Joke Structure

Joke Premise: a negative opinion about a subject.

The premise forces you to define the subject of your jokes and the pejorative judgment
youre taking on that subject. Once you have this, you can begin to search for opposite
ideas thatll help you misdirect the audience.

Expectation & Surprise

1. The Setup is the first part of a joke that sets up the laugh.
Setup: what the comic says or does which creates a false expectation.
The Setup creates an expectation.
o False expectation: to believe the setups bogus 1st story
The main function of the setup is to get the audience to expect something else
first. This is accomplished through misdirection. Without a setup that
misdirects to a false expectation, you wont know how to surprise with the
punch.
Setup: I saw my grandmother the other dayprobably for the last time.
o Most people mistakenly believe the most important part of a joke is the punch
because thats where they get the laugh. This is not true, the punch cannot come
as a surprise unless the audience is expecting something else first.
2. The Punch is the second part that makes you laugh.
The Punch reveals a surprise.
Punch: Oh, shes not sick or anything, she just bores the hell out of me.

In order to work, a joke has to surprise. And we cannot be surprised unless were expecting
something else.
Thats what a joke does: The setup causes us to expect something, and then the punch
surprises us.

1st Story and 2nd Story

 The setup of a joke creates an imagined 1st story in the minds of the audience. This 1st story
leads the audience to believe this scenario to be what the comedian means and expects it to
be true.
Then the punch causes the audience to imagine a different 2nd story that is a surprise, yet
compatible with the setup.

(SADLY) My wife just ran off with my best friend. Boy, do I miss him.

The setup creates a 1st story: A man is unhappy because he misses his wife.
We expect that imagined story to continue along that theme, so were surprised when the
punch reveals a 2nd story: A man is unhappy because he misses his buddy.
If a joke doesnt have two story lines, its not a joke because there is no expectation and
surprise. If a punch doesnt reveal a 2nd story, then what youve got is a single story, but
not a joke.

(SADLY) My wife just ran off with my best friend. Boy, do I miss her.

Not exactly a knee-slapper. This starts off as a story about a man missing his wife, and it
ends up the same way. Theres no 2nd story, so theres no surprise. And since theres no
surprise theres no joke.

1. Setup and 1st Story

These two elements fulfill very different functions within joke structure.
As the first part of the joke, the setup is only the words and actions used by the
comedian to get the audience to expect something. Nothing more.
Whereas, based on the setup, the 1st story is the detailed scene imagined by the
audience they expect to be true.

For forty years Ive been married and in love with the same woman. If my wife ever finds out
shell kill me.

When the comic says, For forty years Ive been married and in love with the same
woman that, and only that, is the setup.
Then from hearing this setup the audience imagines a much more elaborate 1st story.
Since its created in the minds of the audience, I cant say exactly what the 1st story
would be for any individual, so heres my version:

1st story: This man is bragging about being deeply in love with his wife. In their forty years
together they have built a rich and full life and were able to work out their differences and
remain happy. He has never cheated on her and plans to be with her the rest of his life.

This 1st story has been built by making assumptions about the information in the
setup.

2. Punch and 2nd Story

 As the second part of the joke, the punch is merely the words and actions used by the
comedian to surprise the audience. Nothing more.
Based on the punch, the audience imagines a detailed 2nd story which is compatible
with the setup, yet unexpected.

2nd story: Despite staying in a terrible marriage with an ogre this man has never divorced. To
find some happiness hes fallen in love with a mistress and has been able to work it out with her
so shed stay with him for forty years even though hes remained married. He lives in constant
fear that his wife will find out about his long time affair and make his life with her more
miserable that it already is.

Again, the 2nd story is a much more detailed scenario than the punch.
o What I want to emphasize is how much information resides within a joke thats not
stated in the setup and the punch information we add by making assumptions.

Target Assumption

In every setup, theres one particular assumption I call the target assumption.
What sets the target assumption apart from the other assumptions that create the 1st story is
that it fulfills two criteria.

1. The target assumption is the key assumption on which the 1st story is built.
Of all the assumptions you must make to imagine a story, one key assumption gives
the 1st story its specific meaning.
o That is to say, if you dont make that key or target assumption, youll imagine a
very different story than the one required to make the joke work. Take this old
joke for example:

I had a mud pack facial done, and for three days my face looked much better. Then the mud fell
off.

The effectiveness of the setup hinges on your making the target assumption that the
mud was taken off as part of the facial.
Making that (key) target assumption led you to imagine a 1st story in which the mud
pack facial gave the comic nicer looking skin for three days.
Then the punch surprised you by revealing a very different 2nd story that the comic
walked around for three days with a face covered with mud, which actually improved
his or her looks.
2. The target assumption is the assumption made wrong by the punch.
Every joke with a setup is designed to manipulate an audience into imagining a bogus
1st story by making assumptions. The punch then reveals an unexpected 2nd story
that surprises the audience by targeting one key assumption and making it
wrongthats the target assumption.
o For instance, of all the assumptions you made about the setup, of the example
joke, only the target assumption the mud was taken off as part of the facial, was
directly shattered by the punch Then the mud fell off.
 Do all jokes have this target assumption? you might ask.
Yes. Jokes only have a few basic structures. For this section, I like to discuss the two
most relevant. One, jokes that have a setup and a punch. Two, jokes that do not have a
stated setup, but have a punch. Lets unpack these one at a time.

1. Jokes With Setups

This is the classic one-liner format. With these types of jokes, the setup misdirects by
getting the audience to buy into the target assumptions as the meaning of the setup.
Then the punch makes the target assumption wrong.

After my divorce, I had a sex change. From very seldom to not at all.

The setup causes us to accept the target assumption that he had a change in sex
organs.
Then the punch surprises us with the unexpected alternative that he only had a change
in sexual frequency.
o Theres more to this because the setup isnt always as explicit as with a one-liner.
The setup can be a character, situation, action and so forth.
o Jokes with setups always use a stated setup and punch.

2. Jokes Without Setups

Theres a whole class of jokes that have no stated setups. Strangely enough, they still
have a target assumption, but theres no need for a setup because the target
assumption already resides in the minds of the audience.
Let me illustrate with something that actually happened to me. I was sitting in a
Chinese restaurant late one night. It was a very authentic establishment, and most of
the other patrons were Asian immigrants many of whom spoke little or no English.
They had a big screen TV on the wall and a Gallagher concert was starting.
o Gallagher made his entrance riding a bicycle with square wheels, and everybody
watching cracked up laughing. Regardless of language or cultural differences,
everyone has already made the target assumption that bicycle wheels are round.
Since this is universally accepted, theres no need for a stated setup. To make a
joke, all that was needed was a punch in the form of a bicycle with square
wheels - which shattered the existing target assumption.
Many jokes have target assumptions that everyone already accepts based on
physical laws, societal biases, cultural and national presuppositions, accepted
definitions, stereotypes, and familiar environments, just to name a few
examples. On a daily basis, everyone makes tens of thousands of assumptions
without realizing it. Its these unconscious assumptions that are targeted by
jokes without setups.

To get the idea for the punch lines, notice what is the most obvious assumption suggested by
each setup. This assumption will be your target assumption for that setup.
Later, the target assumption will be targeted by your punch lines and shown to be wrong.
Here are some examples of target assumptions:
Setup (good): Post workers are actually very efficient
Target Assumption: They are efficient at handling the mail.

Setup (bad) My post person delivers my letters to my neighbors.

Target Assumption: The neighbors are within a few houses or blocks of your house.

Connector

At the center of joke structure is a third mechanism which I call the connector, defined as one
thing interpreted in at least two ways.
Interpreting the connector in one way provides the target assumption, and interpreting it
in another supplies the reinterpretation.

One day I had an asthmatic attack. These three asthmatics jumped me.

1. The target assumption is that he had bout of wheezing and shortness of breath due to his
asthma;
2. The reinterpretation is that he actually got beat up by three guys who have asthma.
3. The connector is the phase, asthmatic attack. Its the one thing with two meanings.

Notice the definition of the connector includes in at least two ways. Connectors can have
many possible interpretations; two is simply the minimum required to construct a joke.
When a connector can be interpreted in several ways, it can result in a joke with several
punches.
Next, you need to recognize what in the setup caused you to make the target assumption.
This will be your connector and will be in the form of who, what, when, where, why, or how.
For instance:

Setup (good): Post workers are actually very efficient

Target Assumption: They are efficient at handling the mail.
Connector: What the post workers are efficient at.

Setup (bad) My post person delivers my letters to my neighbors.

Target Assumption: The neighbors are within a few houses or blocks of your house.
Connector: Where the neighbors are.

Misdirection: to mislead for the purpose of deception.

Misdirection is achieved through some ambiguity in the setup. The setup establishes an
expected meaning of the ambiguity, and then the punch can reveal the unexpected
meaning of that same ambiguity.
Ambiguity: an obscure or double meaning.
Misdirection is the function of a setup and this is accomplished through ambiguity.
Therefore, a setup must have what I call a target assumption based on an ambiguity.
Youre looking for an idea that can be taken more than one way.
Reinterpretation

We know that the setup creates an expectation when the audience builds a 1st story by
making assumptions; the punch then shatters a key assumption (the target assumption) and
reveals a 2nd story.
The punch does this by presenting an unexpected interpretation of something in the setup.
This unexpected interpretation I call the reinterpretation.
The reinterpretation must adhere to two rules described below.

1. The reinterpretation is the idea upon which the punchs 2nd story is based.
Just as the target assumption creates the 1st story, the reinterpretation creates the 2nd
story. Take this joke for example:

My grandfather died a peaceful death, he died in his sleep. But the kids on his bus were
screaming.

The reinterpretation is that he was sleeping at the wheel of a bus which is the basis for
the 2nd story that the grandfather died in a bus wreck after falling asleep at the wheel
causing the kids to scream. This, in turn, is communicated as the punch But the kids
on his bus were screaming.

2. The reinterpretation reveals an unexpected interpretation of the same thing in the

setup from which the target assumption is made.
Something within the setup causes the audience to make the target assumption. If you
investigate the example joke, youll discover that where the grandfather fell asleep is
the thing that caused us to make the target assumption he was sleeping in his bed, as
well as the reinterpretation he was sleeping at the wheel of a bus.
When a punch presents a reinterpretation, the audience is confronted with an
unexpected yet compatible interpretation of the thing within the setup.
This makes them review their assumptions until they identify the one that is wrong,
thus shattering that target assumption.
o Shattering the target assumption with an unexpected reinterpretation is what
creates surprise. When your joke shatters peoples assumptions, they laugh.

Now identify or invent an unexpected interpretation of the connector which will be your
reinterpretation. The reinterpretation will be your idea for the punch lines. You must keep the
target assumption and reinterpretation consistent. Which is to say, if the target assumption is
a what, then the reinterpretation also needs to be a what. A who for a who; a where for a
where, and so forth. Follow the progression below:

Setup (good): Post workers are actually very efficient

Target Assumption: They are efficient at handling the mail.
Connector: What the post workers are efficient at.
What else could the postal workers be efficient with?
Reinterpretation: Guns.
Punch (bad): With guns.
Joke: Post workers are actually very efficientwith guns.

Setup (bad) My post person delivers my letters to my neighbors.

Assumption: The neighbors are located within a few houses or blocks of where you live.
Connector: Where the neighbor are.
Where is a neighbor that is not within a few houses or blocks?
Reinterpretation: a neighboring country like Canada or Mexico.
Punch (worse): In Mexico.
Joke: My post person delivers my letters to my neighborsin Mexico.

There are only two fundamental ways to create a reinterpretation for a target assumption.
They are to recognize reinterpretations and to invent reinterpretations.

1. Recognize Reinterpretations
With recognized reinterpretations the alternative meaning already exists in the
collective common knowledge of a culture.
For instance, words can have accepted multiple meanings, as with this joke:

I went to my doctor for shingles he sold me aluminum siding.

Notice how the word shingles has two different meanings.

The assumed interpretation that shingles means a skin condition is the target
assumption; the unexpected interpretation that shingles means house covering is the
reinterpretation.
o Since shingles has two established meanings in our lexicon, the process of
discovering an unexpected meaning is to simply recognize the existing alternative
and then write a punch for it.

2. Invent Reinterpretations
The other way of creating reinterpretations is to invent ones that dont already exist.
o Inventing reinterpretations is more complex because the alternative meaning must
be invented in the mind of the joke writer.
o This is possible because the target assumption gives us a clue from which to
invent a reinterpretation. For instance, this joke:

My grandfather died a peaceful death, he died in his sleep. Of course, the kids on his bus were
screaming.

The target assumption that he fell asleep and died in his bed, gives us the clue of a
location.
o To invent a reinterpretation for this target assumption the joke writer must invent
another location where he could fall asleep and die.
o In this case, he fell asleep and died while driving a bus full of kids.

Opposite Directly or By Degree

Comedy is two opposite ideas that collide.

In general terms, setups and punches are opposite either directly in the form of: good to bad;
or by degree in the form of bad to worse.

1. Good to Bad
A joke based on the pattern of good to bad is directly opposite because the setup is
about something good, and the punch is about something bad. To see how this works,
take a look at this joke from Stephen King.

I still have the heart of a little boy. . . in a jar on my desk.

To reveal the opposites, lets break the joke down into its fundamental elements.
o In general terms, the setup is about the author having the playful, imaginative, and
creative spirit of a little boy, which is good.
o Then the punch gives us an opposite view, the author keeping the actual physical
heart of a little boy in a pickle jar on his writing desk. I think most people would
consider that bad.
To create something good, you must write setups as something positive. For instance,
based on the premise, postal workers are incompetent, youll want to write setups
about the things postal workers do correctly or should do correctly.
o The challenge is that the ideas for these setups arent your real opinion.
Remember, the setups need to misdirect, so later the punches can express your
real negative opinion about this subject.

2. Bad to Worse
The other relationship between setup and punch is bad to worse which is less clear
because its opposite by degree.

Being raised with five sisters can really warp your mind. I was sixteen before I realized I was
fat and not just retaining water.

o In the setup, Derek is influenced so completely by his five sisters that hes
deluded into believing he isnt fat when he actually is which is bad.
o Then, in the punch, at sixteen he awakens to the fact that he really is fat and not
just retaining water which is worse.
With this style of setup, youll write setups about things that are bad, but can be
exaggerated into something worse.
o These are a bit more tricky because theres still an ambiguity that must be
resolved.
o For instance, for our premise, postal workers are incompetent, youll write ideas
about the things they do badly, but there still must be something that we can show
how it can get worse.

Whether your jokes go from good to bad or bad to worse, theyll always be moving toward
the more negative action or result.
 For instance, if you have a setup and youve written several punches for it, the more
negative punch will usually be the funniest.

Joke Premise:

Joke:

Setup Punch
Target Assumption Reinterpretation
1st Story 2nd Story
False Expectation Misdirection
Connector (Ambiguity)

Creating Misdirection

Good to Bad
Bad to Worse
Realism to Exaggeration
Realism to Understatement