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\nHow to Write Funnier Jokes<\/h2>\n
\u00a0<\/span>In this joke writing article,<\/span> How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 7 – Eliminate Comic Cliches, <\/span><\/i>I\u2019ll convince all comedians to extinguish all the hacky, trite, overused, tired, and stereotypical phrases and actions from stand-up comedy routines and shows. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n
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Previously in this series of joke writing articles, you learned<\/span> How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 1 – Make Setups and Punchlines Short, Tip 2 – End Punchlines with the Reveal, Tip 3 – Use K-Words to Enhance Punchlines<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Tip 4 – Localize Comedy Routines<\/span><\/i>, <\/span>Tip 5 – Make Punchlines More Negative, and Tip 6 – To Pun or Not to Pun, <\/span><\/i>to improve your ability to write jokes to get the biggest laughs from your stand-up comedy routines.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>I coined the term Comic Cliches<\/i> to give a category to the endless repeating of the hack phrases and actions in stand-up comedy routines. <\/span><\/p>\n
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\nTip 7 – Eliminate Comic\u2019s Cliches
\n” title_text=”Talented female comedian performs her stand up at a local night” _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][\/et_pb_image][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][et_pb_row _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″ _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”][et_pb_text _builder_version=”4.20.4″ _module_preset=”default” global_colors_info=”{}”]<\/p>\nThese Comic\u2019s Cliches all fulfill some very important function in performing stand-up comedy. But instead of understanding that function and creating something original, too many comics adopt the cliches they\u2019ve heard in other comic\u2019s shows.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
This mindless integration of these cliches is the fast track to Hackville for all comics. They\u2019ll assure all originality is masked by some hokey phrase or action that\u2019ll eventually bury you in the piles of the forgotten.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Tip 7 – Eliminate Comic Cliches<\/b><\/h3>\n
I\u2019m not addressing the cultural cliches, idioms, proverbs, slogans, and catchphrases. Those familiar sayings are the stock and trade for all funny people and comedy writers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
The first step in eliminating these Comic Cliches is awareness. They are so entrenched in the stand-up comedy culture most comics aren\u2019t even conscious they\u2019re using so many in their comedy routines.<\/span><\/p>\n
I cannot cover all of them in this article, so I\u2019ll focus on the most egregious examples of these trite expressions.<\/span><\/p>\n
Audience Greetings<\/b><\/p>\n
Greeting an audience at the beginning of your show is important and can set the right tone. Yet, too many comics, especially beginners, open with some slight variation on the comic\u2019s cliche:<\/span>
<\/b><\/p>\n\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHow y\u2019all doing tonight?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0I\u2019m not here to point out the bad grammar, but to wonder why you\u2019d want to start your show with the same hack phrase as almost everyone performing in the show.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>I\u2019ve been to shows, even other comedy school shows, where everyone that enters, including the MC, said, \u201cHow y\u2019all doin\u2019 tonight.\u201d Even when the show was in the morning or afternoon. That\u2019s how pervasive this verbal curse runs in the minds of the comedically impaired.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
I wanted to ask, \u201cDidn\u2019t you notice the other thirty comics before you said the same greeting?\u201d Comics all the time yap about having a unique sense of humor, then start their shows like all the other comics. Not a very convincing start.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>I also want to know if you\u2019ve ever been in the audience of a comedy show while awake? As an audience member we get fed up with comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic who insist, we answer the same friggin question. It\u2019s as annoying as reading the previous sentence. Then in the next paragraph you\u2019re forced to endure it all over again.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>After the third one the audience wants to yell, \u201cWE\u2019RE FINE!\u201d and we think, \u201cI hope the next comic doesn\u2019t start the same way.\u201d But alas, we still have twenty-seven more times to hear the same obligatory dribble numbing our willingness to laugh. (And yes, there are 27 \u201ccomic after comic\u201d in the previous paragraph. Just wanted you to suffer like the audience.)<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>This has such a simple fix. You do it almost every day. Introduce yourself. That\u2019s it. Just do a version of what you do when you meet new people.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHi, I\u2019m John Q Comic. Nice to meet you. Thanks for being here.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>And it doesn\u2019t have to be the same greeting every time. With your original sense of humor and creativity, maybe you can ad-lib a new greeting for each new audience.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
Just saying, \u201cHello,\u201d even kindergarteners can do it, so why not mostly grown-up comics. But then again, it\u2019s easier to use the same comic\u2019s cliche as everyone else before starting your original comedy show.<\/span><\/p>\n
Segues or Transitions<\/b>
<\/b><\/h3>\nTo compound the idiocy, segues and transitions are not needed in modern stand-up comedy. Every comedian can just start talking about something just because they\u2019re a comic on a comedy stage. It seems unnatural at first, but you\u2019ll get used to it and then notice how much easier it is to just start the next routine.
<\/b><\/p>\n\u00a0What has taken the place of transitions is the Premise. I have my own definition of a premise: <\/span>a negative opinion about a subject.<\/span><\/i> Yes, that\u2019s it. Simple. What are you going to talk about and what is your position?<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Here\u2019s an example of a useless transition going wrong. I was watching a bringer show at the Ice House Annex Room, in Pasadena CA. Most of the comics had a few years of performing.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
A comic, we\u2019ll call Dick, started his show with, \u201cHi. How y\u2019all doing?\u201d so I expected the usual. Next, he asked a question as a way of bringing up the subject of his next routine, \u201cHow many people here have a phobia?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
This may seem like a reasonable way to be able to start his routine, but there are several downsides. Yet that evening alone, the seven previous comics had asked a question as a means of introducing their subject.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
I\u2019d already heard three times, \u201cHow many people here are married?\u201d There had also been, \u201cHow many people here like ice cream?\u201d Twice, \u201cHow many people here are in a relationship? \u201cHow many people here smoke pot?\u201d \u201cHow many people here drink beer?\u201d And \u201cHow many people here have had some bad sex?\u201d From comic after comic after comic\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
Back to my Dick story. He asked, \u201cHow many people here have a phobia?\u201d Now this is where it can get dangerous for newbies. What you may not know is that if you invite someone into your show, there\u2019s an unstated contract with the audience that in the end, you\u2019ll take care of this person. By asking a question, you\u2019ve prompted someone to answer, hence unintentionally inviting them into your show.<\/span><\/p>\n
In this audience, there was a sweet old lady that this question set off her phobia alarm and she began to yammer, \u201cOh my goodness, I have a terrible fear of spiders. And this morning I found a spider on my refrigerator door, and I couldn\u2019t go near it. I was hungry. But I couldn\u2019t go near it. So, I had to call my grandson, Timmy, he\u2019s such a good boy, to come over and get the spider out of my kitchen so I could cook–\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
Dick tried to let her finish, but he only had three minutes of stage time and she\u2019d already used up two. He rudely interrupted, \u201cYeah, yeah, that\u2019s fine. Stop talking so I can do my show.\u201d Unstated contract violated. The audience now hated Dick.<\/span><\/p>\n
He went into his bit anyway with, \u201cI have a fear of heights.\u201d As I remember, he had some good jokes that would have gotten some solid laughs. But the audience\u2019s animosity toward him was visceral. They weren\u2019t going to laugh at anything because they were concerned with the old lady.<\/span><\/p>\n
Here\u2019s how he could have avoided all this misfortune. If he\u2019d started his routine by simply stating his premise, \u201cI have a fear of heights.\u201d Then moved right into his jokes and probably would have had a really good set. But no. Instead, he began with the comic\u2019s cliche of asking a question to bring up his phobia.<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Of course, not every comic\u2019s cliche is going to have such dire consequences, but it\u2019s still sending you down the path already taken by comic after comic after comic after comic\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
Here are a few more comic\u2019s cliches to avoid:<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0\u00a0<\/span>\u201cHave you ever noticed\u2026?\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cA funny thing happened on my way here\u2026?<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cBut seriously folks\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want to say\u2026\u201c<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cSpeaking of\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cTrue story, I swear it\u2026\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cWhere are all of my (somebodies) at\u2026?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
\u201cEnjoying the show so far?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n
<\/b><\/p>\n
Action cliches<\/b><\/b><\/h3>\n
These are some of the comic’s cliches that are not said, but rather done.<\/span><\/p>\n
\n
- Leaning one hand on the top of the mic stand.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Pacing back and forth looking down at the floor.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Leaning toward the audience to deliver a punchline.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
- Clapping your hands between jokes.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Picking up and smacking down the mic stand to indicate a punchline.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Nodding \u201cyes\u201d when the audience is laughing.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Picking up the mic stand instead of taking the mic out of the holder.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Using the mic stand as a penis.<\/span><\/li>\n
- Pretending the mic is a penis.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
These aren\u2019t all of them. Each generation seems to add a few more to the ever-growing ranks of the overused and derivative. Now that you\u2019re aware of these comic\u2019s cliches, notice the ones in your show and continue to find the ones in other comic\u2019s shows. Then avoid them like unsafe sex.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0Just by not writing these comic\u2019s cliches you\u2019ll write funnier jokes because instead of relying on the tried and terrible you\u2019ll strive to fulfill the functions of these jokes with original comedy material. Or you can sound like comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic after comic\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n
\u00a0<\/span>In this joke writing article,<\/span> How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 7 – Eliminate Comic\u2019s Cliches,<\/span><\/i> you\u2019ve been made aware of what comic\u2019s cliches are and how they can adversely affect your brand as a stand-up comedian and the performances of your routines. Google comedy cliches and begin the eradication.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n
In the next stand-up comedy writing article, <\/span>How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 8 – Improve Comedy Material Using Specific Details, <\/span><\/i>I\u2019ll show how using specifics can make setups and punchlines funnier.<\/span><\/p>\n
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Greg Dean’s Stand Up Comedy Classes<\/h2>\n
Greg teaches his techniques in two classes.\u00a0 The first is called “How to Build a Stand Up Comedy Routine” and is the beginning class (also called the “101 class”) and the “Advanced Joke Writing & Performing Class” (also known as the “201 class”).\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Even though these classes are named a beginning and advanced,\u00a0 they are actually classes that stand up comedians of any number of years of experience can take.\u00a0 They are beginning and advanced in the Greg Dean system.\u00a0 If you’re interested in faster and better ways to create good jokes and you want to dive deeper on joke writing then you’ll want to take both of these classes.<\/p>\n
Greg teaches his classes live in Santa Monica as well as live on zoom.\u00a0 If you are in the greater Los Angeles area, you can sign up for his classes at the Santa Monica Playhouse.\u00a0 Check our Calendar of Events to see all upcoming classes.\u00a0 Calendar of Events<\/a><\/p>\n