Comedy Writing Secrets
Killing One of Comedy's Long-Standing Myths (Comedy Resources #14)
There is a persistent myth in comedy that refuses to die, namely, that being funny is some kind of mystical inheritance. People who believe this think you were either born with it or not, that either the comedy gods have smiled on you or they have not. According to this myth, everyone else can be considered a spectator meant to watch the naturally gifted do their thing. Thankfully, Mark Shatz and Mel Helitzer spend an entire book dismantling such a dumb idea.
Takeaway 1: Their book, Comedy Writing Secrets, is not really about secrets at all; instead, it’s about structure. And as a linguist who knows a) how language works, and b) how the brain works, I completely agree with their claim that comedy isn’t magic or a mystically inherited gift, but a craft. Just like anyone can learn to frame a photograph or drive a car, they can learn the underlying mechanics of humor, joke writing, or performing stand-up. Once a person sees the structure, the mystery begins to fade but their interest in doing it may actually increase. Shatz and Helitzer also make the point that when the mystery fades, permission appears in its place and you realize you’re allowed to start.
Takeaway 2: One of the book’s most helpful contributions is what the authors call the THREES framework. Every effective joke, they argue, contains some mixture of these elements: Target, Hostility, Realism, Exaggeration, Emotion, and Surprise. The first five elements build pressure and get the audience leaning in. The final element, Surprise, releases that pressure. A good joke works a lot like a curveball. You establish a predictable line of logic with a couple regular pitches then you bend the pitch at the last moment. With a joke, the audience thinks they know where the sentence is going but they don’t. That sudden shift, which generates the surprise, is what produces the laugh. This THREES acronym is helpful.
Takeaway 3: The authors also lean heavily on a truth many comedians already know but often don’t say out loud: Humor often piggybacks on criticism. Put another way: comedy isn’t always nice. Much of it comes from what philosophers call the “Superiority Theory” of humor. The idea is that we laugh because someone else looks foolish, pretentious, confused, or temporarily defeated and, in that moment, we feel superior. When a joke punctures someone’s authority or ego, such as is often the case with politicians, institutions, technology, money, or family life, it essentially levels the playing field. It knocks the powerful down a notch and reminds the rest of us that nobody is as impressive as they think they are.
Takeaway 4: Another section of the book explores what might be called the chemistry of wordplay. The authors treat language like a laboratory, which I absolutely love. They contend that words are like atoms. If you combine them the wrong way, the experiment fizzles. BUT if you combine them correctly, you get an explosion. Some tips for creating explosions with words can be found in literary/linguistic/rhetorical devices: a) play on words; b) double meanings; c) funny names; and, d) deliberate misuses of language.
Takeaway 5: Then there is the rhythm of jokes. In comedy, “3” always seems to be the magic number. Think, for instance, about the very structure of a joke: a) setup, b) anticipation, and c) punch. Or think about using the “Rule of 3s” or the “Triple.” This is one of the most well-known devices of all in comedy. Here the first item establishes the pattern, the second confirms it, but the third breaks it. This works because the audience begins to believe they understand the structure, and then the third beat disrupts that expectation. That disruption, which generates surprise, is the source of the laugh.
Takeaway 6: All of this theory, however, means very little without work. And this is where the book is refreshingly honest. Professional comedy writing is not glamorous; it’s often very laborious. The authors remind joke writers of “The Rule of Ten,” which is basically just for every 10 jokes you write, expect 9 of them to fail. Keep the 1 that works and start again. That ratio might sound discouraging, but it is actually liberating because it allows you to stop waiting for inspiration or perfection and to just start producing material. This is where comedy becomes less like waiting for lightning to strike and more like running a workshop.
In the end, Comedy Writing Secrets has some good insights. But maybe most importantly, it takes comedy down from a pedestal and places it on a workbench. This isn’t to say talent doesn’t matter; of course, it does. But talent alone is not enough. Structure, discipline, and daily practice all matter. And once that’s understood, the path forward in comedy becomes clearer because now you know how funny actually works.
JOKE WRITING COURSE: By the way, if you have any interest at all in learning about your persona, how to write some jokes, or doing stand-up comedy, check out my online joke writing course, “The Joke Writer’s Lab,” HERE.
JOKE MEMORY COURSE: My companion course to “The Joke Writer’s Lab” is now live: “The Comedian’s Memory Lab.” Learn how to conceptualize, organize, and memorize your entire comedy set. This method works for 10 jokes or 100, a set that’s 3 minutes of 1 hour. You can get it HERE.