As a standup comic, I'm often times asked where comics get their material. Do we all just lead hysterical lives, filled with pratfalls and shaving-cream pies? Not so much, although the world would be a pretty cool place if that was true! But joke writing is a skill, and good comedy is frequently the result of taking events that are fairly mundane, and using that joke-writing skill to create something humorous.
The great news is that anyone can develop this skill and use it to be a more effective, confident speaker or writer, regardless of the setting. In this column, I'll give you the basics of Joke Writing 101.
Before we get into writing jokes, let's talk briefly about what makes jokes funny. Regardless of subject matter, it's the misdirection – the unexpected twist – that brings humor to situations.
Even something as basic as the old “ball to the groin” video clips are funny because clearly that's not where we expect the ball to end up in a normal situation (otherwise all men would drop into defensive stances when they passed by an athletic field or playground).
To construct a good joke, it's imperative that you make the path to that unexpected twist as funny as possible.
A good analogy would be that when you boil a pot of water, it needs to warm and bubble before it reaches a boil. Good joke writing is dependent on that warm and bubble phase. Long, drawn-out stories will leave your audience feeling like they've wasted their time waiting for the payoff.
A very simple overview of how to write a joke might look something like this:
First, lay out your premise. This doesn't need to be a funny line, just the topic that you're addressing:
“I grew up poor.”
Next, rather than letting that line sit with no laugh, use your premise to set up a small laugh, the “warm and bubble,” as it's called. This isn't your punch line – just a stop along the way to hold interest:
“I never really grew out of it because I respect tradition. At least that's what I tell myself when I use my food stamps.”
Then, use one or two more straight lines to set a direction for the joke:
“We had 'poor people food' as a kid. Powdered milk. Powdered eggs.”
Finally, use misdirection to bring home the big laugh with your punchline:
“My uncle even had me convinced that he had powdered beer. . . . As it turned out, he had a serious drug problem!”
Using this basic formula, you can truly make any situation funny, no matter how matter-of-fact it may seem. And you don't need to be a comic to benefit from this skill.
In a corporate setting or even a social setting, the proper infusion of humor can be the difference in you being an effective speaker, or boring the living bejeezus out of your audience.
(Jay Grove is a Concord-based comedian who performs nationally and has written jokes for the New England Cable News, “Iron Brides” television show, and the upcoming “Deliver Me” on Oprah Winfrey's OWN network. He is the host of Punchlines @ Penuches comedy night on Mondays at Penuches Ale House in Concord. Jay can be reached at jay@jaygrove.com.)
