a joke.
III. Basic Structure
“I would never want to belong to a country club that would have me as a member.”
~ Groucho Marx
Communication is best when it’s understandable to the audience. When we don’t understand what is said, we can miss the funny. Life, like comedy, is fueled by passion, and it’s best when it comes from the heart. Passion is what drives good comedy writing. Most comedy is a collision of two separate, unrelated ideas or stories coming together. This collision generates an unexpected surprise, which is what creates the audience’s laughter.
Being funny is easier than you may believe. Ideas, techniques, templates, and bits of wisdom will encourage you to practice. It’s like learning a new language and/or culture. When you first arrive in a new land it takes a while to get used to the people, the language, and all the great food. After a few days or weeks, it may seem like you have lived there all your life.
You will be introduced to a few new ideas, techniques, and concepts that will help you be funny. The beauty is you don’t have to master all of them, and you don’t have to master them by tomorrow. It’s best to start with a small understanding of the basics. It’s like the art of hitting a baseball. There are books and books, but it all boils down to “See the ball, hit the ball.” Comedy is the same way, and the templates at the back of this book will help you. You may not hit a home run every time, but understanding the basic structure and the templates will help ensure that
you are a hit.
Pick Your Topic
What are you upset about? What do you want to get off your chest and share your two cents’ worth about? What do you consider wrong? Your topic can be about anything you choose. It is best if it is something in which you are interested and have a passion for or against.
Expressing your passion can be challenging for some people because it requires you to dig deep and expose yourself and be vulnerable. Remember, you are most passionate about things and people with whom you are upset. Comedy is wonderful in that it gives us a place to rant.
The best comedy is when the subjects and topics selected are personal and emotional. Listen to comics, watch TV, and observe the news. Read the newspaper and you’ll find a few topics in which you are passionate. The most common topics are relationships, friends, jobs, vacations, psychology, parents and in-laws, an ex, school, traffic tickets, sports, celebrities, hygiene, politics, and religion. There are many more, just pick what upsets you the most and what is the highest interest.
Association List
After you pick a topic, it is best to get more specific. An audience can best relate with something that is concrete, understandable, and relatable. Breaking your topic down into smaller, more specific categories will help create more material for your jokes. Having more specific categories will make it easier to write several jokes on the same topic, forming a story of related material.
Here is an example of an association list for traffic tickets. Traffic tickets are a good topic because most everyone has an emotional connection with them. What is associated with traffic tickets? Police, motorcycles, red lights, sirens, traffic school, speeding, large fines, attempting to get out of the ticket, warrants for an arrest, going to jail, and suspended licenses. You don’t have to stop here. Write as many associations as you can. Write a few more associations after that. Get started!
Attitude
Attitude gives the joke its energy. An attitude is your perspective on the subject. It can be but is not limited to: dismay, anger, frustration, confusion, love, hate, hostility, excitement, boredom, tired, weird, scary, hard, stupid, wonderful, frightened, and pride. Most every subject can have a different attitude. Every joke has some type of attitude or a point of view. An emotional attitude will help build tension, which will fuel the emotional release or laughter.
Here are a few of the popular attitudes:
1.Love
2.Hate/Hostility
3.Confusion
4.Superiority
5.Pain
6.Scary
7.Weird
8.Hard/Easy
9.Worried
A comedian’s attitude can change from joke to joke. One topic could be love; the next could be hate. A persona or basic point of view should be maintained throughout an act. For example George Carlin had many attitudes. However, he maintained his persona or point of view as an antagonist and often a voice for the people.
Logan Murray in his book Be a Great Stand-Up writes about the seven deadly sins. He gives an example where you can use the same setup, and then insert a separate punchline for each sin. (see Template #58)
These are the seven deadly sins Murray writes about:
•Greed
•Sloth
•Pride
•Gluttony
•Anger
•Lust
•Envy
You can use them or you could use kinder attitudes, such as faith, hope, charity, trust, or dream. Note: When you use a softer attitude, the emotion is less and often the emotional release, or laugh, is less.
Targets
Most jokes need a target, something or someone to be the brunt of the joke, something or someone to compare against. The target is what or with whom you have a problem, whom you love or think about as being frustrating or difficult. The very best and safest target is yourself. Self-deprecating humor not only is safe, it helps build rapport. Rapport is what helps you connect, and connection is good, even if you don’t get a laugh.
