How to Write a Joke

“A comic says funny things. A comedian says things funny.”

Buckle up! This is going to a wild ride. Well… It’s more going to be a technical ride. Very technical. A lot of definitions are heading your way. But let me assure you: They are wild, wild definitions!

Let’s define stuff!

Now before start, we need to talk the same language. Which means we need to talk about vocabulary. I know, right? This is already so much fun!

But hear me out: If I tell a hundred people to build me a bookshelf I will probably get one hundred bookshelves. They will differ massively in quality, structural integrity and the materials they are made of. But they will probably all work - some more, some less - as bookshelves. And this is because we all have a pretty clear idea of what a bookshelf is.

But if I tell a hundred people to build me a beehive - without looking it up - I will get… To be honest: I have no idea what I would get. I just know that even I, the proposer of this beehive building metaphor, don’t know how to build a beehive. No clue. And my guess is of these one hundred people the majority would be at a loss on how to construct a beehive.

So to avoid any future misunderstanding we need to define stuff. And because I am lazy these definitions are either my own or I pilfered them from humor research. But they are not universally acknowledged.

Let’s define: Humor

For the purpose of this book let’s define “Humor” or the properties of “Humor” as follows:

1) Behavior: The tendency to laugh or to grin
2) Cognitive: Something is intellectually perceived as “funny”
3) Emotional: The positive feeling of amusement

Now one or more of these points need to be fulfilled for something to be “humorous” whereby I also wanna define these three properties as the purpose and goal of a joke.

Let’s define: Form of a Joke

As we have already seen in our Nine Examples the form of a joke can take a lot of different shapes: Comedy dialogs, cartoons, joke jokes, one-liners, visual gag, prop-comedy, comedy song, comical poem, etc. Sometimes a joke only works in one form, sometimes you can translate the content into different forms.

Let’s define: Joke

For the purpose of this book a joke will be what makes you laugh independent of the form it is presented in. So my definition for a joke is:

“A joke conveys information in a funny way.”

That’s all there is to it. That’s what a joke does: Saying something in a funny way.

Now the question becomes: “How does a joke do that?”

Luckily “A joke conveys information in a funny way.” already contains everything we need to know to write a joke. We only have to define and clarify further what this definition of a joke entails.

Let’s split this definition up into two parts:

A joke…
1) … says something…
2) … in a funny way.

Let’s call 1) content and 2) mechanism.

So the elements of a joke are mechanism and content. Both need to be present in order for a joke to properly work.

Let’s define: Content of a Joke

Content is the one part where every joke differs. It is the information, the story, the idea you wanna convey to your audience. It’s the one part most people don’t butcher when retelling a joke. Content is the part of the joke you can summarize or paraphrase.

Let’s define: Mechanism of a Joke

Now things are getting interesting. The definition of the Mechanism of a Joke is as follows:

“A joke adds information in a way that triggers a sudden cognitive shift.”

Big words there, I know. But don’t be afraid. They are not here to hurt you. They are your friends and will help you see things more clearly.

Let’s define: Sudden

It means exactly that: Without warning, unexpectedly.

Let’s define: Cognitive

In this book it simply means mental perception or respectively how information is interpreted by our brain.

Let’s define: Cognitive Shift

Normally a shift is a change in place, position or direction. A cognitive shift simply means that we change our thinking. This can be achieved through reasoning or receiving new information.

A cognitive shift for example happens when we correct an assumption: We go from “This teacup is not hot.” to “This teacup is bloody hot!” by touching said cup. Or observing the steam rising up from it. Or someone telling us that the cup is hot. Or putting a thermometer in said cup. Or, or, or…

I like the word “shift” because it implies that we shift away from something or somewhere to something or somewhere else. For a shift to occur we need a starting place.

And so, a sudden cognitive shift, as far as our joke writing is concerned, is the immediate realization that something isn’t how we assumed it was. No matter if that assumption had been made consciously or subconsciously.

Now let’s look at the whole phrase again:

“A joke adds information in a way that triggers a sudden cognitive shift.”

If you are like me you would ask: “A joke adds information… but adds information to what?”

Very good question. And the answer is as follows:

“A joke adds information in a way that triggers a sudden cognitive shift to information that was either prior knowledge or was provided beforehand by the joke itself.”

Because as the word “shift” already implies: There needs to be a starting point and said starting point is either prior knowledge or information that was conveyed in the first part of the joke.

So in order to write a proper joke we need to structure our content into

1) Information
2) Additional information that is structured in a way so it triggers a sudden cognitive shift.

Now “1) information” simply needs to be present. It doesn’t need to be communicated if it is prior knowledge. And by prior knowledge I don’t only mean stuff that everybody knows like who the current President of the United States is but also information that is shared by your audience by simply being able to observe their environment.

One example of a joke working with commonly shared prior knowledge is this one by Will Durst:

“In San Francisco, Halloween is… redundant.”

The joke plays with the cliché that the people of San Francisco already dress outrageously all year round and thus doesn’t need to be said beforehand. Or better put: Mustn’t be said in order for it to be able to surprise us.

Naturally any information needs to be communicated if we are working with something that is not prior knowledge like for example the third man on the moon or how to construct a beehive.

Now 2) “Additional information that is structured in a way triggers a sudden cognitive shift” is a little bit more complex and it basically means what a lot of comedians refer to as the “Click - Moment” of a joke.

The second the audience “gets it”.

Where the pieces of the puzzle fall into place.

The light bulb moment of a joke.

It’s the additional information we get when we hear “redundant” in Will Dursts joke:

“In San Francisco, Halloween is… redundant.”

Up to that point the phrase could have gone in any number of different directions but with “redundant” Will Durst connects us instantly with what we already know about San Francisco. It’s a beautifully constructed joke that uses an already existing assumption and fulfills it in a surprising and satisfying way and all that in just six words.

So why call it “sudden cognitive shift” instead of “Click - Moment”? Because it’s the most exact way of saying how a joke works and it explains quite well what needs to happen in order to get to this “sudden cognitive shift”. Or what the punchline part of a joke needs to do.

But let’s look at it again:

1) Additional information means exactly that: You communicate additional stuff. Either to prior knowledge or to something that has already been communicated in the first part of the joke.

2) Sudden: The cognitive shift needs to happen immediately because a slow shift would mean that some people will only get the joke when it is too late. Or not at all.

Sudden additionally means that there is a clear moment of before and after in the joke.

If you can’t pinpoint this "before and after" - moment in the joke you are trying to write, it probably needs reworking.

The word sudden also contains the idea that a joke needs to be surprising in order to work successfully, because sudden means that it happened unexpectedly and without warning.

In other words: It was surprising.

But keep in mind: Not every sudden cognitive shift is surprising. When you are aware that you have forgotten the French word for bread, which is a pain, but then you suddenly remember it and thus experiencing a sudden cognitive shift, you won’t be surprised. Because you knew that you knew the French word for bread.

3) Cognitive: Mental perception or respectively how information is interpreted by our brain. So that means the shift needs to happen inside the brains of your audience. And to ensure that, they need to be able to understand it. If nothing happens in their skulls because it was too confusing or complicated you won’t get a laugh. Let me give you an example. Remember our Wordplay example?

“I googled “how to start a wildfire”. I got 48,500 matches!”

Now compare the original to this, worse, version:

“I looked up “how to start a wildfire”. I got 48,500 matches!”

This version could still work if the audience immediately connects “looked up” with the internet and Google which could happen if you have been talking about googling beforehand. But if they connect “look up” to an old fashioned encyclopedia the joke won’t work. You don’t get matches when looking up something in a book and no sudden cognitive shift is happening. The clear starting point, the keyword “googled” is missing.

Another example would be the one time I forgot to mention the title of my poem “The Life of a Food Critic” which is key to the setup. If the audience doesn’t view the poem through the frame of “The Life of a Food Critic” the Sudden Cognitive Shift of the Food Critic “enjoying” a meal at his parents house simply isn’t possible.

Read it without the title and you see the problem:

“The table unstable, the waiter unable
The salad a pallid affair
A soup like a scoop of gelatinous poop
And smack in the middle: A hair

The stew I review with just two words: It blew!
But to list all the faults one by one
Is something I’ll do the next time I’ll pass through
Until then I love you, your son”

4) Shift: A shift means that we go from one thing to another.

In my humble opinion the idea of the “sudden cognitive shift” is the single most important element of comedy writing and everything else just exists to get to a “sudden cognitive shift”.

If we think back to our Humor Theories we could say that laughter is a response to unexpected change that turned out to be benign.

And a joke is nothing else than a vehicle for a sudden cognitive shift (aka change) that turned out to be benign.

Now the question is: How do we get to a sudden cognitive shift? How do we have to structure our Content to achieve this?

Introducing: The Formula. Well, we will introduce the Formula in the next chapter. Before that it’s…

… SUMMARY TIME

Grab your pen! Get some paper and now: Summary. Five sentences! Go, go, go!

THE ONE THING

Write down THE ONE THING which was most useful to you from the chapter.
Now think about one way you can incorporate THE ONE THING in your comedy writing right now. WRITE! IT! DOWN!

EXERCISE TIME

Go online. What? You already are? Good. Go on and find a five minute video of a comedian you like. Even better if it has subtitles. Turn them on. Now I want you to pause after every laugh and answer the question:

What caused the sudden cognitive shift?

Which word or phrase?

And where did the shift start from and where did it end.

Don’t worry if you don’t have answers for every laugh. Just do your best!