How to Write Funny Humor

With humor skills, you can make your friends laugh.

Comedy writing is a great way to entertain people while making a bit of extra money on the side. It could also lead to a career in comedy writing. While not everyone who tries to break into comedy writing is successful, most people with a passion for comedy can have a great time writing it. The common thread to all such writing is the element of surprise, which can manifest itself in the form of wordplay, irony or twist endings.

Instructions

1. Write a list of topics. Pick topics that you like to talk about. Most any topic can be funny if done properly, but no topic is funny if executed poorly. You are most likely to be funny when writing about topics you know.

2. Select one topic for your first bit. Choose an experience in your life, a topic in the news or popular culture that relates to this topic. Write a title for the bit that helps you remember it.

3. Write an initial set up for your first bit. The set up is the part of the story that comes before the surprise. A set up, on its own, is not meant to be funny. An example of a set up in an office humor story would be you try to locate the origin of a funny smell in your office.

4. Write a punchline. A punchline is a surprising twist that makes your story funny. For example, in the story about a funny smell in your office, a good twist is to have the story end with you being overwhelmed by a bad smell near the garbage can before your boss says, "Oh, sorry Dave, we accidentally dropped your performance review in the trash, hope you don't mind." The twist here is that the speaker's review stunk so badly it literally stunk.

5. Write tag ons. Tag ons are additional punchlines that come after the first punchline. For example, in the smelly office story, a tag on is a line like, "Oh, and Dave, your supervisor is in the hospital sick this week, if your performance doesn't improve, we're going to have to declare a public health hazard." Write this type of tag ons if you think you can stretch the punchline out with different scenarios.

6. Pepper your act with references to current events. People are more likely to laugh at a joke if it involves people and situations they know about. Check the news for stories about controversial celebrities and politicians, and incorporate these individuals if the stories can be related to the topics you find interesting.

References

• Real First Steps; Anatomy of a Stand-Up Comedy Joke; Steve Roye; May 2011
• BBC New Talent; Seven Rules of Comedy; April 2007