How To Write Jokes

By Author: Igor Markovic
Total Articles: 3764
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You wouldn't believe how simple can it be to make anyone laugh..Demonstrating why is this that we find things amusing (from a psychologists point of view), is the first thing to do.When we hear something we haven't heard of in the past, the brain sets up a new "route'', from one neural cell to another one.

This connection is what we call a synapse and here is an example of how it works:While thinking about food, if we think of, let's say, watermelons our mind will make a route (the synapse which will get thicker), connecting the two neural cells that contain the data we have on food and this fruit. So, in the future, while you think about food there is a great possibility to start thinking about apples. You're probably thinking, what does that have to do with me getting funnier? But, it's pretty much all about it, it's actually the way humor works.

It all starts with someone telling you a short, common story. Stand-up comedians call this a setup. So now, you're expected to have a certain way of thinking towards the story you've heard. And so, our brain will now make a path which will go from the setup to it's ...
... suitable punch-line. Now, you probably won't hear the same punch-line that you thought of, but a different one, instead and it will make you laugh. Most of the people don't understand this right away, but the next example will surely explain it better.

The Setup:
What is the most satisfying thing next to being shot at and missed?
The Punch-line:
An income tax refund.

What did you think when you heard the setup? I am sure you have thought that the car is being driven by one of the three men. It's natural, as our brain works that way. And as I already said, the punch-line you read was indeed very different. This is in fact the main principle of the way humor works.

The main thing is good setup. Good comedians will always have a setup that only delivers the basic facts, so that there are many possible punch-lines you can think of. The more you think that your punch-line is the most suitable one, the more you'll laugh when you hear the actual one. But if you're already familiar with the punch-line the joke won't be funny anymore as the brain won't be making any new routes.

This should be useful if you want to make up brand new pranks. When a man tells something that all the folk thinks about in the same way, but you find out a different way to understand it. Now, if you tell this to others, it should be incredibly funny.