Comedy Writing Self-Taught
Skill, Discipline, Structure, & the Fundamentals (Comedy Resources #15)
I’ve had my fair share of days staring a blank page or laptop screen, enough anyway to know that writing jokes definitely isn’t magic. I know, of course, that there’s something romantic about the idea that a comedian just walks on stage and effortlessly delivers something brilliant, like it just flows out of them. And, yeah, sometimes that’ll happen in the moment during crowd work or a spontaneous riff and so on. But for the overwhelming majority of time a comedian’s on stage, most of it’s planned rather than spontaneous. So, here’s a little secret I’m going to let you in on, a secret about the reality of stand-up comedy: it’s pretty repetitive. Most of what looks natural on stage is the result of a lot of repetitious work hardly anyone sees.
That’s part of why Gene Perret’s book, Comedy Writing Self-Taught, sticks out to me. Perret isn’t just someone who just wrote a book about comedy, though he’s done a lot of that; no, Perret helped build comedy at a high level with people like Bob Hope and others who completely defined an era. What I appreciate about Perret in that regard is that he doesn’t treat comedy like a mystery to be admired. I wrote an ARTICLE recently about how stupid such an idea is anyway. Perret treats comedy like he should, like all of us should, like something that can be taken apart and understood. He uses a “doorbell” analogy that captures his point well: the point isn’t to hear the sound but to understand what makes it ring.
While many people think of humor as something you either have or you don’t, like it’s some kind of built-in trait, Perret doesn’t. He pushes against that and makes the case that even if someone has a natural feel for comedy, it won’t go very far without discipline. I love it! No one, after all, expects to play an instrument well without practice. For some reason, however, people think comedy should be different. Uhh, no! Like anything, it all starts with a good work ethic. With that in mind then, here are a handful of takeaways from the book that I’d like to share.
Takeaway #1 - Comedy’s A Skill That Can Be Learned: Getting good at stand-up comes through training and hard work. That might sound obvious, but it’s not how many people approach it. A lot of comedians still operate like they’re waiting to feel funny before they write, for instance. And, of course, when inspiration strikes, by all means, comedians should write. But they should be writing when inspiration doesn’t strike, too. Perret removes this kind of excuse completely by reframing writing as something you do whether you feel like it or not. I think he’s exactly right.
He even talks about writing to a quota and producing more material than you actually need. Such an approach forces a shift away from waiting on inspiration and toward building something through repetition. This book is built entirely around the expectation that comedians who want to succeed are gonna have to work.
Takeaway #2 - The Discipline of Overwriting: For anyone who’s ever sat down to write, they’ve probably had the experience where the first few jokes that come to mind are pretty predictable. If they tried them on stage, they might get a laugh, but they won’t carry a set. Perret asserts that it’s only after pushing past those that something more distinct and original starts to show up. That’s when and where the real writing happens.
Perret also takes joke structure very seriously. He doesn’t leave things at the level of general advice but gives actual exercises that train how to think in jokes. Whether it’s wordplay, visual comparisons, or building multiple angles off a single idea, he’s constantly reinforcing that comedy has patterns. Once those patterns are understood, they can be used intentionally instead of accidentally. I would only add here that learning a bit about how storytelling and how the brain work, especially in the field of cognitive linguistics, can go a long way in this regard. Once you know how stories work and the brain processes them, along with how language works in general, you’re well ahead of most folks.
Takeaway #3 - Structure Creates Freedom, Not Limitation: Sticking with the matter of structure for a moment, it’s worth noting that many comedians think structure is something for chumps, something that’ll box them in or make their jokes shallow. If used wrongly or misunderstood, yes, that can be true. But the great thing about starting with structure is it actually gives writers a place to start. When I understand the mechanics behind a joke, for instance, I’m not staring at a blank page or screen anymore. Instead, I’ve got something to work with, something to build on, something to refine, and something’s better than nothing. For me, thinking that way changes the entire writing experience.
Takeaway #4 - Study Hard: Perret places strong emphasis on studying other comedians, but not in a passive way. He talks about what he calls “assimilation,” which is essentially learning the rhythm and pacing of someone else’s work. That might mean writing out their material word for word just to understand how it moves. When I first started preaching in my undergrad years, I did exactly that. I literally wrote down when a preacher used an intro, an analogy, a quote, a song, read Scripture, told a joke, delivered an emotional story, and so on. I even color-coded it all. Then I started looking for patterns and commonalities and let those give some shape to how I wrote a sermon and delivered it.
In time, I felt comfortable in my own skin and did things in a way that felt natural to me. The goal early on might’ve been, to a degree, imitation, but in time it just became awareness. And just like in my sermon analyses, when it comes to watching and analyzing other comedians, once that kind of awareness is there, it becomes easier to develop something that actually sounds like me. (By the way, I’ve done similar things when analyzing manuscripts/transcripts of comedians.)
Studying others like this is also about internalizing rhythm and it’s certainly not about copying content. There’s a massive difference between borrowing structures and stealing jokes or parroting someone’s persona. Perret is clear that the goal in analyzing this way is to develop an ear for timing and flow. Once that ear is developed, again, it becomes much easier to recognize what works and what doesn’t. That kind of awareness speeds everything up.
Takeaway #5 - The Fundamentals Outlast The Trends: Whether it’s a late night monologue, a stand-up set, or a short clip online, the basic structure of setup and payoff still matters. The platforms shift, the delivery changes, but the underlying mechanics of writing and delivering jokes remain. And that consistency is what makes this kind of training valuable. It applies no matter where the material ends up.
What I keep coming back to is how practical all of this is. There’s nothing vague about the approach, and there’s no reliance on waiting for the right mood to strike to write. It’s about showing up, doing the work, and trusting that something will come out of it in time. That lines up perfectly with what I’ve learned over the years as a writer in general: The more I treat comedy like something I work at instead of something I wait on, the more consistent everything becomes.
Perret also makes it clear that this isn’t just for beginners. There’s something here for anyone at any level, because the fundamentals don’t go away. Beginners need structure, intermediates need discipline, and even experienced comics need to be reminded that the basics still matter. An added bonus here is that kind of perspective keeps the ego in check and the focus where it should be. It also reinforces humility and issues a reminder that there’s no finish line in this.
At one point, Perret shares a story about Bob Hope still taking lessons after decades of success. Amazing! If there was always something to refine, adjust, or improve for someone as iconic as Bob Hope, then how much more for me or anyone else?! There’s always more to learn. So, if I had to sum up Perret’s book here, I’d say this: Comedy isn’t something I wait for, it’s something I build. As noted above, the more I treat it like a craft with repeatable actions, the less mysterious it becomes. That doesn’t make it easy, but it does make it possible. And for me, that’s been enough for me to keep showing up and doing the work.
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