical humor: Form of comedy focused on manipulation of the body for a humorous effect. Examples, slapstick, clowning, mime, physical stunts.
- Surreal humor: Humor based on deliberate violations of causal reasoning. Includes bizarre juxtapositions, incongruity, son-sequiturs, irrational or absurd situations and expressions of nonsense.
- Self-Defeating Humor: Detrimental humor that is self-disparaging.
- Affiliative Humor: Used in a positive, self-accepting way. Spontaneous, eases tension, witty banter. Things that everyone else might find funny or laugh at.
- Aggressive Humor: This type of humor uses sarcasm, put-downs, teasing, criticism, ridicule that is used at the expense of others.
Ways to Add Humor:
- Make the Story Funny
- Use funny photos
- Incorporate Funny Art or use Photoshop
- Add Captions and quotes
- Create Puns (wordplay that exploits multiple meanings)
- Play around with Transitions
- Add Inside Jokes
- Running Gags
- Add Conflict
- Brainstorm
- Go Big
- Add Details
- Funny TV or movie quotes
- Take funny photos
- Add funny photo memes
- Come up with a hilarious title
Funny Photo Book Ideas:
- Blooper Books
- Awkward Family Photo Book
- Awkward Family Pet Book
- Picture photo Book
Have You Already Created a Funny Photo Book?
Have you already created something funny you would like to share? Please link it below in the comments! If not, how about trying to make a photo book that will make someone laugh? Remember, these are only suggestions so if you have another way that works for you we would like to know what that is. Leave no stone unturned we say. Go ahead and see what happens. We would love to see what you come up with!
Featured Photo Courtesy of
Andrea Piacquadio
