Other Things to Do When Editing

Can you add an act-out?

An act-out is exactly that: Instead of describing something you act it out. Don’t tell the audience how crazy the cashier was but show them by playing him.

The Ikea Effect

Whenever you can, let the audience figure out the punchline instead of outright stating it.

“If quizzes are quizzical, what are tests?”

“I neither have the time nor the crayons to explain it to you.”

You will discover that the audience will need a second longer to start laughing. But when they do, it will be that much louder.

I think this is because of the so called “Ikea Effect”. A psychological phenomenon that explains why we tend to assign furniture that we assembled ourselves more value than it’s actually worth just because we put effort into assembling them ourselves. That little bit of extra effort in figuring out the punchline results in pride and thus more laughter.

So don’t give them 4, but rather present your joke as 2 + 2 and let them get it in their own time.

Put the surprise at the end of the joke

Whenever you write or edit a joke put the Sudden Cognitive Change (aka the surprise) as close as possible to the end of the joke. Any words after the surprise will either subdue the laughter because the audience wants to hear the rest of the joke or any additional information will get lost in the laughter.

It’s a punchline. Not a “punch and then some other stuff”-line.

Don’t hint at the punchline in the setup

Also known as “Don’t telegraph the punchline in the setup”. That means try to not use any words in the setup that are crucial in the punchline. Synonyms are your friends here!