Gender Swap

• Gender-swap costumes generate lots of laughs. The highest humor potential comes from the biggest disparity of identities. For males, that means a burly, athletic type dressed as princess should generate many laughs. Females going for the more masculine male looks generate the most laughs --- for instance, a petite woman dressed as a circus strong man, complete with facial hair. The closet of a significant other can often provide gender-swap costumes. Otherwise, a quick stop at the local thrift store should get everything necessary for the gender-swap costume.
  
  

Hybrid Costumes

• Many people have bits and pieces of old Halloween costumes lying around the basement or garage. A little imagination can be used to turn those little bits and pieces into funny costumes by making hybrids from them. Use a suit and a pair of glasses with a leftover Superman cape hanging out the back to become Clark Kent with a wardrobe malfunction. Pair a gorilla mask with a ballerina tutu. Combine a Batman mask with a dress and a beauty queen sash.
  
  

A Phrase

• While it leaves a person open to frequently answering "What are you?" a phrase can become a funny costume with a little imagination. An umbrella and other rain gear with stuffed animals attached becomes "raining cats and dogs." Wear a messed-up wig (or better yet make a whole outfit out of messed-up wigs) and wear a piece of paper marked with the date (such as a calendar page) to become a bad hair day.
  
  

Website

• Dressing as a favorite website can generate humor and be accomplished pretty easily. Facebook, for instance, can be represented by a costume. Take a cardboard box and paint it to look like a book (and put holes in so it can be worn). Then glue cut-out pictures of faces to it. Any website can be created using the same cardboard box. Just create the actual look of the website on that box. Twitter would be a good example, as would Myspace, based on popularity and recognition factor.