how to write a comedy speech

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How to Write Comedy — Tips, Techniques & Script Examples

A sk any creative writer what the hardest genre to write is and they’ll probably tell you that it’s comedy. That’s because story structure can only bring you so far in comedy writing – the fact of the matter is that if you aren’t funny, you aren’t funny. So how do you become funny? Do you read joke books? No! Like everything else, you practice until you become perfect – well, not perfect per se – most comedy writers would be happy with just okay. We’re going to show you how to write comedy, with script examples from 21 Jump Street and Curb Your Enthusiasm , but first, let’s define comedy writing.

Guide to Comedic Writing

What is comedy writing.

In simplest terms, comedy writing is a genre of writing that is intended to be funny. There’s much more to it than that, but first and foremost, the chief goal is to make the audience laugh. Let’s watch a quick video to hear one of the most successful comedy writers of all-time, Jerry Seinfeld, explain the basics of comedy writing.

Writing Comedy  •  Jerry Seinfeld on How to Write a Joke With The New York Times

Comedy writing is something you don’t see people doing. It’s a secretive thing.

— Jerry Seinfeld

As Seinfeld suggests, comedy writing is a very secretive thing. One reason why is because most comedy writers feel like their material has to be perfect before it’s presented. 

Think about it this way: let’s say you write a dramatic stage play. There’s no way to tell if the audience hated it – except if they fell asleep, then I’d say it’s fair to say they hated it. Now let’s say you write a comedic play. If the audience doesn’t laugh at the jokes, then you know they hated it.

You know, they know, everybody knows – a joke that doesn’t land is a special type of shame . It’s for this reason that comedy writing can feel so personal. The most important thing to remember is that nobody is funny 100% of the time, but by taking inspiration from some of the best, we can improve our craft.

Comedy writing doesn’t have to be a solitary craft. Due to the advent of the internet, comedy is more collaborative now more than ever. This next video explains how the Lonely Island sketch “Dear Sister” helped to usher in a new era of comedy.

How to Write Comedy  •  How ‘Dear Sister’ Changed Comedy by Karsten Runquist

The difference between Seinfeld’s traditionalist advice on comedy writing and Karsten Runquist’s new-age analysis is that one says that comedy is achieved by plot ; the other says that plot is achieved by comedy. Think of memes for example: what makes a meme funny? Well, I’d say memes are funny because somebody doesn’t “get it.”

A meme is like an inside joke between millions of people – but once it breaks out of that “inside” bubble, then it ceases to be funny. This teaches us something essential about comedy writing; almost always, somebody has to be the butt of the joke. No matter how big or small, somebody has to be made fun of. It’s this very notion that makes comedy writing so difficult. 

Rules of Comedy, Explained

Tips and tricks for writing comedy.

One of the most difficult aspects of comedy script writing is finding the right person to perform it. You could write something really clever, but if it’s performed in a tone that’s incongruent to what you mean, then it’s not going to sound funny.

So when writing any sort of comedy, don’t be afraid to add emphasis. That’s true in more ways than one – emphasize the punch-lines to your jokes, emphasize specificity, and emphasize contradictions. 

Like any type of writing, comedy writing relies on conflict . In this scene from Meet the Parents , the family patriarch Jack interrogates his daughter’s boyfriend Greg. Pay attention to how screenwriters Jim Herzfeld and John Hamburg entice us with character conflict.

How to Write Comedy  •  Watch the Meet the Parents Lie Detector Test Scene

I wanted to look at this scene for a couple reasons. The first is that it’s a great structural example of how to put together a comedic scene. The mean dad, clueless boyfriend trope is just that... a trope. So how do the writers make it feel refreshing and new?

Well, it starts with emphasis and exaggeration. Jack isn’t just any dad, he’s a former CIA operative. And Greg’s not just a clueless boyfriend, he’s a walking bad-luck charm. So in a structural sense, this relationship is primed for comedic conflict.

Here are five great tips for writing a comedy scene:

• Take a typical situation and exaggerate it
• Let tension build
• Use specificity
• Embarrass someone
• Finish with a bang

Now let’s see how Meet the Parents  utilizes these five strategies.

• Greg is visiting his girlfriend’s family. This is a typical situation – and at some level, it’s something we can all relate to. But it’s exaggerated by Jack’s CIA background.
• Say you’re the writer of a story like  Meet the Parents  and you have a great structural conflict between two characters (Jack and Greg) – how do you take that tension and build it? Well, start by putting the two characters in close proximity.
• Specificity is a double-edged sword in comedy writing. Notice how Greg is wearing Jack’s pajamas with the little JB insignia on the chest-pocket? That’s funny. Notice how there are a bunch of pictures of Jack undercover in the CIA? That’s funny. And it’s funny because it’s not forced on us.
• Jack embarrasses Greg by asking him uncomfortable questions. Situationally, this is funny, and it’s elevated by Robert De Niro’s great deadpan delivery. 
• Like Jerry Seinfeld said, always save the best joke for last. It’s an expectation in comedy writing that you’re going to end with a bang. In this scene from  Meet the Parents , it’s when Jack asks Greg if he watches porn.

WRITING COMEDY TIPS

How to make your script funny.

Would you believe me when I say there’s a secret technique you can use to instantly make any scene funnier? No, that sounds too good to be true! But alas, it is.

The technique known as irony  – which is defined as being the opposite of what we expect – can turn any scene on its head.

How to Write Comedy  •  21 Jump Street Screenplay

21 Jump Street went through a lengthy rewrite process. In this revision of the script, undercover cops Jenko and Schmidt arrive at a scene somewhat akin to what we see in the original tv show. There’s nothing wrong with the scene as it was originally written – but the final version of the scene shows just how much a difference irony can make.

Here, Jenko takes the lead, expecting to command the crowd like he did in high school. But as Bob Dylan famously said, the times are a-changin’. 

How to Write Comedy  •  Watch 21 Jump Street 

We expect Jenko to be considered “cool.” But instead, he’s condemned. Conversely, we expect Schmidt to be considered “lame.” But instead, he’s celebrated. This is irony . This character dynamic makes 21 Jump Street feel refreshing. If you’re considering writing a comedy script, think about how contrived character stereotypes can be subverted with irony. 

Writing Comedy Taboos

Things to avoid in comedy writing.

Most comedians will tell you that no topic is off-limits in comedy writing. And although that may be true, just remember that it’s really hard to make certain things funny – and you’re not going to win audiences over making jokes about taboo subject matter. 

We’ve all heard the saying “read the room” before, but how do we “read the room” when we’re writing alone? Well, one way is to take notes when you’re out in public, then transcribe them into a routine, sketch, or scene later. If you know Larry David’s Curb Your Enthusiasm , then this process may sound familiar.

This next video explains Larry David’s writing process for Curb in further detail.

Comedy Writing Techniques  •  How to Write Comedy Like Larry David by StoryDive

The reason I bring up Curb in regards to “what to avoid in comedy writing” is because Larry David is a master of navigating that ever-so-delicate line. Take this clip from Curb Your Enthusiasm Season Nine, Ep. 8 for example.

How to Write Humor  •  Study Perspective in this Curb Your Enthusiasm Clip

In this montage scene, a Muslim investigator looks into Larry’s past to see if he deserves a fatwa. In each part of the montage, a delicate subject matter is addressed. Why is it funny? Well, it’s all about perspective. In Curb Your Enthusiasm , Larry is consistently made out to be the bad guy. By framing him as the good guy, we see the ludicrousy of the show’s situations in a new light.

Don’t be afraid to play with perspective. Sometimes, the comedy of a scene is found in a perspective you would’ve never guessed. Consider framing your comedic situations in different ways.

This experimentation will often help you find the best angle to present your jokes.

Comedy lessons from Gene Wilder

We touched on a lot of the foundational aspects of comedy writing, but there’s so much more to it than what we went over here. In this next article, we break down how to direct actors, with special emphasis on how Gene Wilder changed comedy. By studying Wilder’s comedic style, we can learn a lot about how to be a better comedy writer.

Up Next: Directing Comedy Actors →

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A Guide to Writing Stand-Up Comedy

Reese Markland

Standup comedy has become a major part of pop culture due to its broad appeal. Everyday people reference, imitate, and integrate components of their favorite comedy sets into their daily lives. Despite its widespread popularity and impact on social communications, however, few people actually perform stand-up comedy as a part of their daily routine, and fewer are able to convert everyday conversations into this mode of speech. The appeal of being able to perform stand-up sketches, or at the very least integrate components of stand-up comedy more skillfully into the retelling our own happenings to our peers, is huge–everyone loves a resident funny-girl (or guy)–but often the barriers to ‘becoming funnier’ or actually performing a comedic set seem overwhelming. This guide serves to equip the reader with the tools necessary to convert everyday narratives into stand-up sets–or, at the very least, equip the reader to understand in greater depth the principles of comedy and specifically stand-up comedy that may be applicable to their lived experience.

Defining Stand-up Comedy and Classifying Humor

The first step in any attempt to utilize aspects of stand-up comedy in daily life is understanding what it is and what its key components are. Stand-up comedy can be strictly defined as an encounter with a single performer behaving comically and saying funny things to an audience, unsupported by props, setting, or costume (Mintz 1985). While this definition is limiting, it provides a good baseline definition on which to understand what stand-up comedy truly is. Another thing to consider is the distinctions in types of humor. While no stand-up set utilizes just one type of humor, it is useful to consider the different categories of jokes when creating a well-balanced set. One stand-up comedian breaks down humor into the following genres (Satyal 2016):

• Dry/sarcastic
• Clever/quick-witted
• Obscure/absurd
• Raunchy/blue
• Campy/cheesy
• Goofy/slapstick

Considering which genre of humor is your target while creating punchlines will be crucial to the word choice and tone of voice used when creating and delivering lines. Further, knowing which genres you use most frequently can be important to consider when deciding which venues you will perform at and who your audience is.

Common Rhetorical Strategies within Stand-up

Generally speaking, how should I even start writing?

In the beginning stages of making a set (i.e., your collection of jokes from beginning to end), it is important to start with small concepts and build from there rather than thinking of the broader themes you would like to discuss or include. Once you have a concept to build off of, brainstorm images and emotions around the funny concept to come up with more jokes. Next, find a way to thread those jokes together harmoniously. Finally, figure out the pacing and timing of your presentation. One key is building from funny concepts to the funniest concept, so as you come up with jokes consider restructuring your set at the end to see which order works best. Another key consideration in regard to timing is the strategy of compressing in which one joke quickly follows another, then another, then another; this strategy results in the build-up of laughter as the bit (aka a single joke or cluster of jokes) continues.

In order to get a better grasp of what these steps actually might look like, we will break this process down into its steps and use an example from a Jerry Seinfeld stand-up set.

• Start with a concept
• First, Seinfeld observes that people, when consoling others about the loss of a loved one, will say things like “at least he died doing something he loved”
• He then points out the ridiculousness of this statement, saying it really would be better if he had died doing something he hated, so at least he got out of it
• Next, he connects this concept to the next joke by saying it would be a wonderful thing if that person had died while cleaning a row of porta potties
• Brainstorm images/emotions around the concept
• The dread inspired by the hinges on the door
• The mental scarring and lack of sleep you get after witnessing its contents
• The emotions you feel inside of it
• Note: the key here is creating a sense of relatability
• Thread your jokes together

Seinfeld here does a really nice job of connecting his jokes–the first joke here relates to the inherent humor in certain consolations while the second joke relates to the disgustingness of porta potties. These are seemingly irrelevant to one another, but because he is able to connect the two by saying how certain tasks we as humans might rather die than do, it works (Zafarris 2019).

• Close with a bang.

Closing can vary in terms of content, but whatever the case, you want to make sure that you close with something memorable, whether it is by revisiting an aspect of a previous joke or introducing a new one.

Putting it all together

If you want to see how these rhetorical strategies and general framework are used in an actual set, use the following link and see if you can identify some of the structural components identified. The link is a scene in Tim Hawkins’ That’s the Worst . Afterwards, reference the list below which indicates what times in the video different moves are employed to check what you picked up on and missed.

• 0:05 – Introducing a concept
• 0:37 – Brainstorming funny images around that topic
• 0:37- 0:54 – Compressing jokes back to back to back & Progressing from funny to funniest
• 1:22 – Intonations
• 2:00 – Reincorporation
• 2:20 – Threading jokes together
• 2:25 – Intonations
• 3:47 – Close by revisiting a previous joke

Mastering the 5 Minute Comedy Set

The five-minute set is the go-to when you are first starting out with writing stand-up comedy. Most open mics do not offer more than five minutes on stage for any one performer, so especially if you are just starting out it is the set you want to master.  Before proceeding, it is important that the terminology is clear:

• Bit: an individual joke or small cluster of jokes surrounding the same topic
• Chunk: several bits that all revolve around the same larger topic
• Set: your collection of jokes, from beginning to end

So jokes make up bits, which make up chunks, which make up sets. And in this case, we are focusing on the five-minute set, which is typically comprised of about 2-3 chunks as a rule of thumb.

Step-by-step Outline to a Five-minute Set (Waithe 2019) 

• A good idea is to start with something that introduces you personally
• Visual attributes that stand out about you
• The bushiness of your eyebrows
• The props you have with you
• The quality of your voice
• This is your first topic. It is easiest to transition into another personal thing about you.
• Progression should be from funny to funnier to funniest (bit 1, bit 2, bit 3)
• This is your second topic. There does not need to be a segue between chunks, you can just start a new topic.
• Note: it is best that within each chunk, the bits flow nicely from one to another. So while Chunk 1 does not need to have a segue into Chunk 2, it is best that the bits that make up Chunk 1 have some sort of connection to one another and the same applies for those in Chunk 2.
• Topic can be related to an earlier topic, or not
• Note: As mentioned in the Rhetorical Strategies section, one of the main strategies in stand-up is reincorporation (i.e. starting with one topic, then coming back to that topic or a related element of that topic later). This would be a good place to reincorporate.
• Closer – can be any number of things:
• Continuation of chunk 3
• Could be a segue into a small Bit from chunk 3
• Could be a “callback” aka a joke that has been said previously that was particularly funny
• Could be a new, killer joke
• Additional notes:
• For a five-minute set, 2-3 chunks is the ideal
• Build from funny to funniest within bits
• Each chunk should last about 90 seconds to two minutes
• Practice your set!

References:

Mintz, L. (1985). Standup Comedy as Social and Cultural Mediation. American Quarterly, 37 (1), 71-80. doi:10.2307/2712763

Rutter, Jason. (2001). Rhetoric in Stand-up Comedy: Exploring Performer-Audience Interaction. Stylistyka. X. 307-325.

Satyal, Rajiv. “Standup Comedy Devices: The Biggest Traps in Writing & Performing Standup Comedy.” Medium , Medium, 11 July 2016.

Waithe, Elsa. “How to Put Together a Five-Minute Set.” GOLD Comedy , 22 July 2019.

Zafarris, Jess. “Jerry Seinfeld’s 5-Step Comedy Writing Process.” Writer’s Digest , 13 May 2019.

Writing Guides for (Almost) Every Occasion Copyright © 2020 by Reese Markland is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Comedy With Personality

How To Be a Comedian – How To Write Comedy For Your First Time

How to write comedy for the first time, what you need to know about writing comedy.

Stand-Up Is Spoken, Not Written

The most important thing you need to know about how to be a comedian is that you are writing for a speech , an informal one at that. The audience will never get to see your writing… in fact, they don’t even care if you wrote anything. All they care about is how funny you are.

Since you’re writing for a speech, make sure your sentences feel natural and you can say them out loud without getting tongue-twisted.

Don’t confuse a tool with its purpose. In stand-up, writing matters only because it helps the performance .

Forget everything you learned in high school English class. Toss spelling and grammar out the window. You won’t need them in stand-up comedy. The more you dive deep into these principles for how to be a comedian that more you’re going to realize that using your natural sense of humor is your greatest strength.

LEARNING HOW TO WRITE COMEDY FOR A SPEECH

With that said, know that writing for a spoken performance will likely be difficult for you at first if you’ve never done it . It takes a few performances to really get use to writing for a speech. As you learn how to be a comedian you’ll get more and more accustomed to this style of writing. When we write, we tend to write out all of our thoughts point-by-point. We’ve been taught to write in complete sentences all our lives.

However, we don’t TALK in complete sentences. This makes the formal writing feel really weird when it’s spoken on stage. It doesn’t feel like a real person.

Notice how you talk with your friends. There are far less segues (“speaking of that…”) and introductory comments (“I’m going to talk about…”) than in writing. When we speak naturally with friends it is very informal and choppy . We use quick sentences that get the point across in as little time as possible. We don’t introduce topics before we say them; we just start talking about it. This should be your goal while you’re learning how to be a comedian as well. The closer your writing matches your natural speech the better.

Not only do we use less segues, but we also use informal words (lexicon) as well….

Notice how the sentences on the right are the types of sentences you would actually say while the sentences on the left are what you would be more likely to write. People just learning how to be a comedian find themselves occupying the left-hand column when their writing, even though the right is more natural. This is due to “proper English” being ingrained in you since you were in grade school

Your natural inclination will be to revert back to formal writing. The best way to overcome this is to…

• Listen closely to how you and your friends ACTUALLY speak
• Listen to how veteran comedians deliver lines by watching for half-sentences and use of lexicon/informal words (which is actually harder than it seems because it SOUNDS NATURAL, so no red-flags will go up unless you’re listening for it). You might want to go even deeper and listen to other people how are learning how to be a comedian. You’ll discover that, in general, they use very formal words that sound awkward and unnatural.
• Go through your own material and replace words that come off too formal with lexicon.

HOW TO BE A COMEDIAN: STEPS FOR WRITING COMEDY

For the purpose of this How to Be a Comedian Guide, writing stand-up comedy can be broken down into a few broad steps:

DETERMINE TOPIC

First, determine your topic. This will be your entry point into writing. Best ways to find topics you want to write about is to ask yourself questions like…

• What am I REALLY passionate about?
• What are my pet peeves?
• What’s a story that I love telling friends and has gotten them to laugh in the past?

DETERMINE POINT-OF-VIEW (POV)

Second, determine your POV (Point Of View). Your POV is your unique perspective on the situation, usually with an emotion attached to it. Point-Of-View is almost always included when you create a topic because you’ll already have your own opinions on the topic.

Take the subject of parenting as an example. Many great comedians have talked about their own kinds, their nephews, what they think there kids would be like if they had any, why nobody should have kids, why everyone should have kids… the list goes on. It’s all the same subject, but it’s tackled from different POV’s. Both Louie CK and Ray Romano do long bits about their children, but it comes from completely different perspectives.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A GOOD AND BAD POV

Notice that there isn’t much different between a good and bad POV. Bad POV’s state what you want to talk about, they lack emotion. A good POV attaches a strong emotion to the topic, making it far easier to write . Which would you rather write about? “Children ask a lot of questions?” or “Children don’t stop asking questions!” The POV without a strong emotion attached to it doesn’t really give you a good start place, even though it’s almost identical to the good POV. If you find that your material is too factual or just plain boring, it’s most likely because you haven’t found a strong POV. It’s particularly important while you’re learning how to be a comedian that you develop the habit of creating strong POVs. A really strong POV will get you most of the way to your goal.

NOTE: Many times you’ll find step 1 and 2 happen at the same time. When you have both at the same time your material is going to come out sounding far more natural. We’ve broken them down into two separate steps to help new comedians see that there are two important factors you need to have before you start writing. After a few months writing you will naturally blend these two steps together.

You can see from this table that “Why do I always get stuck in traffic?!” isn’t a hard POV to come by on its own. In fact, it’d be far simpler to jump straight to this rather than to think “Ok, I want to talk about traffic” and then thinking “I’d like to take a negative stance on traffic.” While both lead to the same result, combining both steps is far easier and more natural. Plus, the quicker you can jump into writing as soon as you have the inspiration the easier it will get tons of material.

Joke Writing 101 :  How Joke Structures Work .

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How to use humor in speeches

What gets a laugh what doesn't and, why.

By:  Susan Dugdale  | Last modified: 10-02-2023

Have you ever wondered how to use humor effectively in speeches?

What gets a laugh? What doesn't, and why?

Most of us, me included, would love to effortlessly entertain as well as inform when we present. We know and appreciate the gifts humor brings.

There's audience rapport: their bright-eyed eagerness to hear what you have to share, their easy readiness to laugh, the way they lean forward to catch your next comment...

Benefits of using humor effectively

Humor creates a bond, a sense of closeness. The audience relaxes. They're at ease. They feel good, energized, alert and eager to hear what you have to say. They like you, and because they do, they're  more likely to remember what you talked about later. 

If your subject is serious they'll appreciate you for leavening it with well-placed appropriate humor to break the tension. 

Use humor effectively and you will leave the audience happy and impressed with your speaking skills.

But what happens if your audience doesn't respond?

What if your carefully crafted laugh lines aren't caught up, and they fall to the floor, to wither and shrivel?

What if your audience  shuffles in their seats, folds their arms, raises their eyebrows, and looks away?

Help to avoid the pain of NOT being funny

Use the links below to move around this long page easily. They'll give you a good starting point toward understanding how humor works.

• Know your audience
• Safe speech humor
• Integrated humor
• How to rehearse humor
• The difference between a joke and contextual humor
• And lastly, for those of you who are unsure whether or not to risk adding a laugh: The benefits of using humor in a speech.

1. Know your audience

Plan your humor around your audience. Always.

To make humor work well you need:

• a demographic overview of your audience: those factors may include age, gender, religion, ethnic background, class, sexual orientation, occupation, education, location (where a persons lives), membership of specific groups ...  
• an understanding of how they view your speech topic and the reason you have for giving the speech. They may be a friendly audience:  well disposed toward your topic. Therefore what you say will be in accord with their own beliefs and they'll chuckle along merrily. They may be apathetic : not care actively one way or the other about your subject. If that's the case it's your task to let them know what's in it for them, to make them interested. They may be uninformed , ignorant on the topic. This audience needs educating, ie. background information, before they'll appreciate what you have to say on your topic. They may be hostile : actively against whatever it is you're wanting to share. And this audience needs to know you respect and understand their point of view before you launch into your own.  

A  humorous story, anecdote or joke told without knowledge of your audience because you think it is funny is dangerous. They are often the ones likely to lurch sideways, leaving you stranded. 

How do you know they won't find it offensive? How do you know they'll understand it at all?

Humor varies from person to person and group to group. What we find funny is not always a reliable indication that everyone else will find the same type of humor amusing.

Do some digging. Ask. Find out as much as you can. 

2. Use safe humor

The audience is not your target, usually! ☺

Use humor that doesn't use the audience as the butt of the joke. 

This is not the time to make jokes about audiences so thick their brains have the consistency of rapidly setting concrete or similar observations.

Avoid dividing an audience

Use humor that doesn't isolate and target a segment of the audience: all the blondes, males, females, English speakers, people of Italian descent, people who have a commerce degree, or Sunday afternoon yoga practitioners...

A descriptor that separates and intentionally sets one group up to laugh at another is, as my mother would say, 'not nice dear, not nice at all'. 

Keep out of the gutter

Use humor that doesn't rely on 'coarse' language or profanity to make its point.

For instance, a string of loud beautifully enunciated f**k, f**k, f**kity, f**ks may be hilariously amusing in some settings, but a serious lapse of judgment in others. 

Stick to safe subjects

Use humor that avoids taboo subjects: religion, politics, race, class or sex.

Focus the laughs on yourself

Using humor effectively often means using yourself as the subject, but only if it's relevant to your topic, and done in a kindly way.

Nobody wants to hear or see you putting yourself down harshly. You may laugh at your foibles or quirks publicly but not prostrate yourself for a whipping in front of an audience. That will embarrass them.

When you poke fun at yourself in a balanced, truthful way you are giving the audience permission to laugh with you, not at you.

You are also inviting them to identify with you, creating openness and trust. Your audience will be more likely to listen because you're reflecting or showing them an aspect they know to be true of themselves, as well as you.

These stories do not have to be about big life events to work. Those small incidents where we are brought up short are very effective in the right place.

The chocolate yoghurt faux pas

For instance, here is a story about what happened one late afternoon, after I'd finished teaching for the day, and had picked up my son, then aged four, from childcare.

On the way home we called into the supermarket. We were standing in front of a chiller cabinet full of frozen desserts: ice cream of all flavors, different sorts of gelato, and yoghurt.

A woman next to us opened the door and took out a large tub of chocolate flavored yoghurt. My son was amazed. He looked up at me, and then told her loudly, "My mother says that's full of sugar and complete rubbish!"

Yes. Quite. Hmm.

I was deeply embarrassed as was the woman with the rubbish yoghurt in her hand. 

We're human. We all have stories about ourselves to use. ☺

Laugh about what you know

Use subjects you've earned the right to joke about.

For example an over weight person may make comments about being large, a disabled person can joke about the difficulties they encounter on a daily basis or a woman can laugh about the trials of child bearing, provided she has had a child.

A safe guideline is, if you don't know it, as in having lived it, don't jest or make light of it.

Test and refine. Is it really funny?

It is better to have several strong anecdotes in your presentation rather than a string of weak ones.

Always rehearse and test the humor you plan to use. (Scroll down for rehearsal tips.)

To test have several people listen and give you honest feedback. Listen to it.

It maybe that the subject is wrong for the situation, or perhaps your delivery needs work, or your language choice needs altering. Any of those could cause a humorous throwaway comment or a story to fall flat.

3. Integrating humor 

Integrate any joke/humorous remark or story you use into your speech or presentation.

If you're thinking of telling the joke because you think it's a good one and bound to get you laughs but it has nothing to do with your speech topic, leave it out. It might be hilarious, but it is not relevant.

Unless you find a plausible, believable way to link the material into your subject, forget it. Please.

Introducing humor

And if you do want to tell a joke or add humor and IT IS relevant make sure it is not introduced along the lines of:

'Have you heard the one about ...?' 'This is really funny. You're going to howl with laughter.' 'There was this Irishman/Scotsman/Australian...'

None of these openings show the humor is blended with your own material and the second one is particularly nasty if your audience sits poker faced!

Stick to your speech purpose

Unless you were briefed to be a comedian, don't attempt it. This doesn't mean don't use humor. It means stick to your speech purpose and find the humor within that subject matter. The audience is not expecting a stand-up comedy routine from you.

Giggle, chortle and smile

Read content suggestions (with examples) about what goes into making a great funny speech . 

Choose yourself a light-hearted subject to talk on from this list of 60 fun speech topics .

Don't want a serious persuasive speech idea? Try one of these 105 fun persuasive speech topics !

What about a not-so-serious demonstration speech? Give your audience a giggle with a topic chosen from these  188 funny how to speech ideas .

Blend your humor

Weave your humorous material through your speech while keeping the ratio of laugh-lines to information balanced appropriately for your topic, audience, the type of speech and its purpose.

For example, if your speech is primarily to entertain rather than inform, it may be right to use more humor. Judge each situation carefully.

4. Keys to rehearsing humor in your speech

Use an expressive voice.

Live into the story you are telling to make it seem as if it were happening again in the 'here and now'.

If an angry voice is needed. Use one. If wheedling is asked for. Whine, like you really mean it. This gives the audience the 'feel' of the situation. They will grasp it and its emotional content more quickly.

If you need a hand, you'll find it here:   How to develop and use an expressive voice .

These simple vocal variety exercises covering pitch, tone, volume and rate will help you identify where you need to place your effort.

Use simple pared down language

The less complicated the set-up and story, the more direct it is and the less chance your audience has of misunderstanding.

For help with how to enter or set up a story check this page on story-telling step-ups . You'll find examples of what not, and what to do to.

Remember the rule of three

The rule of three works in all areas of presentation. It can be three examples to illustrate a point. It could three repetitions of the same word or phrase for emphasis, a device often used in oratory.

Or it could be three characters in an anecdotal story e.g. a variation on the classic:   An Irishman, Australian and an American ...

Three in storytelling is a naturally believable number whether it be words to describe people and their actions or, the events themselves.

The first usage sets whatever it is up in the audience's mind as possibly believable. The second, reinforces it and by the time the third instance comes along, the audience has accepted it as truth.

Three, works!

Practice, practice, and then, practice some more

Practice telling your story in as many ways as you can and listen to yourself.

What happens if you speed up here, and slow down there? What happens if you emphasize this word instead of that word?

As a general rule comedians point up the punch line. They give a cue to the audience that it is coming, preparing them to listen and laugh using a combination of slowing down, pausing and emphasis.

It's called finding 'the beat'. Miss it and nobody will laugh. Find it and the same joke that previously bombed will fly. The only sure-fire way to locate it is through practice. After enough, you'll sense it and know when to slow, pause and stress a word.

To find out more about the dynamic inter-play of speech rate and pausing check in here: speech rate and pausing in speech .

Record yourself

• Is your lead-in or set-up smooth? The 'lead-in' is the integration of the one liner, story, or anecdote with the body of your speech. It is the bridge between your core information and the humor. Part of learning how to use humor effectively is to make it believable by introducing it as a part of the general flow of your speech. This makes it truthful in the ears and eyes of your audience. It also sets up the element of surprise as the audience will not be expecting your cunning comedic twist. A smooth set-up helps you achieve that.
• Is your voice expressive?
• Is your language simple, effective and easily understood?
• Have you pointed up the laugh line?
• Is the laugh line clear?

What's funny? Is it you or your story?

Make a distinction between the humor and yourself. Are you funny or is the story you are telling funny ?

For example, a comedian does not laugh at his own jokes as it breaks the illusion of truth.

When you laugh at your own material you are on the outside of it, looking in, rather than BEING it.

Use simple large gestures

If you are going to incorporate acting into your story practice using clear decisive gestures rather than a flurry of small ones.

Think mime. It crosses audience boundaries easily through involving your whole body in the action.

Everybody, regardless of who they are or the language they speak, understands the body language of weeping in despair, pulling your hair out in desperation, or swooning with love.

For an introduction to using gesture in speeches check this page on  characterization techniques . You'll find exercises to help you.

5.What's the difference between using humor and telling a joke?

Humor is usually part of its context. In other words it is derived from the situation or setting.

Here's a wonderful and  true story  to illustrate.

Instant karma

In one of my classes I had a very mouthy, opinionated student. Whatever the subject he knew more about it than anybody else and he always made sure everybody knew, he knew. He corrected, interrupted, and sometimes jeered at his classmates.

One day in the middle of yet another unasked for torrent of information, a hanging pot plant above him let go of its hook in the ceiling. It crashed spectacularly to the floor showering him in earth, plant and shards of pottery. The class, dissolving into mirth, fell off their chairs laughing and I heard someone say; 'I reckon that's instant karma, Jason.'

Fortunately only his pride was hurt.

A joke is often isolated from or very loosely connected to what is happening. It tends to be a pre-formatted story following known, well worn lines.

Example: How do you confuse a blonde? Answer:  Put her in a circle and tell her to sit in the corner.

6. The benefits of using humor effectively

When you use humor well you benefit,  along with your audience.

Here's how:

• Humor breaks through barriers. Laughter can transcend age, race, gender, belief or class barriers.
• Humor relaxes your audience and puts them in a receptive mood. After you have made them laugh, they are more likely to want to listen to you!
• Humor alerts your audience to listen. They become more interested in what you're saying than what happened prior to them listening to you or what is going to happen afterward. It brings your audience into the happening-here-and-now.
• Laughter adds 'juice' to a presentation. It can enliven potentially dry or dull material.
• Humor releases tension.
• Humor binds people together: that is, humor based on common experience unites a group. For example, almost every profession has its own humor. For instance, there are lawyer, teacher, doctor, computer tech, and so on, jokes. Likewise, every relationship has its jokes. There are husband jokes, wife jokes, daughter, son, baby, mother-in-law, father-in-law, boss...

More about how to use humor effectively:

Find out about differing types of verbal humor .

Your audience will appreciate it.

When you've finished discovering the joy of strategically using a sprinkle of malapropisms with a side serving of irony, try some physical humor .

And continue to ...

PRACTICE telling your stories, PRACTICE timing and PRACTICE looking for the comedic or humorous element in all the events of your life.

If you're considering entering a humorous speech contest, please don't do as I did!

Read about what happened when I overlooked a critical element in my preparation. This was a humorous speech lesson I'll remember. 

Understanding how and why humor works:

• What makes something funny? by Ben Healy, March 2018, The Atlantic
• A quest to understand what makes things funny by Shane Snow, April 1 2014, The New Yorker

The psychological and physiological benefits of humor:

• The laughter prescription - American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, Dexter Louie, BA, Karolina Brook, MD, and Elizabeth Frates, MD, 2016 Jul-Aug; 10(4)

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How To Write Stand-Up Comedy

It might go without saying, but stand-up comedy requires copious amounts of joke writing before a stand-up comedian can get up and speak in front of a live or virtual audience and do their thing. Though many comedians make it look easy, they’ll be the first to tell you it takes a bit of work to get to that point.

For some comics, it comes easier, while others must learn the craft of joke-writing over a longer period. But whatever the path may be, everyone who has any success with a stand-up career spends tons of time observing, reflecting, and writing.

You may want to start writing those jokes right away, but if you’re a beginner at comedy writing, it’s worth taking five minutes to read through some tips, watch some examples of stand up comedy greats like Jerry Seinfeld, Ellen Degeneres, and Brian Regan, and then…get back to writing!

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Joke Structure

So, what does it take to do comedy writing? And more specifically, how do you write jokes? Well, it’s important to look at how most jokes are structured.

The basic ingredients for a typical two-liner are a set up and a punch line. The setup is what sets the scene or states some fact, and the punch line usually points out some element of irony or provides a surprise twist that makes people laugh.

Sometimes there’s a “tag” as well, which is an additional statement after the punch line that adds another layer of humor to the joke. Even without being explicitly stated, there is also a premise, which is the comedian’s feeling about the subject or an acknowledgment of a general underlying truth.

Let’s use an example from comedy legend Steve Martin. It’s not even necessarily one of his best jokes, but it will certainly suffice to show the structure we just laid out.

“I decided to give my cat a bath. He sat there, he enjoyed it, and it was fun for me too. The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that, you know, it was great.”

The set-up: “I decided to give my cat a bath. He sat there, he enjoyed it, and it was fun for me too.”

The punchline: “The fur would stick to my tongue, but other than that, you know, it was great.”

The unspoken premise: Cats bathe themselves by licking their fur (so when he says he gave his cat a bath, the audience first assumes he means with water in a bathtub, but the joke suggests he bathed him just like a cat would…with his tongue).

The tag: I didn’t include it above, but on his comedy album after he tells this joke he asks for some club soda, and the audience laughs again. Perhaps he’s insinuating there might be a hairball making its way up, or something of the sort.

Learning About Joke Styles

You may already have a sense of the jokes you tend to like, or those you always tell. But if you’re newer to joke writing, or want to work on some new material, you should pay attention to the various joke styles out there, and see if you can work a few into your routine. Let’s go through a few of the common joke styles and why they work.

A lot of jokes are written with this style, where the punchline is a surprise twist. The premise or set-up puts forth some statement, and the punchline plays upon the assumptions you have made. We can use Steve Martin’s cat-bathing joke above as one example.

An audience knows something funny is coming, but perhaps they are expecting to hear about what a mess was made by his cat in the tub, or another way a regular bath could have gone awry. Instead, he talks about getting fur on his tongue, making people laugh with surprise, and also with that visual image of him licking his cat clean.

The Bait & Switch

Similar to the twist, the bait and switch plays upon the audience’s assumptions, but takes it a little further. This style leads the listener along in a way where they think they know how a sentence or idea is going to be resolved, only to have the metaphorical rug pulled out from underneath them. Again the punchline comes as a complete surprise, because not only was there misdirection, but audience members may have even had the words ready in their mouth when the comic flipped the switch.

For example, there’s this joke from Wendy Liebman:

“My mother always said don’t marry for money, divorce for money.”

The audience may be collectively finishing the familiar saying in their heads, “…marry for love,” but she flips the script and brings up divorce out of nowhere. The element of surprise is always good for a laugh.

The Rule of Three

Whether it’s three strikes you’re out, the three little pigs, or Larry, Moe, and Curly, our minds must really have a thing for the number three. According to Wikipedia, the rule of three is a “writing principle that suggests that a trio of events or characters is more humorous, satisfying, or effective than other numbers.” It’s one of the most common tips you’ll come across for writing stand-up jokes.

Live stand-up (and virtual) comics will often list things in three, making sure that the third thing said packs a punch. Actor and standup comedian Harland Williams has a joke that follows this rule of three.

“When you die there’s a light at the end of the tunnel. When my father dies, he’ll see the light, make his way toward it, and then flip it off to save electricity.” 

First, he has the setup of the familiar end-of-life scenario, and then lists the three things his dad will do when his time comes. He delivers the last line – the third thing in the list – and gets a lot of laughs. And just as a refresher, this is funny and relatable because the premise is that a lot of dads (or parents in general) go around turning off lights that kids leave on.

Bonus:  How to Book a Comedian

Impressions & Act Outs

Seeing as how standup comedy is a lot about performing, a comedy set will often include material where the comedian acts out a particular scene, imitates a voice, or does a full-on impression. These comedic devices can be very funny and are often crowd favorites. The term “act out” describes the part when comics use physicality to enhance a joke.

They may try a different voice or exaggerate the movements of a person in their story to really drive it home. However, it doesn’t have to be over-the-top to work.

In one comedy routine, Jerry Seinfeld talks about the interesting configuration of characters working at airport security . Of course, being the master of observation, he has more than one joke on the matter, and is able to show – and not just tell – with an act out.

He first sets the scene, saying, “This Einstein has chosen to stand in front of X-rays 14 hours a day, that’s his profession.” He then uses the opportunity to deliver a few of his lines as the TSA worker, crinkling his nose as he imitates inspecting luggage. “What is that, some sort of bowling ball candle?

Yeah, I got no problem with that. I don’t want to hold up the line, keep it moving.” Telling this from the perspective of the character makes it work.

Here’s a video of Jerry Seinfeld doing his airport security bit:

Playing With Words

If you like to write, and love words, using wordplay can result in some really funny jokes. Even if it makes you feel a little silly at times and people start laughing at the sheer cheesiness of these jokes, they’re still laughing. If you’re up there on stage and you’re making people laugh, then you’re definitely doing something right.

Here’s one example of wordplay from comic Stefanie Wilder Taylor . “I’m in therapy but I’m not sure I’m seeing results…its aromatherapy.” Writing jokes like this requires that you identify assumptions an audience will make and also think about the double meaning of words.

If you want to start writing some wordplay jokes, brainstorm ideas as you would normally, noting any opportunities that are ripe for misunderstanding. Some jokes will only work when you say them (as opposed to read or write them), because they have a different spelling.

Here’s a second example from Demitri Martin. “I saw a sign that said, watch for children. I thought to myself…that’s a fair trade.” Of course, no one is going to trade a watch for their children, and the ridiculousness of the topic is what actually keeps it light and humorous. Demitri Martin has a particular point of view that informs his onstage persona , which is a sort of mellow intellectual who’s also down-to-earth.

Taking Your Material to the Stage

To actually get started in comedy, you’ll need to say some of those jokes out loud. Whether you’re doing an act out or a bait and switch, the point of writing all those jokes is ultimately to perform them for an audience.

It may seem like a long journey from when you write your first real joke to your 5-minute debut at a comedy club, but there are steps to prepare you along the way. Luckily, you have options when it comes to working out your material and improving your delivery.

If you live in a city, you should be able to find an open mic somewhere near you. There are open mics that let musicians, poets, and comics perform, and some that are specifically for stand-up comedy. If you don’t live in an area that has these opportunities, there are now plenty of virtual open mics to practice your entertainer skills that you can attend from the comfort of your couch.

I know it can be scary to go up on stage for the first time, but once you do it, you won’t have to worry about that first time anymore. You can move right along and worry about the second time. Fun!

But in all seriousness, you’ll soon see that you can survive it, whether it goes well or not. If you think about it, we often learn more from our mistakes, so either way, you’re a winner.

There are so many other people just like you, trying out their hand and testing out their own comedic skills. In fact, most performers will be more preoccupied with their own set and wrapped up in their own story that they’ll only be giving half of their attention to you anyhow.

Still, it’s a great chance to practice your material or riff on a topic for a minute and see if you say anything amusing. You do want to write out your jokes and practice saying them to yourself first, but there’s always room for a little ad-lib, as long as you don’t try a brand new joke at an actual show.

These days you can always test out your ideas online. If you’re someone just starting out and it’s a low-stakes situation, you can even come right out and ask, “which one is funnier?” and then share two versions of your joke.

There are a lot of comedy groups on social media that you can seek out. Of course, it’s still a great idea to go to shows and be around other comedians whenever possible.

Keep Writing, Rinse, Repeat

The key to writing stand-up comedy is writing, and then writing some more, and doing it all over again as often as you can. Carry a notepad around with you, or record your ideas in your phone. Just be sure to write, revisit and edit.

Now it’s time to get started jotting down ideas and writing jokes. Here’s one more tip before we send you on your way. When you’re working on a joke, write down the set up and then write out several options for a punchline.

That way you’ll have your pick of the best. Sometimes it takes ten or more times to get the wording just right. Less is often more, so remember to keep it short and sweet…and funny!

Keep Reading:  26 Interactive Virtual Event Ideas, Perfect for Online Events

Adam Christing is a professional comedy magician, virtual MC for hire , and the founder of CleanComedians.com. He is a member of the world-famous Magic Castle in Hollywood and a popular virtual comedian, magician, and virtual speaker for hire. 

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How to be funny in a speech (when you’re not that funny in real life).

by Kolarele Sonaike

According to a Hertfordshire University study , this is the funniest joke in the world.

“Two hunters are out in the woods when  one of them collapses. He doesn’t seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, “My friend is dead! What can I do?” The operator says, “Calm down. I can help. First, let’s make sure he’s dead.” There is a silence; then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, “OK, now what?”

Hmm. OK, once you’ve finished laughing, picked yourself up from the floor and wiped away those tears of laughter, lets examine the subject of humour.

There is no lonelier place on the planet, than on stage after a bad joke.

It is possibly the single most painful experience for any public speaker.

Comedians know this, which is why they work so hard at their craft. Comedians aren’t funny in real life. Like any other profession, funny is what they do, not what they are. Comedians work and struggle just like the rest of us to be good at their jobs. Ellen, Jerry Seinfeld, Chris Rock – all the greatest comics write, rewrite and rehearse their routines with incredible care, diligence and attention to detail. They try out material for months, sometimes years in advance, on audiences – sifting out the stuff that doesn’t work, and doubling down on the lines that do.

(Getty Images)

So why, oh why, do so many of us as public speakers always assume that we can just shoehorn a couple of lame one liners (found on the internet) into a barely rehearsed speech, and get big laughs from our audience? This is guaranteed to fail every time, reminding us of the words of writer, Quentin Crisp:

if at first you don’t succeed, failure may be your style – Quentin Crisp

( If you’re pushed for time, you can download the Free Checklist of this article:  Dos & Donts of giving funny speeches )

Being funny in a speech is hard to pull off. But like most hard things, with a little study, much practice, and a healthy dose of chutzpah, anyone can do it. So lets examine the anatomy of a joke in the next section helpfully called “Anatomy of a Joke”

Anatomy of a Joke

All comedy, whether a one liner, long anecdote, or even an entire movie, is basically comprised of two parts: The Set Up and the Pay Off (also known as The Punchline).

With the Set Up, you are setting the scene by giving the audience all the information they need to know so that they will be amused by the Pay Off.

1) Set Up: Knock Knock. Who’s there? Dozen. Dozen who?

2) Set Up: In the movie “Some like it hot” eccentric millionaire, Osgood Fielding III, spends the whole movie chasing Tony Curtis’ character, Jerry (dressed in drag pretending to be a woman).

3) Set Up: Dr Evil (Austin Powers) has been cryogenically frozen for 30 years, so when he meets his evil colleagues, he lays out his plan to extort the world for a huge sum of money.

4) Set Up (in the world’s funniest joke) The hunter dies in the woods and his panicking friend calls the emergency services.

The mistake that most public speakers make that leads to them giving unfunny speeches, is to concentrate all their effort almost entirely on finding that Pay Off, asking themselves ‘what’s the funny line that I can say here?’ Whereas the key to humour is to focus on creating a compelling Set Up so that the right Pay Off just reveals itself.

To create a great  Set Up:

1) Take a subject (ideally one with which you are very familiar)

2) Examine it from all angles looking for the surprising contradictions and unexpected anomalies within the subject.

3) Work out how you can exaggerate those contradictions and anomalies almost to the point of a humorous absurdity. Can you connect one seemingly unconnected topic with another? Can you take a particular approach that will highlight these funny contradictions?

The humour lies in those unexpected findings and exaggeration that are nevertheless real. It’s why you find yourself muttering ‘that’s so true’ through your tears of laughter when listening to a hilarious comedian nail her routine. It’s why a Best Man’s speech works best when it skates on the edge of decency by revealing just enough of the groom’s true nature to the audience (and the Bride).

When you work hard on your Set Up, the Pay Off comes pretty easily because the punchline that ties it altogether seems to reveal itself.

1) Pay Off: Doz-anybody want to let me in?

2) Pay Off: (Some like it hot) Tony Curtis finally comes clean and declares to millionaire Osgood,”I’m a man!” To which Osgood simply replies “Well, nobody’s perfect”

3) Pay Off: (Austin Powers) Dr Evil demands…. 1 Million Dollars

4) Pay Off: (The funniest joke in the world) The friend shoots his collapsed hunter friend.

A very effective method of creating a compelling Set Up is to use a hook or theme that drives the narrative forward.

A great example is the ‘Shit’ sketch by Finnish comedian, Ismo Leikola .  In this hilarious skit, he talks about how he always though there was just one definition or meaning of the word ‘shit’.  But when he went to the US, he realised there were many more meanings like ‘you ain’t shit’, ‘I don’t give a shit’, ‘leave my shit alone’. Because he had found a great hook for the narrative, finding the humour was quite easy.

So, when you’re giving a speech about a serious subject like ‘How the Financial Markets work’, but you want to introduce a little humour to ease the way, consider what are the eccentricities of the financial markets? What parts make little sense if you stand back and look at it? What would your 8 year old son or your 80 year old grandmother make of the way traders?

Or giving a presentation at a small business forum, what eccentricities do entrepreneurs have? What challenges do they all face that you can highlight in a funny way? What mistake does nearly every small business make, which no one admits do, but every one knows?

This is where you’ll find your humour – in the careful analysis of the contradictions within your subject . Once you tap into that zone, a whole new world will open up and the Pay Offs will almost trip off your tongue.

Finally, a few dos and donts to send you on your way

maria bamford (Getty Images)

1) Don’t tell them you are going to be funny.

Anytime I receive an an email with the subject line: “This is funny”, I delete it. It never is. If you’re going to be funny, then be funny.  Don’t announce it.

2) Do have a purpose

As one of the greatest and funniest public speakers, the late Sir Peter Ustinov reminds us

 Comedy is simply a funny way of being serious – Sir Peter Ustinov

Don’t make jokes just for the sake of making joke. Stay focused on the reason you are giving your speech, and use humour to help achieve that objective.

3) Don’t copy. Adapt.

The best jokes are original. Your own material, born of your own experience will always be superior to something copied off jokes.com.

But originality can be hard. So, if you do have to use someone else’s material, approach it like Amy Winehouse covering the song ‘Valerie’ originally by the Zutons (bet you hadnt even heard of the Zuton’s version), and not like a teenage X Factor contestant doing yet another cover of Whitney Houston’s ‘I will always love you’ (which itself was a cover of Dolly Parton’s original song).

Put your own spin on it. Make it your own and it will feel fresh.

4) Do tailor your jokes to your audience

What works for a university fraternity will probably not work for an accountant’s convention. Lawyers love a good naughty joke (it makes us feel dangerous), but you should probably avoid sexist jokes if you’re presenting to the Women’s Institute.

5) Don’t take yourself too seriously

If you can make jokes at your own expense, you’ve got a far better chance of making your audience laugh, than if you are joking about someone else.

Never be afraid to laugh at yourself, after all, you could be missing out on the joke of the century – And Barry Humphries

And when it comes to your delivery, you want to use your voice to help paint a picture of your ideas in the minds of your audience. Treat it as a song or melody you are singing to your audience. The things you want to think about are:

• timing – uses pauses and speed variation to build interest
• use your body to amplify and reflect your words
• give your voice dynamism i.e. intonation, pitch, volume
• commit (don’t do things half hearted)

Go forth, and be funny!

(Grab the full Checklist of 12 Dos & Donts for giving a funny speech )

Kolarele Sonaike

p.s. Grab your slot for a 1 hour communication skills coaching call with me. It’s free and pretty transformative. Click here to book your slot.

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How to Write a Comedy Sketch

Last Updated: April 18, 2024 Fact Checked

This article was co-authored by Kendall Payne . Kendall Payne is a Writer, Director, and Stand-up Comedian based in Brooklyn, New York. Kendall specializes in directing, writing, and producing comedic short films. Her films have screened at Indie Short Fest, Brooklyn Comedy Collective, Channel 101 NY, and 8 Ball TV. She has also written and directed content for the Netflix is a Joke social channels and has written marketing scripts for Between Two Ferns: The Movie, Astronomy Club, Wine Country, Bash Brothers, Stand Up Specials and more. Kendall runs an IRL internet comedy show at Caveat called Extremely Online, and a comedy show for @ssholes called Sugarp!ss at Easy Lover. She studied at the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and at New York University (NYU) Tisch in the TV Writing Certificate Program. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 342,402 times.

Do you want to learn how to write your own comedy sketch? Many popular comedy sketches are used on television, on stage, and during stand-up performances. For each one of these scenarios, you will need to brainstorm, write, and revise in order to produce something well-crafted and laugh out loud funny.

Sample Sketches

Brainstorming Ideas

• Depending on your mode of delivery, you can use other tools for comedic effect like props, costumes, lighting, or digital effects.

• Think about your audience's average age. If you are performing for children, use content geared towards younger people like teddy bears, ponies, or popular cartoons. If you are performing for adults, focus on topics for adults like sex, violence, international intrigue, politics, parenthood, or work.
• Think about the kinds of people in the audience. If you are into lowbrow comedy and your audience seems to be more highbrow, then you might want to consider their expectations. Remember what is funny to you, might be improper, insensitive, or outright offensive to others. Jokes about wealthy businessmen might work well in front of lower and middle class audiences, but will not be received in the same way by upper class people.
• There are some exceptions, when it is ok to be offensive. Roasts are events where people come together to make fun of someone. Keep in mind that even these events need to mix insulting jokes with levity.

• Research is absolutely necessary for two reasons. First, it will show you what many people consider funny. Second, it will show you what has been done before. For the most part, you should try to be original, because humor depends on your audience not expecting your joke. [1] X Research source
• Know the genre(s) of comedy you fit into, as well as your prospective audience's expectations for that genre. You don't want to misrepresent yourself or your comedy.

• Write down ideas as they come to you. You never know when inspiration will strike. You could be at a store buying doughnuts and think of a good joke for a comedy sketch on food, eating, or exercising.
• Draw inspiration from popular movies, television shows, books, or comic strips. Some of the best comedy sketches are spoofs of other mainstream fictional or non-fictional works.
• For example, you could spoof the film series, Indiana Jones . He was a college professor, but most professors would never be as adventurous as him. In your spoof, you could play a "realistic" professor confronted by the same situations as Indiana Jones.
• Many people swear by free-word association. On a piece of paper write down a word (or central idea) and then list 5 words that automatically pop into your head. If any of the resulting pairs seem strange, you might have something worthy of comedy.
• For example, begin with the word bear. Now think of words or concepts that pop into your mind when you think of bears like: wild animal, dangerous, wrestle, fish-lover, or furry. Identify which one is interesting to you and you think will interest your audience. Maybe you choose to write a sketch on wrestling bears.

Mine your own unique experiences for inspiration. "It's always good to take something that's happened in your life and make something of it comedically."

• Like a magician, comedians need to be skilled in the art of misdirection. Lead your audience in one direction with the beginning of a joke and then add a "punchline", that surprises them.
• For example: I once wrestled a bear. It weighed less than a pound and was stuffed with cotton.
• This joke uses the art of misdirection. The first sentence is the idea developed through word association. It makes you think that the following story will be about a person taking on a 400 pound grizzly bear, so it is funny when it turns out to be a stuffed teddy bear. This joke is funny too because it is equally absurd. How many adults do you know that wrestle teddy bears?

• Think about how you might deliver the joke about wrestling a bear. Pause after you say "I once wrestled a bear". Give your audience a second or two to think about you wrestling a bear and all the danger that entails. Maybe take a deep sigh to show that the story that follows is serious to you. Then say "It weighed less than a pound and was stuffed with cotton." Now something unexpected has occurred and the audience will laugh. If you say it quickly, the audience won't have the time to assume anything and the joke will flop.

• Explore your premise. Don't be afraid to write an idea down and throw it away soon after. You will probably think of 10 ideas for every 1 good idea.
• For example, the premise you've settled on is an adult wrestling a teddy bear. Many comedians say that great comedy needs to be somewhat realistic. Focus on normally realistic actions. Don't all of sudden switch to a teddy bear in space or a teddy bear coming to life. Your audience won't be able to follow you.
• Focus on the action you've set up in your premise. What wrestling moves did you use on the bear? Did you get it in a headlock, full-nelson, or some other elaborate hold? Where did this wrestling match take place? In your bedroom, in your daughter's bedroom, or in a store like Build-A-Bear? What started the fight in the first place? What was the outcome? Use these kinds of questions about action and place to expand your idea or joke into a premise. [2] X Research source

Writing a Comedy Sketch

• Many write their sketch's story backwards. If you have a great ending in mind (like a grown man fighting a teddy bear in a Build-A-Bear), start there and write what leads to that. Maybe the adult did not like the way the teddy bear was "looking" at him when he went in to buy his daughter a birthday present. Maybe work has been stressful and the man just needed to physically hit something. Maybe this particular bear reminds him of someone he hates. Use your imagination to develop a storyline. [4] X Research source

• Choose a setting. Your character or characters will be in at least one place. Give detailed information about the setting. What other objects will be in the setting with your actors? In the Build-A-Bear fight sketch, describe other stuffed animals and how they looked on. Describe how the store is brightly colored to further accentuate the strangeness of the battle taking place.
• Be sure to set the character's name apart from their lines. Write their character's name in bold or italic type face followed by a colon.
• Write their lines. Many script writers find it helpful to include other cues in the actor's lines that indicate something about their speech pattern. For example, if the character stutters, the script might use periods or spaces in the text to indicate their speech pattern.
• Include acting directions. Think about what your actors are doing. Most likely they will not just be reciting lines in front of an audience. Tell your actors where to look, how to stand, what kind of body language to use, or any other aspects the actor needs to pull off the scene. Oftentimes, comedic writers will write "pause for laughter" to give the audience the chance to laugh without missing any of the scene.
• Include stage directions. Tell your actors where to go on stage, if they should be sitting or standing, if they should move pieces around the stage, or if they should enter or exit the stage. [6] X Research source

• Jokes and their punch lines can be built on top of each other to make a better effect, especially if the same punch line is going to be used over and over again.
• Many comedians like to include callbacks in their writing. Callbacks are when you reference something that occurred at the beginning of a sketch at the end of the sketch. For example, if in your sketch about a grown man wrestling a teddy bear, you mentioned how he went to Build-A-Bear to buy his daughter a birthday present, make a joke about the daughter's birthday gift at the end. Maybe say: "My daughter got a damaged teddy bear for her birthday because they made me buy the one I destroyed."

Kendall Payne

Expert Trick: When you're writing comedy, stick to the rule of 3s. That means if something is funny, you should try to implement it into the story in 3 different ways.

Polishing your Comedy Sketch

• For the hypothetical sketch about a man wrestling a teddy bear, actually get a teddy bear and wrestle it. You might come up with more detail after performing the action. This will make your sketch more realistic. Maybe you'll realize that it is harder to get a teddy bear in a headlock than you thought, because their heads are filled with cotton so they can easily escape your grasp. You might then choose to use this detail in the sketch.
• Test and revise, test and revise, learn from mistakes. That's pretty much the point.

• Don't be afraid to improvise during the performance. Some of the funniest content comes from accidents. Learn to embrace it.

Community Q&A

Things You'll Need

• Writing utensils and paper or a computer with a word processing program and a printer.

You Might Also Like

• ↑ http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul99/writing-comedy-sketches-that-sell-7994
• ↑ https://www.chrishead.com/post/2016-1-8-how-comedy-sketches-work
• ↑ http://thescriptlab.com/screenwriting/structure/the-outline/47-outline-five-elements
• ↑ http://www.simplyscripts.com/WR_format.html

About This Article

Comedy sketches are entertaining to watch, and writing one is super fun! Watch some comedy sketches you really like for inspiration on what to make. You could write a sketch about something in popular culture, make a spoof on a popular TV show or movie, or write a sketch about something totally random! Once you have an idea, outline your comedy sketch, which should include how you plan to begin, what characters you’ll include, and what jokes you’ll use. Besides the dialogue, make sure to include stage directions so the actors know where to go and what to do on stage. Then, write out your rough draft. To learn how to perfect your joke timing, read on! Did this summary help you? Yes No

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The Best Way to Write a Comedy Act if You’re an Absolute Newbie

Got an email from a kid, (I say, kid but for all I know the guy could’ve been fifty!), it said, “Hey Jerry I’m new in comedy. What’s the best way to start building a comedy set? Should I write it down first or just do stuff that my friends think is funny?”

This is a great question and one I receive a lot.

One of the benefits of people leaving me comments at the bottom of my blog posts and sending me emails is that I can then turn around and answer them on my comedy blog.

So how do you write a comedy act if you’re an absolute newbie?

The thing is that there’s no single answer to this question. Comedians work different ways.

I emphasize writing, because that’s how I started.

I studied other comedians then started taking the things that happened in my daily observations and wrote them down.

I didn’t begin performing until I had what I thought was an hour of material. I didn’t think you could start until you had an hour, because that was about the length of all the comedy albums I was listening to at the time.

Of course we know differently now. You can begin to perform in comedy if you have three to five minutes.

I started by doing observational, external material, because I wasn’t yet comfortable talking about myself.

Two things that stand out in my recollection:

1. When I was twelve I went to the Post Office with my father and there was a sign on the door,  it said, “NO DOGS ALLOWED, except seeing-eye dogs.” I said to my father, “Dad, what’s a ‘seeing-eye’ dog?” He said, “It’s a dog that helps blind people get around.” I then said, “Then who’s this sign for?”

My Dad thought it was funny. I didn’t even think it was a joke. Years later I heard Garry Shandling do almost an exact version of that which I didn’t even think was a joke and he got big laughs.

But at that time I was playing soccer and music and didn’t have any interest in performing or writing comedy.

2. When I started studying comedy another Garry Shandling joke stood out. The joke was, “I just sold the house I live in. Got a great price for it too. Made the landlord mad as hell…”

The first Shandling joke just stuck out to me as simple observational humor, (which I now know is more than just a simple observation; it’s more paradoxical, possibly tipping into irony), which is more powerful than simple observation.

The second one is pure structure. It is a perfect reverse. Being armed with this information changed the way I went about creating my early comedy sets.

I still have my very first performance on VHS. I watch it and it’s okay, but the structure is sloppy and it just sounds unorganized. It was me telling stories and observations that weren’t economized and reduced to what I know a tight bit should sound like now.

There are three primary techniques I use when creating a comedy routine. The first way is to always write down things that are funny. Usually when I’m with a group of friends and something occurs that makes me and them laugh, I will write it down to possibly use later.

The other technique is to sit down and write jokes. I prefer this technique because I don’t have to wait for the coincidence of the moment with friends or a funny situation to just happen to ‘occur’ to me. I can just sit down and generate material.

I do this by utilizing about 23 different approaches, but for the sake of this blog post, I will just write about two approaches. Here they are…

They are simple called “Fifty Facts” and “Fifty Random Lines.” That’s where I will write down fifty facts about me. The procedure usually goes like this:

• Write down 50 facts about me; just facts.
• Sometimes I will get the facts from answering questions on a personality profile quiz.
• Select 10-25 of those facts that seem to antagonize or inspire me most.
• Double-entendre  using the implied meaning of a word and turning it into the comedic meaning.   (Ie: Came home from work the other night and I say to my wife. “How you doin’? She’s says, “Having some gas pains. I’m like, “Everyone is, it’s like four bucks a gallon again.”).
• Incongruity (finding and juxtaposing 2 or more contrasting ideas that are in the line ie: “I’m Irish and American Indian. You know what that means? I pretty much have VIP seats waiting for me at any AA meeting.” ).
• Reverse (as in the Gary Shandling joke above. Ie: “You know what my baby loves to play with? Chest hair and she’ll yank on it too. Finally I had to say to my wife, ‘You know, you might want to get that shit lasered.” ).
• After I have several jokes written, I go back and flesh the jokes out with tags, toppers and act-outs, to bring the jokes alive and get more laughs per minute from each.
• I will then repeat this process with the 50 Random Lines which are external facts, headlines, ad copy, statements from leaders, etc.

This is of course the simplified version and a lot more goes into it. But this is the beginning. After I have about five minutes (a page and a half at a 12 point Times New Roman font ), I then rehearse it out loud. When we say our material out loud, different creative parts of our brains are being accessed and new ideas will be inspired. I audio record all out loud rehearsals so I don’t miss anything. After I rehearse it 25 times all the way through, I then perform it on stage…

Remember I said I used three techniques? This is the third; performance.

When you’re on stage in front of an audience you, once again, have new sensations that are occurring and your brain is in somewhat of an altered state resulting in new impulses and ideas which will continue to help you to shape the act even more.

So in answer to the “Kid’s” question, you can use what works for you, but for me it’s a combination of writing jokes, recording coincidental observation and letting the act evolve in performance.

This is a simple approach I also look for paradoxical situations, comedic irony and one of my favorites, benign retaliation.  To really dig deep into all of the available laughter triggers and comedy structures dig into my eBook writing system, “ Breaking Comedy’s DNA ” and start to really break into comedy writing.

If you have any questions about getting your act started, leave me a comment below. Love to talk to you!

Jerry Corley is a professional comedian of nearly 30 years, working nearly every venue imaginable.

• Delivery Techniques →

Humorous Speech: 14 Tips to Leave Them Rolling in the Aisles

Have you every been thoroughly entertained by someone giving a humorous speech? Maybe you enjoy watching stand-up comedians on stage.

Laughter is a definite stress reliever – one of the best medicines, as the saying goes!

People love to laugh. Whether it’s improv, observational, word play, dark humour or something else, there are may ways to see levity in the world we live in.

And, there are many ways to deliver a funny presentation .

In Toastmasters , learning how to give a humorous speech is going to be one of the most gratifying adventures you’ll have as a member.

So, take heart, even if you’re not a natural, you can be that person on stage getting the laughs!

Let’s get started by looking at the prep work.

Before you Begin Your Funny Speech

As with any type of speech in Toastmasters, you want to do your best.

Starting with a little self-reflection and practice will help you figure out your strategy. Here’s how to proceed:

Remember what you found funny

Not everyone has the same sense of humour. In fact, for some people jokes go right over their heads while others find the same ones side-splittingly funny.

Consider what kind of humour resonates with you.

Do you laugh at silly costumes and clown noses? Or, do you find the physical humour of someone failing miserably at a juggling act comical?

Perhaps puns that exploit the meaning of certain words make you smile.

Think about what you enjoy in a humorous speech and you’re guaranteed that others will find it hilarious too. That’s the type of content you’ll want to incorporate into your presentation.

Play to your strengths

Are you known for telling self-deprecating anecdotes? Do you find fun it re-telling entertaining family stories?

Maybe you weren’t the class clown at school or have never been the life of the party, encouraging others to join in some fun activity.

Even so, you likely display some behaviour that tickles the funny bones of others. Therefore, keep that in mind as you decide how to craft your speech.

Try out your stuff

While you’re sorting out what you want to give a humorous talk about, try your hand at getting a laugh or two from others.

This will give you a little informal practice, and help you decide which route to take in your presentation.

Here’s a few ways to do this:

Explain the funny in your day   – Look for anything out-of-the-ordinary in your day and deliver it in a short, comical anecdote at work, or at home around the dinner table.

Did you see a dog wearing a hilarious-looking jacket? Was there someone with a loud snore napping on your bus?

One you start looking for the funny in the day, it’s not hard to find!   

Try kid-friendly humour   – Kids love jokes. If there’s a child in your life tell them a knock-knock joke, or something along those lines.

Many adults get a kick out of kid-friendly humour as well. Try out a silly groaner joke on one of the adults in your life.

Volunteer for Jokemaster – Take advantage of this ready-made opportunity for you to hone your joke-telling skills at your next Toastmasters club meeting .

After you get a little experience spreading humour, you’ll begin to feel more comfortable in the comedian role. Plus, you’ll find out where you’re getting the laughs.

Watch the experts

As a Toastmaster, you have a ringside seat to speakers of all skill levels.

Notice what grabs your attention in how others present their topic, and the ways they use humour – this goes for any speech, not just the intentionally funny ones!

Search out humorous TED Talks and study what the speaker does to be humorous. In addition, watch different comedians and figure out what they do to get a few belly laughs.

What you’ll find is that, no matter what type of humour is used, a successful performance is all about the delivery.

Crafting a Comical Speech

There are a few things to be mindful of when writing a humorous presentation.

Find the funny  

First, you need to pick a topic to talk about.

When it comes down to it, you can use almost any subject matter for a humorous speech.

Some of the greatest material to use comes from personal stories. You could spin a story from a personal anecdote, or talk about the trials and tribulations of a friend or family member.

How many times have you heard stand-up comics regale an audience with the escapades of their children, or expose the comical side of the relationship they have with their spouse?

This is the stuff that works because people can relate to it, and may see themselves in your stories. It’s always funnier when some misadventure happens to someone else!

Write to amuse

When you’re writing your speech, start to think about your delivery.

Is there a particular turn of phrase, amusing alliteration or other play on words that’s sure to make the listeners smile?

Jot those down where they’re likely to have the biggest impact. Will delivering this content in the opening, as you finish up or somewhere else in between work best?

Remember to follow the formula for crafting any Toastmasters speech with a captivating opening, an interesting body and a memorable closing. 

14 Tips for Nailing a Humorous Speech

Here’s where the fun begins!

With a well-crafted speech designed to tell your tale in the funniest way, it’s time to focus on your delivery.

There are a range of tactics for engaging your audience no matter what type of talk you’re giving. Some of these can be applied, with a little modification.

Here are 14 terrific ways to deliver a humorous speech:

1. Pace perfectly

Proper pacing in any presentation is important. And, as you can appreciate, this is a critical component of giving a funny talk.

People need a bit of time to get the joke, right?

Leave a little dead air just after you’ve said something humorous. Some people might be chuckling right away while others will need more time to comprehend.

Either way, pausing strategically after a punch line is necessary for the humour to land well.

2. Funny fashion

Dressing up in an unusual outfit, or wearing a silly hat, is another way to amuse your audience.

This signals that they’re in for some original fun.

For instance, if you’re going to tell the story of a hysterical summer vacation you might consider coming on stage in shorts and sandals with a beach towel slung over your shoulder – if you have a snorkel and swimming fins you can wear, even better.

Just watch that you don’t trip, unless you’re going for a laugh for that too!

If your goal is to keep giving humorous speeches, wearing something funny could become your signature move.

One example is the comedian Steve Martin who became memorable for wearing what looked like an arrow through his head.

Anyway, you get the picture. This type of absurd humor can set you up for some laughs right away.

3. Present props

Props are another standard approach to holding an audience’s attention when giving a talk.

When presenting a humorous speech, you don’t have to necessarily bring something on stage that people laugh at immediately.

That’s one way to go, but the trick to being amusing is really in how you use the prop.

Maybe you’ve got a laughable tale about your pet parrot.

Rather than trying to incorporate the bird itself into your talk – which can be problematic on several levels – you could take a toy parrot on a perch with you on stage. Interacting with the fake bird will increase the comic value of your speech.

Another way to use props is to use them to demonstrate an activity.

For example, an amusing story about driving a car can be enhanced if you’re pretending to drive with an actual steering wheel between your hands.

4. Surprise with sound

There are several ways to use sound in a humorous speech.

The most obvious one may be to find a noise maker that has a novel sound. The selection here is endless, and only limited by what you’re able to find.

If you want to use a bell, there are dinner bells, bicycle bells, cow bells and other bells. Some different options are horns, shakers, kazoos, hand clappers and maracas.

You might also find a few items around your home that you can improvise with.

The other choice is to use your voice to make a sound effect. Getting back to that example of a driving anecdote, making ‘vroom, vroom’ sounds when you’re pretending to drive can add humour.

Again, the key here is in how you use sound. While the particular noise might be funny on its own, you’ll get more laughs if you time it appropriately in your speech.

If you plan to use the sound repeatedly to create more hilarity, just don’t overdo it!

5. Exaggerate expressions

Funny facial expressions are another tool for telling a funny tale.

An exaggerated look of surprise, with raised eyebrows and an open mouth, can make your delivery all the more uproarious.

Help your listeners really visualize what you went through in the anecdote you’re relating by emphasizing your reactions, and they’ll be laughing right along with you.

A shake of the head and a shoulder shrug can be added for extra effect.

6. Give grand gestures

This is along the same lines as really playing up your facial expressions .

Grand gestures, like throwing your arms out or reaching your hands high above you head, can add comedy to your speech.

Stretching your arms forward with open palms to the audience can show them that you’re imploring them to see things from your perspective.

As with other methods, such gestures should be well-timed during your talk to add the maximum amount of drama.

7. Perfect a posture

Body language can also be uproarious.

Think about what you want to communicate with your posture that will add to the humour in your presentation.

It could be that you want to express indignation, or incredulity, by standing with your hands on your hips. A slouching position could be used to indicate resignation.

Then again, you might want to come up with a uniquely funny posture that’s all your own.

Whatever you choose, be sure that it’s a posture that will make your speech all the more hysterical.

8. Woo with words

There are so many ingenious ways to employ language for added impact here.

Witty plays on words include alliterations, puns, phonetic mix-ups, obscure words, unusual sayings and more.

An intentional slip of the tongue, for example, like referring to a “funny story” as a “sunny foray” will initially catch people unawares.

However, once they’ve grasped the play on words, they’ll find it amusing and will be paying close attention to catch other examples.

Another move to try is to incorporate pet language for people or situations. Maybe you’re talking about a mischievous child and calling them “the little dickens” brings a smile.

You could also make up words, like calling your spouse the “nagagator” of your trip rather than the “navigator” if she keeps complaining that you’re not following her directions.

9. Vary voice volume

Here’s a strategy that you’ve probably found to be effective in other types of speeches.

Changing your voice volume for emphasis is a tried-and-true way to hold your listeners’ attention.

Modulate your voice to match what you’re saying at the time, and people will connect with the funny faster.

10. Act it out

Go through the motions of your story to show the comical side.

When you’re acting out a riotous routine, it can be very engaging for those present.

Make sure to move around and use the whole stage, and consider actually getting down into the theatre aisles beside the audience if it serves your purpose.

Pause your speech for a few moments while you complete the actions to make things more hysterical. If you’ve ever watched improv, you’ll know how well this can work.

Acting it out can include imitating voices to relate a conversation between two people.

You may have seen comedians do this to add hilarity when talking about an argument they had with their partner, for instance.

11. Display distraction

Here’s a more original idea to bring some fun to your presentation.

Try acting a little distracted. You may be thinking that this is exactly what not to do during a speech!

But if it’s used in a controlled fashion it can amp up the laughter.

One way is to just wander out on stage seemingly lost in your thoughts.

You could pretend to be reading something or talking aloud to yourself and then notice, with a start, that you’re not alone. You have an audience!

Another example is getting distracted a few times in the middle of your speech by something you see around you – like complementing an audience member on the colour of her sweater.

12. Make outlandish comparisons

This is a great way to use exaggeration to encourage your listeners to see the laughable side of things.

Making outlandish comparisons demonstrates your frustration, or extreme surprise, with the situation you’re explaining.

Say you’re talking about having to deal with a lot of dirty laundry. You could say that it was as though a landside had happened indoor with laundry overflowing out of the hamper and down the stairs.

A simpler example is saying that traffic was moving so slowly on the highway that it seemed you were driving backwards.

13. Use the rule of three

The rule of three can be employed several ways to increase the funny factor.

Basically, you can link three thoughts or ideas together. You might say that having children has taught you to appreciate life more, how to calm a crying baby and that your favourite activity is napping.

Make the last point a twist in an unexpected direction.

Creating a presentation that takes your audience through three similar occurrences is another way to use this method.

Maybe you want to tell a fishing story and each experience of trying to land a fish during your day out on the water builds on the last one. 

14. Be unexpected

Anything that’s weird, absurd or nonsensical falls into this category.

It should be quite unconnected to the talk you’re giving and is designed simply to get a laugh.

The best place for this is right at the beginning of your talk to prime the audience to be amused. You could also finish off with something unexpected to get a last laugh.

A few behavioural examples of this are funny walks, dancing and acrobatic tricks like riding a unicycle.

Other ways to use the unexpected are to have dramatic music playing as you enter the stage or throw rose petals out into the audience.

A final tip is to harness the power of repetition.

It’s not just using the same noise makers a few times during your talk that can bump up the laughs. You can repeat a few of these other ideas as well.

Take care to use the right dosage of one or more of these ideas. Repeating what listeners found funny the first time, if done in moderation, can cause them to laugh even louder the next time.

Closing Comments on Delivery a Humorous Speech

Granted, there’s a lot to consider in performing a humorous speech.

So, take your time, do your research, select a good topic for your talk and get to work writing your best speech.

Practice is really important in preparing to deliver this sort of speech. That’s where you can try out one or more of the delivery approaches and see what seems to fit best.

Having said that, plan to step outside your comfort zone a bit and experiment with different ways to deliver your presentation.

After all, being brave and stretching your skills is what Toastmasters is all about!

Be advised, the rewards can be remarkable when you see what joy and downright laugh-out-loud humor your speech has brought to people. Related: How to Write a Tall Tale Speech

How to Write Comedy: Tips and Examples to Make People Laugh

So you want to write comedy? But you’re not sure you can make people laugh? It’s a valid concern: being funny doesn’t come naturally to everyone. 

But humor is a great way to grip the reader and make them feel emotionally attached to your story, so, understandably, you’d want to include it in your writing. In this article, we’ll cover all the essentials you need to know to strike a humorous chord and get your audience chuckling.

What is Comedy?

There are different types of humor and humorous writing. Which one you write will depend on your personal style. Let's have a look at some of those types.

Types of Humorous Writing

What kind of medium do you want to write comedy for? Did you know that there are many kinds of humorous writing, both meant for the written medium, as well as types adaptable to the screen for audiovisual mediums? Here are the most common ones:

• Stand-up: A stand-up comedy features a single comedian, up on a live stage, telling humorous stories to make the audience laugh.
• Sketch: A sketch is a short humorous scene performed by a group that usually lasts a few minutes, but can last up to ten minutes. These are generally recorded and played back on TV. 
• Improvisational: Improv is a form of (usually comedic) theatre where the plot is made up on the spot. The actors come together without much previous planning and simply bounce off of each other to make the audience laugh.
• Short story: Short stories in comedy are just like short stories in any genre. Usually, over 1,000 words, they typically focus on a single plot, and develop this plot to the max, playing on every detail to make the reader laugh. A short story can be intended for reading or adapted to the screen.
• Novel: If you’re looking for an ongoing laughter experience, comic novels are your friend. Works of fiction or based on the author’s life, this type of comedy requires an extended plot, or many plots and characters getting thrown into the mix together, to form a novel-sized work.
• Comedic TV shows: Also known as sitcoms, we’re all familiar with these and everyone has their favorite - from Seinfeld to Friends, Scrubs, or Big Bang Theory, we all love a comedic TV show. 
• Movies: A full-length feature generally lasting ninety minutes or longer, comedy movies are a very popular medium in the comedy genre. These days, you can find comedy movies to suit all tastes. 
• Social media: Yes, it’s true! The digital age has seen emerge a new type of comedy - social media comedy. This isn’t a new thing. Remember the Vines craze? Those six-second video clips designed to make people laugh? Nowadays the trend has moved over to Reels on Instagram or TikTok videos, but the idea is still the same: short videos posted on social media platforms to get people to chuckle.
• Musical comedy: A musical comedy is a story told mostly through music, for entertainment purposes, and to make the audience laugh. These can be performed live on stage, or pre-recorded for airing on TV.

This list of comedy types is not exhaustive, and these works could be fiction or nonfiction, or even a mixture of the two. It’s helpful to know which medium your piece of writing is going to end up being because you’ll need to know whether your audience is going to be reading it, viewing it, or hearing it, as this will affect the delivery. It will also affect the structure of your piece, and this requires planning.

For instance, if you’re writing comedy for a stand-up show and you have several characters in your story, the delivery of each character is up to you and you only, versus in a movie where you can rely on actors.

In a sketch, the storyline will primarily focus on one specific incident, whereas a stand-up will require some sort of story arc.

Different Types of Humor

As well as different kinds of comedy writing, there are also different kinds of humor. Here are a few:

• Topical: Using current events to make people laugh
• Satirical: Poking fun at the faults of society, organizations, and people and using them for comedic effects.
• Bodily: This one's fairly self-explanatory. You guessed it: farts, poop, and other bodily functions are used to make the audience laugh.
• Dark: Using topics typically seen as serious, painful, or taboo to make jokes.
• Wordplay: A witty type of humor that uses words in a clever way to twist them into puns, double-entendres, and other hilarious results.

We won't go over all the types of humor here, as there are many to cover. But this should give you an overview of a few types you might identify with. It can be helpful to decide what your type of humor is. This way you can watch other comics in the same genre and use their material as inspirational, and educational to help you with your own progress as you write comedy.

Elements of Funny Storytelling / How to Be Funny

When writing a comedy, many different elements come into play, and you mustn’t underestimate the importance of any of them. Humor is a very fine affair, after all. 

So what exactly you should pay attention to? Keep on reading, as that’s what we’re about to dive into.

The Importance of Characters When You Write Comedy

You’ll want to settle on your characters fairly early on, as these play a big role in your story. After all, they’ll be the ones delivering the lines and the emotions.

Relatability 

Firstly, you’ll want to make them relatable. “Relatable to whom?”, we hear you ask. Relatable to your audience. So think about who your audience is. Think about what they struggle with in their daily lives. Think about the things that pull at their heartstrings, what frustrates them, and what they get up to each day. This will help you create characters that your audience can imagine being. 

Laughter is a response to an emotion, after all. 

If your audience feels like the characters really get them, they’ll relate to them. They’ll feel sad for them, and they’ll laugh with them. 

Credibility 

The other key to writing great characters in a comedy is to build them a personality. And remember to have them act how they would act, not how you would like them to act. They must be credible. Your audience has to believe that they really would act the way that you’re having them act. 

We recommend basing your characters on real people you know. You don’t have to name them, of course, and we aren’t recommending you reveal their secrets and private life to your audience, but there’s a real benefit to cherry-picking parts of people’s personalities that you meet throughout your life. Comedy material is everywhere, friends! Plus, this will help you steer clear of stereotypes and cliches. 

If you have one person in mind when creating a character, try to think of other people you know who resemble them. It can be tricky to write comedy as it can quite easily veer into the grotesque if the characters are unrealistic, and you’ll lose your audience.

Self-deprecation

Using your own life is also a great source of comedic material. One particular way this is often done is through self-deprecating humor. This means poking fun at your character traits, physical aspects, or even misfortune. A great example of a self-deprecating character is Chandler, from Friends.

This helps the audience really relate to you, or feel superior to you, which is a commonly used technique to get the audience on your side. 

Be careful though, using yourself as the butt of a joke is risky business. There’s a fine line between a little light-hearted self-deprecation, which can be hilarious, and being straight-up tragic, which can just make your audience feel uncomfortable and sorry for you. 

Avoid crossing that line by using self-deprecating humor sparingly. Rather, sprinkle it throughout, rather than making it the central focus of your story. 

A balancing act

If your story includes more than one character, you’ll need to think of how these characters bounce each other out. If you have villains, you’ll need good guys. Is one character super uptight and well-presenting? Include another who’s maybe a little unhinged and always puts their foot in it. 

And then think about how these traits would interact with each other to create humor.

The Skill of Storytelling

Storytelling is a talent that you are either born with or not. And if you’re not… that’s just too bad! 

No, we’re joking of course. You can totally learn it. 

Storytelling comes in handy in so many situations - not just when you write comedy. From marketing to getting a job, or even educating others, your ability to tell a good story can have a big impact. When we say “tell a good story”, what we really mean is telling a story the way your audience wants to hear it.

Put it this way. Imagine you’re interviewing for a job as a salesperson, and you have experience as a waiter and teacher. At first glance, it might seem that your experience is irrelevant to the job you’re applying to. But depending on you tell the story, you can change the interviewer’s perception. You could tell them, for instance, about the way you excelled at upselling desserts to your customers or the times you had to help them decide what to order by assessing their needs and recommending the best dishes. 

You could also tell them how in your role as a teacher, your negotiation skills were often required in order to manage a classroom full of children, and good negotiation skills are key to a sales role. 

Can you see how if you went into that interview with no idea how to tailor the story to the interview, there’s a very small chance you would walk away with that job? It’s the same thing with comedy. Know your audience, understand what they want to hear, and tell them a story. 

How do you do that? Practice, friend. Practice. 

Practice telling your stories out loud 

Do this in front of a mirror, or record yourself to listen back so you can hear how you sound. Is your story fun to listen to? Do you sound funny when you tell it (this is important if you’re writing a comedy that you’ll be narrating out loud)? How’s your timing and rhythm? 

Practicing beforehand also enables you to experiment with different props, gestures, and styles. Again, this is helpful if you’re going to be on stage, for a stand-up show for example.

We also recommend practicing in front of friends or family. Choose people you know will be honest. Get their feedback, and implement the changes they suggest, if you find the advice to be valuable. 

Use writing prompts to practice

Storytelling is a muscle that needs to be exercised. You could try using prompts to write a new story every day. This way, you’ll practice a range of different scenarios, and grow more comfortable over time. We promise your stories will become more and more elaborate; you’ll surprise yourself!

Educate yourself

There are an endless amount of books, Ted Talks, online courses, in-person classes, and other educational resources to help you learn - and excel at - any skill. Use them! That’s what they’re there for. 

Learn from the pros

This somewhat carries on from the previous suggestion - watch the pros and learn from them. Watch a comedy every day, observe the storytelling techniques they use and the way they inject humor into the story. Practice the same techniques.

Talk to others

Your story has characters, right? What better way to create believable and relatable characters, and use them to tell your story than to know and understand people?

Talk to them, ask them about their experience, how they would react to a given situation, and so on.

Authenticity

We all tend to think that we’re the only ones who feel the way we do. You’d be surprised how many people can relate to your story. Authenticity can be felt, and people warm to it. Be open about your experience of life and you’ll attract your people.

Be controversial

Many steer clear of controversial topics because they can really divide a room. But controversial issues tend to be emotional for people, as they’re tied to strong feelings. And getting into people’s feelings is a great storytelling technique and an even better way to get people to laugh - if you get it right. 

Use everyday topics

Think of all the sitcoms you know that just use everyday storylines to highlight the absurdity of … well, life. And that’s what we love about these shows. That’s what makes them funny. 

How to Use Humour in Stories

There are some well-known techniques that you can use when you write comedy that’ll help get the audience on your side and crack a smile. We’re outlining some of these below, so you can use them in your own writing. 

Create a predicament

As Judd Apatow notes in his online masterclass, “Difficult circumstances lend themselves to comedy.” Create a predicament for your characters. Have them make a bad decision that gets them into a sticky situation. And build your funny storyline from there. Remember to keep their reactions realistic though, based on the personality you’ve given them.

This is similar to creating an inside joke with your audience. Carefully place pieces of information that you’ll later pull out again to deliver a punchline. Careful not to wait too long though - you want your audience to know what you’re referring to. 

Don’t abuse callbacks though. Three or four times in a show is funny, any more begins to feel old and recycled.

“Reforming” 

Reforming is a technique used a lot in comedy where you twist a cliche. In other words, guess what the audience is going to expect, and build up the story so they continue to think that is the direction you’re going in. Then, at the last minute, throw them a curveball and transform the cliche. 

Plus, incongruity is hilarious.

Use funnier alternatives

Some words just sound funnier than others. When you go back and read through some pages you wrote, see if you can’t swap out some of the words for something funnier. We also recommend you make a list of the funner alternatives, and over time you’ll have a repertoire of funny words.

Choose the appropriate build-up

We’ll keep this one short and sweet: the longer the build-up, the bigger the payoff should be.

These should get you off to a good start. Now, moving on to one of the most important aspects of writing comedy.

Want to Write Comedy? Consider Your Audience!

Who are you writing for? This is an incredibly important question to ask, as it will inform the kind of jokes you tell, and how you deliver the humor in your piece. 

If you want to write comedy, you need to know humor is subjective.

What does your audience find funny? What is their lived experience each day? What do they struggle with? 

And as you practice, it’ll pay to note what your audience does find funny. How many laughs does a particular joke get? Don’t get too attached to jokes you find hilarious; if your audience doesn’t laugh, the joke might have to go.

Things to Avoid When You Write Comedy

Finally, we’re going to cover some common mistakes that you should avoid when writing comedy. These could save you a few awkward moments; you’re welcome! 

Going overboard

If you’re too over-the-top, you could come across as silly, or grotesque. Or worse, you could overpower the plot. Trust that your story is funny enough to entertain and make people laugh. If you try too hard your audience will see right through your act.

Underdeveloping the story

Puns and unfortunate situations aren’t enough by themselves to make a comedy. Just like scary monsters aren’t enough to make a horror. The story is what makes the success. Relatable characters, realistic situations, authenticity, and all the things we’ve covered in this article. Those are the elements that’ll help make your story great. 

Omitting the background

Does your audience need some context to understand the intended meaning? Is it necessary for the joke to land? If so, make sure you provide that. You can build this up throughout the story, or give the information they need when the time comes.

Being an imposter

If you’re trying to write comedy in a style that’s not your own, or be funny in a way that isn’t true to you, this will be obvious. Your audience can smell this a mile off.  This is why it’s so important to explore and nurture your funny side, through practice, education, and other recommendations we provided earlier.

Giving up too soon

Writing comedy isn’t a piece of cake that you can dust off in an afternoon. It’s all too tempting to watch the end result and assume the process was easy and the comedian came up with the puns in his sleep. The reality is that a lot of thought and hours, even weeks of refining have gone into each and every show. 

Haven’t you noticed that stand-up comedians only release a new show every few years? And the same can be said for any type of comedy - or any art form, for that matter. They are few and far between. 

Waiting until you’re ready

If you wait until you’re ready, you might never start. Get writing, practice, refine, and then - and we can’t stress this enough - get your material before an audience. You need to see how people react to your stories in order to know if your jokes are landing. We recommend an open-mic night. Nothing like performing in front of a group of strangers who are unprepared and raw, as you know their reactions will be genuine.

Final Thoughts

We hope that you have found this article helpful and that you feel you have some tools now to write comedy. 

Most of all what we’d like you to take away from this is to practice, practice, practice. And then get yourself out there.

And remember, don’t give up, persevere, get advice from people who are ahead of you in the game, and support from loved ones around you. Take time to refine your craft. Writing comedy is an art, and art doesn’t happen overnight. 

Good luck, you've got this!

Learn More:

• How to Write a Monologue: Tips and Examples
• How to Write a Postcard (Tips and Examples)
• How to Write Height Correctly - Writing Feet and Inches
• How Long Does It Take to Write 1000 Words
• How to Write an Inequality: From Number Lines or Word Problems
• How to Write a Letter to the President (With Example)
• How to Write Like Ernest Hemingway
• How to Write a Follow-Up Email After an Interview
• How to Write a Formal Email
• How to Write a 2-Week Notice Email
• How to Write an Out-of-Office (OOO) Email
• How to Write a Professional ‘Thank You’ Email
• ‘Most Definitely’: Meaning, Proper Usage, and Alternative Phrases
• 'Weird' or 'Wierd': How Do You Spell 'Weird'?
• Grammar Book: Learn Basic English Grammar

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How to write a 5-minute comedy set

GOLD Comedy is the online comedy destination for women and nonbinary folks! If you’re here, you’re probably interested in trying standup comedy. Great! You’ve found your people, here. Check us out in GOLD Club , where we host classes, celeb Q&As, writers’ workshops, and so much more. It’s community + comedy at its very best. (Plus there’s a 14-Day free trial! Woo!) New Standup 101 courses start every month!

My first time on a comedy stage, I just got on stage and started talking.

THIS IS NOT RECOMMENDED.

I jumped from one topic to the next and back again like a kindergartener on a sugar high. One joke led into the next with no rhyme or reason. I was so all over the place that I forgot to do a bunch of the jokes I actually had written . (Ever listen to someone start to tell a long-winded story and realize 60 seconds in you’re not interested? That’s what minutes feels like to the audience if you aren’t prepared.)

I did get some laughs THANK YOOOUUU, but inside my head? Mostly screaming.

That’s how I learned the importance of preparation—and specifically, of writing not just a random string of jokes, but an actual SET, with a beginning, middle, and end. In other words, an outline . Think of your set outline as the track list of your favorite album.

THIS IS RECOMMENDED.

Here’s how.

First, here’s why you need a five-minute set

The five-minute set is the comedian’s bread and butter. Most open mics offer no more than five minutes on stage. Five minutes is also pretty much the maximum time a booker or producer will spend watching your tape. So your goal is to develop a “tight five” —five minutes of solid go-to jokes that show who you are and reliably get laughs. While five minutes might seem like a long-ass time, if you follow my outline process, it should fall together easily.

As you progress, you can blend several five-minute sets together and before you know it, you’ll have a 20-minute set! Impressive.

Next, some vocab.

SET: Your collection of jokes , with a beginning/middle/end. It’s everything you plan to say onstage. People who don’t do comedy often call this a “skit.” NO.

BIT: An individual joke or small cluster of jokes/tags on the same topic.

CHUNK: Several BITS that all revolve around the same larger topic.

So, a SET contains CHUNKS, and CHUNKS contain BITS.

Or, JOKES make up BITS and BITS make up CHUNKS and CHUNKS make a SET.

Now you’re ready to outline!

Ready, set, fill in the blanks!

• OPENER: Start with something that really introduces you personally, especially if there is something visual about you that stands out, e.g. unusual hair color, super bushy eyebrows, a parrot on your shoulder, etc. Acknowledge it right off the bat and the audience will forget about it and pay attention to YOU.
• BIT (funny)
• BIT (funnier)
• BIT (funniest)
• CLOSER: Could really be BIT IV D, but a callback, or just a killer joke you know ALWAYS works.

Tips for making it WORK.

The outline is not RIGID. You do you. That said:

• Two to three CHUNKS is ideal for a five-minute set. More than three can be too packed and overwhelming; fewer can get boring.
• Try to make the BITS in your CHUNKS build from funny (where you lay out the general direction of the joke) to funniest. This also means you’re working to wring as much funny as possible about any given idea.
• Each CHUNK should be 90 seconds to two minutes long.
• Save your most interesting/involved or, sorry vegans, really MEATY CHUNK for the end.
• Bonus: using this outline will help you memorize the order of your jokes, because they will make internal sense to you. as well.
• Take your outline with you to open mics. Even if you don’t get a full five minutes of stage time, you can pull out one CHUNK and practice that.
• Once you get used to doing your set one way, rearrange it. See what new GOLD comes of just mixing things up.

Practice makes funnier— no such thing as “perfect” in comedy !—so play around until it works. Then play some more. THEN tweet at @GOLDcmdy to let us know what we can learn from you!

ELSA WAITHE  (founding instructor) is a standup comedian from Norfolk, VA now living in Brooklyn, NY. Her comedy is a mix of lighthearted jabs but critical jabs at attitudes and issues around homosexuality and race—and herself. She’s been featured on This American Life, hosted the monthly comedy show “Affirmative Laughter” at The Experiment Comedy Gallery, and performs all over New York.  @elsajustelsa

Want to take a class with me?

We’ll walk through your entire first set together in Standup 101 . Join the club and we’ll laugh together! 

Advice for comedians Bit Chunks comedians Elsa Waithe five-minute set How to outline Set

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Write Funny Speeches With These Important Tips

Table of Contents

Writing a speech is hard enough; now, you have to add humor to it. It requires creativity, precision and wit. But with the right tips and tricks, you can create an amazing piece of work that will have your audience laughing in no time!

In this article, we’ll provide some important advice on  how to write a humorous persuasive speech  that gets results.

From understanding the role of comedy to drawing on personal experiences, there are many great ideas to help you compose a memorable presentation. Get ready to make them giggle – let’s explore these essential strategies for writing hilarious speeches today!

How to Write a Humorous Persuasive Speech

The key to knowing how to write a humorous persuasive speech is understanding the role of comedy in your presentation. You need to know how to use words effectively and draw on personal experiences or anecdotes to lighten up the mood.

With some practice and creativity, you can create an amazing piece of work that will have your audience laughing out loud! 

Don’t Forget the Purpose

First, it’s important to understand the role of comedy when writing a humorous and persuasive speech.

Comedy can help break down barriers between you and the listeners by creating a more relaxed atmosphere. It also gives your presentation an edge by making it memorable. But don’t forget: humor should not take away from the actual message that you are trying to convey. Make sure your jokes don’t distract from the main points of your argument.

Consider Twists and Wordplay

Next, think about how you want to use words to make your speech funny. Puns, wordplay, and unexpected twists are all great tools for adding comedic flair.

To keep your audience engaged, try mixing up common phrases with uncommon words. This will help make them pay attention and stay interested in what you’re saying . Don’t forget to add a little colloquial language as well; it helps bring life to your speech and adds personality.

Take Inspiration From Personal Experiences

When crafting a humorous speech, one of the most important things to remember is to draw upon personal experiences and stories.

Incorporating anecdotes into your speech creates a natural connection with the audience. It allows them to relate to what you’re saying in a more meaningful way.

These stories give people something to laugh at. In addition, they also provide insight into who you are and why your ideas matter. 

Have Some Fun While at It

Finally, don’t be afraid to have fun! A humorous and persuasive speech requires boldness and confidence in order to really capture the room.

If you’re feeling nervous or overwhelmed, take a few deep breaths and remind yourself that the goal here is to entertain. Keep calm and carry on — after all, laughter can be contagious if done right! 

Overall, writing a humorous persuasive speech may seem intimidating at first, but with the right guidance, you can write one in no time.

Final Words

Now, you’re armed with the knowledge of how to compose a funny speech . The next step is to put it to use. Persuading people with humor is an invaluable skill that can help you present your arguments better.

Abir Ghenaiet

Abir is a data analyst and researcher. Among her interests are artificial intelligence, machine learning, and natural language processing. As a humanitarian and educator, she actively supports women in tech and promotes diversity.

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How To Write And Perform A Comedy Roast

A comedy roast is an event where a group of people gather to make embarrassing and unflattering jokes about a specific guest of honor in front of an audience. The assumption is that the person being roasted will be able to laugh at themselves and take all the jokes in good humor.  Poking fun at friends or co-workers or even your boss (if you dare) is always a good laugh but you do need to know where to draw the line. You don’t want to go overboard and end up with someone running to the nearest bathroom stall to cry hysterically at your savagery. 

True, humor is subjective, but what one person finds offensive, another might find hilarious. This is why it is so important that the person you plan on subtly humiliating is a good sport. You don’t want to poke fun at someone who could react badly. It’s ironic really, the people who deserve to get a good roast are the ones that get offended the easiest.

So before you start constructing your roast, you need to remember a few things first.

Getting Ideas For The Roast

With anything creative in life, you need to draw inspiration and generate ideas before putting pen to paper. If you are not really experienced with roasts, it may be worth watching old Friars Club or Comedy Central Roasts of other people to see what techniques and styles are used. 

When thinking about who you will roast, know whether or not if you will need to tone it down. You can’t roast your boss about their recent divorce but you could roast a friend about how they can’t find a date. 

Think about all the strange habits or quirks of the person you intend to roast. Do they snore really loudly? Do they take freebies from hotels? Do they always leave the toilet seat up?  These little things can offer a unique insight into the person being roasted.

If you are looking for more ideas, recall notable memories, which are usually a fantastic source for a good roast. Was there ever a time where the person did something really stupid, like drop their phone down a  portable toilet at a festival or get lost in Ikea? These fond memories are perfect for teasing someone.

The best roasts usually have an element of truth in them so don’t go crazy trying to think up obscure joke topics. Just state the obvious about the person, especially things that everyone watching can easily recognize about your target. Can they not grow a beard? Do they have a squeaky voice? Do they never stop using their phone? As long as you have something that you know everyone can laugh at, you can be sure that the roast will be awesome.

Writing The Roast

Once you have some solid ideas about what to joke about, it’s time to get to work. Generally roast jokes follow one of two formats which is either:

• Setup – misdirection
• Hyperbole/comparison (like telling adult “yo mama” jokes)

A strong introduction is always important; talk about how you know the person, list three things about them with the third thing being a total misdirection. 

For example: “I have known Matt since high school. He’s a great father, loving husband and always farts when he’s nervous! I guess that explains the smell in here.”

Your roast should be organized in such a way that that audience will grasp the content. Think of a roast as humor and sentiment combined with tasteful vulgarity. The punch lines are the key ingredient to roasts and your “I got you” moment. Think about making note cards where you put one story or joke setup on one side and the other side has the punchline. You also want to end the roast in a loving, light-hearted way by talking about how much you love the person (unless it’s your boss, in which you say you admire them). A roast is a delicate balance between funny and insulting, composed of hilarious memories, weird occurrences, embarrassing situations and shocking revelations, but all done with love.

Once you have your material ready, it’s a good idea to get a second opinion. You don’t want to find out that your material is too sensitive when you are performing. Not only is it awkward but you come across as mean instead of funny. You could ask a family member or co-worker or someone who will know if the joke is going too far. You also want to pick someone who is going to be discreet about your material, you don’t want it going back to the person or all your jokes getting around before you get the chance to perform them. 

Once you have everything ready, rehearse, rehearse, rehearse! A roast is a performance and you need to be stage ready.  The whole point of the roast is to make people laugh, and in order to do so you need to feel comfortable and confident performing your material. You may want to practice performing in front of a mirror a few times before you do it for real so you can spot what you might be doing wrong. Alternatively, film yourself performing and watch the replay for places to improve.

Performing The Roast

Once you have your material, it’s not too offensive and you know it by heart, now it’s time to perform. Doing a roast in front of people, especially for the first time, can be a little scary. You might be inclined to just get it over with as quickly as possible so you can sit back down. This is why you should aim to practice timing before performing. Being funny is about being able to pace yourself so focus on including pauses so that your audience can keep up, especially when delivering your savage punchline. 

Another important element while performing is watching the person’s body language. If they are laughing with everyone, you haven’t been deleted off FaceBook yet. If the person looks uneasy or uncomfortable, skip to another topic as quickly as possible. Sometimes a person will do a fake smile but have their arms or legs crossed which indicates they are unhappy.

The last thing to remember about performing is to say everything with confidence. If you don’t sound confident then even the funniest jokes will fall flat. You have to really believe in your jokes or at least pretend that you do. Stand up straight, look around the room, speak in a clear and confident tone. You’ve got this!

James D. Creviston

James D. Creviston is a writer, blogger, comedian, and podcaster in Los Angeles. He is the producer of the wildly popular Clean Comedy Hour stand up show, as well as the co-host of The Clean Comedy Podcast. James has been doing stand up for the last three years and has performed in LA and NY at some of the hottest clubs. James is a former veteran of the United States Navy as well as a graduate of the University of Las Vegas, Nevada. He is an avid comic book, television, and movie nerd. James can be seen performing his clean comedy all over the United States and heard giving advice on his weekly podcast The Clean Comedy Podcast.

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Presented by Jonathan Freedland , with Jeff Nussbaum, produced by Joshan Chana , executive producer is Maz Ebtehaj

Fri 26 Apr 2024 05.00 BST Last modified on Fri 26 Apr 2024 13.56 BST

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The annual White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner returns this Saturday for a night of comedy ‘roasting’ – where the great and the good are ruthlessly mocked in celebration of the freedom of the press.

In recent years, however, the night has taken on a different tone, with the atmosphere of warm self-deprecation and bipartisan bonhomie replaced by something more scathing and serious.

This week Jonathan Freedland is joined by Jeff Nussbaum, a former senior speech writer to Joe Biden, to discuss the art of writing gags for presidents and whether there is still space for humour in US politics.

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