Writing Comedy

Last let me leave you with absolute NO-Nos!You've heard this before; never laugh at your own jokes. Sometimes you can get away with a quick telegraph giggle before the punchline. It lets people know the punch line is coming. I would stay away from it, however. Tell the punch line and look away somewhereelse, at the most maybe an eyebrow flash or smug look like "Take that".

Dirty jokes really aren't that funny. They are easy and only make people uncomfortable. Allow yourself maybe ONE dick joke to showthat you are comfortable with the subject but to keep going with nothing but blue material gets real old real fast. DO NOT be the "That's what she said..." guy! I know so many AFC's who only have that ONE punch line. It's not funny the first time and certainly not funnythe seventh time. Let it go…seek the higher humor. (Obviously this seems to be the basis for the GM style PU, but unless that is your art,just avoid the obvious sex/ dick jokes)

Take-home-jokes. This is the term for a packaged joke that you read on the internet, or that most people tell each other. They are called "Take-home-jokes" because in a long stand-up set it is actually good to tell a joke that the audience can then "take home" and tell their friends. These are the "Two Jews walk into a bar…" or "Farmer's daughter" type jokes. If you have to preface a joke by saying " did you hear the one about…" You have lost already. AVOID these types of jokes. They only lead to a "joke-off" where everyone tries to outdo the other with their favorite popular joke and it is a social buzz-kill.

What you will find happening as you make people laugh with easy, conversational witticisms, is that some AMOG will try to compete ­by telling his favorite bar joke. Everyone will see this for what it is; a DLV! Don't enter into this frame, just roll your eyes, or politely laugh and try to get the conversation back on track. Or you can kill his punch line just by intensely staring at him, not laughing (Others will take your cue, looking to you to see if you laugh) and then I throw in a "Nice try…leave the comedy to the professionals." He will never recover. I LOVE when this happens!

Know when to quit! This has been my AFC mistake. I kept yucking it up all night with a group or single set. After A2 you should tone it way down. An occasional witty remark every now and then just to keep the conversation lubricated is probably good. But once you've hooked your group or target, it seems best to quit being the entertainer. This seems to happen after only 3 or 4 jokes. Secret is you have to have a storehouse of dozens of jokes to be able to properly apply just a few. The jokes have to seem natural, not forced, and fit with the flow of the conversation. Don't be attached to your material, don't be amazed with your own cleverness. Use your material like Style says, "Little pebbles" tossed into a conversation.