Question: when did you realize that you are funny?
Hussie: This is a really odd question. I'll accept the premise for a moment, and start rambling.
I think I actually remember when I realized I WASN'T funny. It was a really long time ago, maybe when I was in high school. And I drew some dumb bullshit comics of some vaguely humorous nature and assumed they were objectively funny because they were meant to be. They were "funnies". And those are automatically funny.
But then a little later I took a look at those comics. One series was about a singing snail, and I guess there were some others. And I thought, "Holy shit, this isn't funny at all. What was I thinking?" And then later, gradually, I put a more concerted effort into understanding what is funny. I think it was a pretty slow climb. It was also a gradual process of becoming less of a dumbass. Dumbasses think stupid shit is funny, and that can be a major handicap.
The biggest key to being funny is to not be a dumbass. Really stupid people have a hard time being funny (intentionally). The smarter you are, the better the odds you have of being funny. Note that sometimes you run into really smart people who aren't funny, or lack a sense of humor. But note, this is VERY STRONG evidence that they are not nearly as smart as they appear to be! In my view at least.
When I equate humor as a product of intelligence, I mean it is primarily a product of awareness. The more you are aware of, and the more insight you have into a myriad of things, the more you will be able to successfully illuminate absurdity, and the more clever ways to accomplish this you will be able to conceive of. Awareness lends itself to an agile imagination. This is why stupidity is such comedic poison. Awareness of the world and that from which you draw your satirical muse is deadened by the mind-blunting forces that are associated with stupidity. These forces primarily are a lack of concentration and dedication, and inalertness to all that surrounds you and all content you are exposed to. As well as being quick to judge and label whatever does manage to get through the pinhole. Those are brain killers and comedy killers. They lead to hackneyed work at best, and incredibly awful, prejudicial, bigoted stuff at worst.
Now I don't mean to say I'm a real smart guy and that's why I'm funny, or EVEN VICE VERSA. I'm just pointing out that, in thinking back, becoming less obtuse and deepening my understanding of as much as possible was a turning point in beginning to understand what is and isn't funny.