Help us with our jokes

[iambobbymac]

I thought a lot of them had potential but these were great as is - not everyone will get the Def Leppard one but it will be worth it for those that do.

thanks doc. after writing that one i came up with one of the more ambitious goals or ideas ive had - to write a bit around playing a collective song clips on an ipod or record player, lowering the volume to tell one-liners in relation to the song/lyrics/band/genre.

[Urine]

I tend to not really come up with punchlines too much. Most of my jokes are just kind of my way of looking at something, or my description of something. Is this bad? I've been thinking about just keeping the descriptions of things I make, and then adding punchlines to them later when I get the chance to focus on it.

Then again, I haven't been on stage yet to actually DO stand-up. I plan on starting this summer.

[Harry B]

I tend to not really come up with punchlines too much. Most of my jokes are just kind of my way of looking at something, or my description of something. Is this bad? I've been thinking about just keeping the descriptions of things I make, and then adding punchlines to them later when I get the chance to focus on it.

Then again, I haven't been on stage yet to actually DO stand-up. I plan on starting this summer.

Punchlines are a pretty good idea in stand-up.

[scamboogah]

I've been thinking about just keeping the descriptions of things I make, and then adding punchlines to them later when I get the chance to focus on it.

Have you ever thought of moving to Hollywood and getting into movie producing? You just described the process of how every Gerard Butler movie after 300 got made.

[Urine]

Punchlines are a pretty good idea in stand-up.

I know that. What I'm asking is, should I be going about my entire process of joke writing differently? Should I be looking for the punchline first and then developing the rest?

[scamboogah]

You should do whatever results in the funniest end product.

[drbristol]

I know that. What I'm asking is, should I be going about my entire process of joke writing differently? Should I be looking for the punchline first and then developing the rest?

Let me try that.

Hmmm...ah! "No truth to the rumor that his casket was put in crooked". OK!! Punchline!

Now, let's see....set-up. Ummm....ok, got it. "Former IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch died yesterday". Yes!!

(Aw, shit. Nope, that doesn't work. Looks like a Carnac routine.)

[JManderville]

I don't think that this has any place in the stage set I am working on but I wanted to get it out of my head anyways:

"I just saw a sidebar ad on Facebook that said 20,641 people "Like" Keystone Light. So this must also mean that 20,641 people "Like" having emergency diarrhea."

[scamboogah]

The guy who invented italics died yesterday.

No truth to the rumor that his casket was sarcastically put in crooked".

[JManderville]

- If you have a dog and he won't eat his food, just tell him: "Hey, eat your food! If it's good enough for Mel Gibson it's good enough for you!" ....if he has seen The Road Warrior, then he will understand what you are saying. Because dogs, just like humans, can only understand what you're talking about if you both have seen the same movies. -

[Cerak]

I don't really like sports. I think they're SO boring to watch. Don't get me wrong though, I LOVE when people are excited about sports and talk about them -- mostly because I pretend the teams they're talking about are literally what the teams are.

"Did you see it this weekend?! The Giants KILLED the Vikings!"

[SlyBattery]

I might be wrong, but I believe that concept has been spun before Cerak.

[Cerak]

I might be wrong, but I believe that concept has been spun before Cerak.

Whew, thank you! I have a set this week and I was gonna try that out. Glad I ran it by you guys first.

[JManderville]

- I think it's pretty shitty that all the media focus' on these days are celebrity sex scandals.
People just don't seem to appreciate the great achievements in science being made in this modern age. Just last year, director James Cameron traveled through space to a far away planet and shot footage of the native cultures there and all anyone does is complain about it. -


I like the naivety premise of this joke but it seems like it could be better.
I also am apprehensive on joking about celebrity scandals and Avatar if they're becoming less than fresh topics. Is this something I should worry about too much when writing?

[scamboogah]

I also am apprehensive on joking about celebrity scandals and Avatar if they're becoming less than fresh topics. Is this something I should worry about too much when writing?

First of all, 'celebrity scandals' is about as vague as you can get. It can't be dated if there's nothing specific about it.

But to answer your question, yes.

[MJEH]

I also am apprehensive on joking about celebrity scandals and Avatar if they're becoming less than fresh topics. Is this something I should worry about too much when writing?

You'd have to decipher your definition of scandalous yourself, then draw from that. You could also take a celeb situation and exaggerate it to comedic effect.

"Avatar" can remain fresh depending on the context of the material. It is the highest grossing movie of all time. It sold the most blu-ray copies of any movie during the first 4 days of release. Is Cameron planning a sequel? Will he combine "Avatar" and "Titanic" to make a new movie? What would he call it? What would the theme be? Etc.

[Cerak]

You'd have to decipher your definition of scandalous yourself, then draw from that. You could also take a celeb situation and exaggerate it to comedic effect.

"Avatar" can remain fresh depending on the context of the material. It is the highest grossing movie of all time. It sold the most blu-ray copies of any movie during the first 4 days of release. Is Cameron planning a sequel? Will he combine "Avatar" and "Titanic" to make a new movie? What would he call it? What would the theme be? Etc.

I agree, what's cool about this joke is there will always be celeb scandals and there will always be a crazy-CGI'd movie coming out, so the fine details can be switched out whenever you feel them getting dated.

[Krudler]

"I didn't think I'd gained that much weight until I was cleaning a DVD with the bottom of the shirt I was wearing."

The idea of the joke is that I see my reflection in the DVD as I look down while cleaning the disc with my shirt. I suppose it works if I mime the cleaning action as I perform the joke. It might also work if instead I add, "and I caught my reflection."

Any advice on how to simplify the "joke," or at least the delivery?


Should I just get in shape already?

[JManderville]

I like the idea. Here is my stab at it.

"I didn't think I had gained so much weight until I saw my marshmallow-abs reflected back at me in the Schindler's List DVD I was cleaning off with the bottom of my t-shirt.

or

"I didn't feel guilty about gaining so much weight until I saw my marshmallow-abs reflected back at me in the Schindler's List DVD I was cleaning off with the bottom of my t-shirt.


note: I'm still new at writing jokes so I'm not sure this is the best structure or direction..but I do think that adding some descriptive details helps sometimes.

[Krudler]

Thanks for the input! This actually highlights the main problem with the joke (excluding 'not funny.')

The idea is that, because I'm looking down at the DVD, I see my double chin reflected back at me, not my marshmallowy abs (easy mistake to make.)

I hadn't even considered that the DVD title itself could add to the joke. Maybe porn? Sad sad porn? Or something about... being fat a lot?