Hello everybody and welcome to the next entry in the comedy writing series.  So far, we have touched on the numerous elements behind comedy, we’ve learned that they’re often combined, and we’ve also learned that a lot of them stand on their own.  Today, we’ll be looking at jokes and what they are.

There are many definitions of a joke, and each one leads to a different type.  Just as different statements & sentences add variety to any paragraph in writing, different types of jokes add variety to a comedic piece.  Before we go into those forms, let’s observe the basic structure behind most jokes.

Set-up —>  build-up —> punchline

With the set-up, you wanna start with just enough information to start the joke.  Say too much, and you risk spoiling the punchline.  Say too little, and the joke will feel like it’s lacking something.  Once it’s set in motion, you build it up, adding a little more information.  When enough is said, the punchline (the key word or phrase that triggers the laugh) is delivered.  Sometimes, build-up might not be necessary.  Jokes with a set-up and punchline can be just as effective when done right.

Now let’s take a look at the various types of jokes.

1).  A combination of two or more distinct ideas.  The ideas can be topics/sub-topics, facts, statements, opinions, aspects centered around the topic(s), attributes, etc.

This is pretty self-explanatory, two or more different ideas are combined through something that they share.  The connection they share is always a product of free-associations.  This is the most popular joke form.

2).  An opinion worded in an interesting or amusing way.

If someone has a keen way with words, this can be sublime.  Not everybody may agree with the opinion, but if it’s written well, delivered well, and if it can paint a humorous picture in the audience’s imagination, it can do wonders.  In addition to being great as a quick go-to joke form, it’s also good for revealing a point of view and showing a little personality.

3).  A sudden revelation of a previously-concealed fact

In this approach, someone talks about something while withholding a piece of information that makes it funny, and then they reveal it as the punchline.

4).  A statement that creates and subverts assumptions

This one’s similar to the previous in terms of the surprise factor, but where that approach relies on withholding information, this one is about implying an assumption to the audience and then shattering it with the “reality.”

5).  A seemingly ordinary statement with a humorous choice of words

Along with humorous opinions, this is a good quick go-to method and can apply to any kind of sentence.  These are good to have in between the other types of jokes.

So those are the five types of jokes.  Other types are very likely a by-product of experimenting with these, but the general foundation for jokes comes from these five forms.  As I said, mixing each of these gives a good feeling of variety in anything you write.  Combine this with any or all the elements from the previous post, and you’ve got a good idea of what you can work with.  We’re only scratching the surface though.

In the next entry, I’ll go into some actual joke writing techniques.  As always, stay tuned!