How to Evaluate a Joke in 10 Questions
Jokes are the atoms of humor. Let’s talk about how to deconstruct them for learning purposes, whether you’re breaking down a pro’s working jokes or listening back to recordings of your own sets.
Let me stress at the outset that if you’re on the path to get funnier it will be critical that you get up in front of people who don’t know you and do comedy. If you like improv, do that. If you like standup, do that. Just don’t stay in your armchair all day long talking comedy theory without applying that theory.
Joking around with friends and family is a great way to enjoy your life, but if you intend to take comedy seriously you should seriously consider improv or standup or both.
Joke Diagram
The simplest joke diagram looks like the image below. We want to build tension with the setup, then release it with the punch. Note that neither the setup nor the punch are necessarily overt, but they always exist.
Let’s get into some more fine detail, though, with some questions we can ask ourselves to evaluate a joke.
1 — Setup: Is the premise clear?
People can’t laugh at your joke if they do not understand it. A lot of us are introverts by nature, but we’re nevertheless going to have to learn to speak loudly and enunciate. If you’re doing standup, the mic needs to be close to your face.
Are there big words in the setup where small ones would do? Are you using industry jargon, words from another language, acronyms, etc.?
I’m not suggesting that you talk down to your audience, only that you make sure that your joke lives and dies on its humor merits, not its technical makeup.
2 — Setup: Is it as concise as possible?
A truly great joke goes beyond using the fewest words possible to the point where it uses the fewest syllables possible while still satisfying question 1 above.
First, remove every word you don’t need from your setup, and then consider if there are any extra syllables, especially if you’re speaking English, which is the linguistic equivalent of an alley brawler.
When considering words to remove, start with adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases, then see if there are any groups of words you use conversationally that can be replaced with a shorter equivalent.
I used to own a really weird blue car before I graduated college.
Depending on the punch that matches this setup, you could shorten this as much as:
Had a car.
You won’t know how far you can strip it back until you go too far.
3 — Setup: Does the audience relate?
If the audience has understood your premise, but they can’t relate, you won’t be able to build tension for them, which means you won’t be able to release that tension, which means no laughs. Some people are more willing to put themselves in other people’s shoes than others, but it’s still our responsibility as comedians to overcome that as much as possible.
If you have a joke which you consider to be of questionable relatability, you might try moving it to a point a little later in your set where you feel you’ve built rapport with the crowd.
4 — Setup: Is it a wolf in sheep’s clothing?
Misdirection is every bit as good a tool for us as for magicians. Try to think of ways to get to your punch that are clear, concise, relatable, but not necessarily direct.
5 — Setup: Does it build correct tension?
There are lots of ways to build tension in people that wont necessarily make them laugh. Consider who feels the tension in your setup. You might try rewriting the joke various ways with different people feeling the tension. e.g.:
- When I was a kid, my parents juggled chainsaws.
- This kid I knew had chainsaw jugglers for parents.
- Imagine you grew up with chainsaw jugglers.
“Correct” tension also addresses those subjects which are considered by some to be taboo. You can easily build tension in the room by mentioning certain subjects, but releasing that tension in a beneficial way will take a lot of craft. More on that later.
Let’s get to the punch.
6 — Punch: Is It right off the shelf?
Even though we’re all leading different lives, we’re also sharing a lot of experiences. We’re all considering similar material. Stuff like love, relationships, work, will never stop being great comedy landscapes as long as we take the time and care to reach for original looks at them.
Even so, sooner or later you’ll write a completely original joke from your own mind only to find that some other comedian has written that exact joke word-for-word already. So it goes.
Reaching for that new angle on well-trodden material is hard work, but the audience will reward you for it, especially if you’re trying to do edgy material.
7 — Punch: Is it as concise as possible?
Again, we want to go for maximum word economy, possibly even to the point where we sacrifice perfect grammar. Even if it’s part of your on-stage persona that you speak with textbook diction, you could benefit from the occasional dip into the salty sea of colloquialism if it the result is brevity.
Or, to put it another way, shorten yo shit.
8 — Punch: Does it reveal a necessary truth?
Every joke out of your mouth does not have to be the most woke thing ever spoken, but if you can weave the truth as you see it into your comedy and the audience agrees with you, it will serve you well.
One of the great things about live standup comedy is that you can get people to laugh in spite of themselves, whereas if they were reading your magazine article on the exact same material they might not open up in the same way.
By the same token, if you go around saying derogatory things about people, you might be able to get laughs now but pay the price later. If you’re good at pointing out the truth, great. Just ask yourself: is it necessary to say this?
9 — Overall: Does this joke have craft?
If the joke brings all the previous questions together well, we describe that as “craft.”
Craft can do a lot of good for us, especially if you want to explore edgy or controversial topics. If you run out on stage and start saying bad words I’m not sure you’re going to be able to make too much great work out of that. But by the same token, you can craft the filthiest premises imaginable into good stuff if you’re willing to grind and polish an idea.
10 — Most important: Did the joke get laughs?
Standup and improv are the ultimate tests.
- If you say a joke and strangers laugh, that moment is yours forever. You did it. You are funny. No one can ever take that away from you.
- You can armchair your jokes all day long. People can tell you they think a joke will or won’t work. But if you say it and people laugh — at that moment, at least — it worked. There is no further discussion.
- If you are watching a comedian whose work doesn’t resonate with you but other people are laughing, they’re funny. To say they’re not funny reveals you as someone who doesn’t understand the art.
Hope this has proven helpful. Let’s make some great work together.
