Step By Step to Stand-Up Comedy Chapter Four

From Funny to Funnier: Improving and Polishing Your Gems

Do you have jokes that just don’t get the laughs they deserve? Do you have a speech that needs punching up? Do you have funny jokes that you suspect could get even more laughs? This chapter is choked full of professional comedian’s tricks of the trade that will have you making a lack luster joke shine and teach you to take a single joke and turn it into a string of laughs.

-Economy
-End the punch with the reveal
-Using hard consonants
-Rhythms of three
-Common realm of knowledge
-Quote whenever possible
-Make your characters specific and personal
-Localize
-Adapting your jokes
-Using incorrect language
-Making up words
-Sometimes a sight gag is better
-Tag your jokes

SAMPLE

END THE PUNCH WITH THE REVEAL

As you remember, the punch is what the comic says or does to communicate the 2nd story. Within every punch there’s a pivotal word, phrase, or action that presents the 2nd story’sreinterpretation. I call this mechanism the reveal.

To properly construct a joke, make sure that this pivotal word, phrase, or action appears at the very end of the punch. There are two basic mistakes comics tend make in this area:

Unnecessary words are said or actions are done after the reveal
Talking or performing past the reveal is one of the most common and irritating errors. It usually occurs because the comic inserts mindless prattle beyond the point where the joke gets a laugh. I’ll show you what I mean by going past the reveal of this joke written by a gay student, Robert Smith:

“Do you know why gays are such good dressers? You try spending twenty years in the closet and see what happens to you.”

The wording “and see what happens to you.” has nothing to do with the joke and should be eliminated. Here’s how Robert correctly phrased the joke, ending with the reveal:

“Do you know why gays are such good dressers? You try spending twenty years in the closet.”

The word “closet” is the reveal, so “and see what happens to you” is useless prattle that only serves to defuse the joke’s power. And when a joke is performed past the reveal, the audience will stop laughing to hear what is being said.