The Punning Paatshala

THE ART AND SCIENCE OF PUNNING

Check out these hilarious puns:

• Santa Claus' helpers are known as subordinate Clauses.
• She had a photographic memory but never developed it.
• The two pianists had a good marriage. They always were in a chord.
• I was struggling to figure out how lightning works, but then it struck me.
• The grammarian was very logical. He had a lot of comma sense.
• I've been to the dentist many times so I know the drill.
• What did one plant say to another? What's stomata?
• The other day I held the door open for a clown. I thought it was a nice jester.
• A chicken crossing the road is truly poultry in motion.

How have these punsters played with words like this? What are the techniques they use? Is it possible to learn punning as a craft? Or should you just be born with a punning spoon in your mouth? :) 

Well, punning is a science that can be taught, and it is an art that needs to be then creatively developed. 

What is punning?

Punning is the creative use of wordplay using the literary techniques available in a language to create humour. Puns have been around since the 7th Century BC and numerous playwrights and authors have used puns in their literary work. 

How can punning help you?

• When you think in terms of puns and try to see humour in most situations, then your brain gets wired to stay light regardless of how stressful any circumstances tends to become. 
• Punning helps you to use both sides of your brain because language is controlled by your left brain and humour by your right brain
• When you use puns in your writing, it helps to make it more interesting to read. Learning how to pun is especially useful for those pursuing journalism and advertising.
• Punning helps to lighten the energy in a room. A pun cracked and unleashed at the right time, can completely change the mood of a person. That way you are contributing towards lightening the mood of your friends!
• Punning can help you become popular as a fun person to have around. People will automatically gravitate towards you to feel light.

About the workshop

This is a 2-day workshop that will be done on Google Meet. You will need to download the app on your phone or access from your Gmail account. Initially, you will be enrolled in a WhatsApp workshop specially created for the participants. On the days of the workshop, from 4.30-6 pm, Sridhar will conduct the workshop over video, which will have coaching and assignments.

On Day 2, you will get to enter a unique Punning Contest, which will be posted on Facebook. The winner will an amazing prize! Sounds exciting!?

Course content:

1. Rules of punning

2. Different wordplay techniques.

3. How to pun, when to pun, history of punning, when not to pun.

4. How to construct a pun - how to use different techniques to create a variety of puns.

5. The various types of puns

6. How to create simple puns, compound puns, recursive puns, idiomatic puns, bilingual puns and visual puns.

7. Secrets to the perfect pun. 

About R Sridhar

Sridhar is a personal energy coach, mentor and former Senior Editor of The Times of India. Through his firm, Energenie Academy, he conducts workshops on Personal Energy Management for individuals, corporates, teachers and students. He has also authored two books on the subject and founded a global healing network. 

Sridhar also teaches journalism and offers content management services to corporates. 

He has used his skill in punning to impact a whole lot of spaces - from headlines in newspapers to copywriting for advertisements to even changing the energy levels of people by just getting them to laugh. He has been punning since about 8 years now.

CALL: +91 8657437817

EMAIL: info@energenieacademy.com

WEBSITE: www.energenieacademy.com