How To Write Jokes

I love to write humorous pieces and have posted a couple elsewhere in the Block. I also consider myself quite adept at spontaneous witty retorts, but creating jokes has always challenged me. It might seem the wrong forum to post this thread, but I am seriously interested in the art of crafting a funny joke. There have been times too in the past when I've needed to create a joke within the framework of a piece of erotic fiction, so this isn't totally off-topic (I hope).

My guess is jokes are all borne out of a small group of scenarios, not unlike the way all fiction can be reduced to seven basic plots. In fact, they're quite likely interchangable for jokes, eg:, 'fish out of water' story analogous with many blonde jokes; 'unrequited love' for penile disfunction jokes, etc.

Forget about one-liners for the moment as I suspect these could be quickly created in a brainstorming/word association thread. What I'm more interested in is the mini-story kind of joke - a paragraph or two that introduces characters, quickly creates a scene in which disbelief is briefly suspended, and then a sudden and unexpected statement about the preceding that acts as the climax. The narration arc of these is exactly the same as you find in fiction, only condensed cleverly into a short passage of words.

So there. I've justified this thread as a bit of pencil sharpening (LOL!) - let's get down to it. Thoughts?

I have no ideas, but I really hope someone does.

i do so wish i could help, but i sometimes think that when it comes to humor, you are either born knowing how to do it or you are not.

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Originally Posted by Dragon's muse

i do so wish i could help, but i sometimes think that when it comes to humor, you are either born knowing how to do it or you are not.

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Probably true, unfortunately. I cannot even tell a funny story properly.

I was a comedic actor and improv performer for many years. And I think it can be learned, but there is talent involved as well.

I can be funny as a character, or off the cuff, but I cannot tell a joke to save my life. :-)


John

In past experience it has helped to actually write down a joke - for memory's sake. Actually, "jokes" have come to mind in a sleep state. Writing them down and then awakening they would not to seem to be funny, at all, but they are. Go figure :)

One formula for joke making, as you well know, is to spring the unpredictable conclusion.
Hope this helps.

Not knowing how to write a joke myself, all I can contribute is Arthur Koestler's insight, which I'll adapt to Anonymouse's formula:

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a paragraph or two that introduces characters, quickly creates a scene in which disbelief is briefly suspended, and then a sudden and unexpected statement about the preceding that acts as the climax.

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Koestler would say something like what makes the unexpected statement "funny" is the collision of two worlds that had previously been held separate, but seem inevitably joined once they collide. The audience makes a new connection in the brain that wasn't there before, and laughs with the joy of the discovery.

Koestler also believed that the moment of a scientist's new discovery of a natural law is exactly the same feeling.

This needs an example, so I'll pick the "joke of the day" from Comedy Central at random.

An atheist was taking a walk through the woods, admiring all that evolution had created.

"What majestic trees! What powerful rivers! What beautiful animals!", he said to himself. As he was walking along the river, he heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. When he turned to see what the cause was, he saw a 7-foot grizzly charging right towards him. He ran as fast as he could. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the bear was closing, He ran even faster, crying in fear. He looked over his shoulder again, and the bear was even closer. His heart was pounding and he tried to run even faster. He tripped and fell on the ground. He rolled over to pick himself up, but saw the bear right on top of him, reaching for him with his left paw and raising his right paw to strike him.

At that moment, the Atheist cried out "Oh my God!...." Time stopped. The bear froze. The forest was silent. Even the river stopped moving.

As a bright light shone upon the man, a voice came out of the sky, "You deny my existence for all of these years; teach others I don't exist; and even credit creation to a cosmic accident. Do you expect me to help you out of this predicament? Am I to count you as a believer?"

The atheist looked directly into the light "It would be hypocritical of me to suddenly ask You to treat me as Christian now, but perhaps could you make the bear a Christian?" "Very well," said the voice.

The light went out. The river ran again. And the sounds of the forest resumed.

And then the bear dropped his right paw ..... brought both paws together...bowed his head and spoke: "Lord, for this food which I am about to receive, I am truly thankful."

I think this one works with Koestler's framework and Anonymouse's pretty well, for a randomly chosen example. Mouse's "sudden and unexpected statement" certainly acts as a climax, but the unexpected isn't just unexpected, it's inevitable.

The worlds colliding are nature (with the frameworks "natural, indifferent beauty" and "food chain") and Christianity (with an initially unknown framework).

In the story, the Atheist thinks to save his life by casting Christianity into the framework "golden rule" or "charity", conflicting with the nature framework "food chain". The voice in the sky recasts the two worlds so that they collide without conflict: Nature's "food chain" and Christianity's "pray before meals" are in harmony, so nature continues uninterrupted.

Koestler might say that the resolution of the collision was both surprising and, in retrospect, inevitable.

P.S. As Anonymouse also points out, this is a microcosm of story writing. A story's ending should also be both surprising and inevitable in retrospect, with all the frameworks eventually melding without conflict. So perhaps this topic is really also "how to write endings"!

Another example of the "collision of worlds" is kindly provided by this apple mockery:

http://www.wired.com/gadgets/mac/mul...=4&slideView=4

In my first foray into Pencil Sharpening, merely a quick comment that I hope is not based on an errant reading of the information above. It appears that the definitions and descriptions above hinge the success of a joke on the unexpected. How is it then explained that I have heard the bear and the atheist joke countless times before, yet I still chuckled as I read it this time?

I suspect more than merely surprise is at work in creating a laugh.

A second comment, as well, and in violation of my opening statement (hoping I may be forgiven): endings are the MOST difficult thing for me in non-erotic writing. I will watch this thread off and on for that aspect if for nothing else.

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Originally Posted by GearJammer{kuriouspet}

How is it then explained that I have heard the bear and the atheist joke countless times before, yet I still chuckled as I read it this time?

I suspect more than merely surprise is at work in creating a laugh.

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I think I chuckle the second time thinking of the surprise of the Atheist -- even if my own surprise is no longer there, the collision of worlds and the surprise resolution are still a surprise to the character. The joke's on him.

That's my theory, anyway.

P.S. Welcome to Pencil Sharpening -- I will be starting to moderate and have some fun with this group shortly and I hope you come back and bring friends!

that really is a problem with the funny bone, if it tickles it tickles, if it doesnt it doesnt. I find george carlin funny, robin williams, dave chapel, they are all funny, blackadder, red dwarf. some jokes you can laugh at 100 times, others only a few, some, not even once. also, its the way you construct the joke, the way you tell it.

theres a farmer, hes had the same employee for 15 years, and they have a great working relationship. the problem is, they dont know a single thing about the other. the closest they come to a personal conversation is, good morning, how was your weekend?
one day, the farmer's employee buys a moped. taking this as an oppertunity to start a personal conversation, he asks, new moped?
the employee looks angry at the farmer and walks away steaming mad. the farmer watches him storm off, flabber gasted.
the next day the employee walks up to the farmer, and hands him his resignation.
the farmer looks questioningly at him, and he replies, all that nagging about my new moped!

i think its setup, development, twist-in-the-tail, something you dont expect.
a one-liner is mostly a mix up in what a word should mean, then giving it a new meaning, or a strange context, a longer joke just has more setup, in the way of explaining the two opposite frameworks.

monty python was bad that way, they had poor punchlines, or no punchline all together, but they did get closer to discovering the funny bone. they had a thing where they would suddenly blurt out the word tea-pot. that became funny after awhile, because it is nonsensical.

even subject matter might be important, if its close to your heart it might just sound insulting. if you don't care about the subject matter at all, your reaction might be, and?

While on a road trip, an elderly couple stopped at a roadside restaurant for lunch. After finishing their meal, they left the restaurant and resumed their trip. When leaving, the elderly woman unknowingly left her glasses on the table and she didn't miss them until they had been driving about twenty minutes.

By then, to add to the aggravation, they had to travel quite a distance before they could find a place to turn around, in order to return to the restaurant to retrieve her glasses.

All the way back, the elderly husband became the classic grouchy old man. He fussed and complained and scolded his wife relentlessly during the entire return drive. The more he chided her, the more agitated he became. He just wouldn't let up one minute.

To her relief, they finally arrived at the restaurant. As the woman got out of the car and hurried inside to retrieve her glasses, her husband yelled to her, "While you're in there, you might as well get my hat and the credit card." [forwarded by Fred Dick]

is that funny? now lets say you have to live with that guy...

I've been writing as a part-time job on humor and angst (ah, the wonders of mood swings), and I think a large part of the humor depends on who your audience is. Jokes come in 4 different categories - that's how I learned it.

The first type is the shortest. There's the cause - a normal remark, statement, something that the audience could relate to, something everyday-ish and then the effect. The effect need to twist the persepective into something the audience would not have thought up by themselves. It needs to be easily understood, no thinking involved, and yet not fall into the category of 'lame'. These are the hardest to think by when you need them. The best way would be to bounce sentences or ideas off a friend who have a good sense of humor. That way, the joke flows, doesn't seem awkward and the friend can point out if it's, well, lame.

The second type is a more story kind of format. The person telling the joke sets up a senario and teases the audience with hints of what the ending (the part where they laugh at) might be and this makes the audience involved in the joke. That's why some jokes just never seem to get old - because there's always this anticipation, or fond memory of the anticipation. Women are scientifically proven to be better at this type of jokes (^^ Ha!), and the problem with this joke is that every single word must be necessary. People want to hear the joke, wants the feel happy but the brain can only focus on something for so long before moving on to something else.

The third type is nonsensical things. Essentially, it's things we think are silly, maybe childish, and not something people would normally do. This is sometimes hard for the person telling/acting it because the audience is no longer laughing with you, they're laughing at you. And it's still damn hard to do. Nonsensical jokes tend to have a hit-or-miss on the audience. If someone in the audience thinks it's funny and they laugh, soon the entire audience laughs because laughter really can be catching. But before that someone laughs, there's an awkward silence. Very very awkward. The golden rule seems to be : first time, we laugh; second time, we laugh harder (because, again, anticipation); third time, we start wondering if the weather is going to be better tomorrow.

Lastly, the 'inside' kind of jokes. These are the most common in written material or tv-series because the writer can build it up - there's interaction between characters that are more solid than any of the above so we can relate, understand and 'get into' the character. Because of something that happened before that the writer knows the audience knows about, the writer can draw the audience in, make the audience like the characters, and make the writer him/herself seem witty. This tends to be the easiest humor to write because there's so many openings. The difference between this and the previous three is that the three above has a goal, if you will. The point is the build and build and build and then have a big burst of laughter at the end. This type of humor though is not always for humor's sake. The 'build' part is the most important bit - that's your plot and characters, the actual book. The humor is more slapped on, put in to fill the cracks of character development, plot movement, tension diffusion, etc. Humor becomes a tool. And of course, it can also be used as a weapon, to make a point, like satires. The humor is no longer why it is written but used as a tool to draw audiences.

Now that I have suitably confused everyone, I shall step off my soap-box. Hope that helped.

Kudos to anyone who actually read though the whole thing. ^^