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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/43877
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

For me, the annoying thing about "funny" characters is where that the humour gets injected artificially, and for some reason they decide they have to tell a joke out of nowhere. That's great for a stand-up routine, but it doesn't make for a good story. In real life, what you want to be emulating is not being a comedian but being witty. Often this has a large element of snark included as well.

Tyrion Lannister is a great example of this. Even when he's arguing for his life, he's witty.

> Tyrion Lannister : Wait. WAIT! Wait, wait! Wait, you can't just hand a dried cock to a merchant and expect him to pay for it! He has to know it came from a dwarf! And how could he know unless he sees the dwarf?
> 
> Slaver : It will be a dwarf-sized cock.
> 
> Tyrion Lannister : Guess again!

Or the interplay between Jean Tannen and Locke Lamora.

> One of the odder services the Villa Candessa provided for its long-term guests was its “likeness cakes”—little frosted simulacra fashioned after the guests by the inn’s Camorr-trained pastry sculptor. On a silver tray beside the looking glass, a little sweetbread Locke (with raisin eyes and almond-butter blond hair) sat beside a rounder Jean with dark chocolate hair and beard. The baked Jean’s legs were already missing. A few moments later, Jean was brushing the last buttery crumbs from the front of his coat.
> 
> “Alas, poor Locke and Jean.”
> 
> “They died of consumption,” said Locke.

Wit flows naturally from the situation. For all normal mortals, it's _hard_ to be witty, and we often only think of the best comeback an hour later. Your characters are in luck though - they (you) can think about it for as long as it takes. Sometimes we'll also chuck in a comment we thought was witty, but turns out to be a total mood-killer. Your characters are in luck again - they can unsay those comments if it turns out not to work.

Scott Lynch's writing of the Gentlemen Bastards is exquisite for this, by the way. Of course they're conmen so by definition they're quick-witted. But Lynch's writing doesn't just set up for a Terry Pratchett one-liner. He's writing a small group of close friends who are all highly intelligent, so one witticism sparks another character saying something, and so on, as actual conversations do. Oh, and he can probably out-grimdark your grimdark...

Original score: 7