Writing a Joke is like Building a Startup
Dane Cook gave me the best advice in comedy
I was chatting with Dane Cook Saturday night at the Laugh Factory where he gave me 20 minutes of the best advice a young comic could get. He got on stage 10 seconds after and went on to absolutely murder the room.
That’s what 10,000 hours looks like. SHEESH!
In Today’s Email:
Say what? Jokes are harder than startups
[Video] My Best Joke: You saw V1 last week, here’s the final version
Comic To Watch: *Hint* He died at 35, but people think he faked it
Shows To Watch: Netflix is a Joke Comedy Festival is HERE
Netflix is A Joke Lineup Does Not Disappoint - More info below
Joke 🆚 Startup
I’ve worked on two successfully failed startups and I’ve worked on countless jokes and a few that have made people really laugh.
How you write a joke is LITERALLY like finding product-market fit 😂
Step 1: Come up with an idea
What should we joke about? A problem everyone finds relatable? Childhood trauma? Something that just happened to me?
Step 2: Write and test
Write some premises and some unexpected endings. Take what you have and immediately test at an open mic.
Step 3: Cut the fat, double down on the funny 😈
Do at least 5 open mics to gauge the response and even that might not be enough.
But now you’ll know if your chosen idea was a dud and if it’s time to go back to step 1 OR if you got some laughs … ooooh interesting … it’s time to cut what wasn’t funny and explore what people did laugh at.
Step 4: Test with a real audience
Is it funny enough? Time for it to be tested with at least 2-3 real audiences.
Note: Open mics in LA end up being small rooms with other disinterested comics who want to do their jokes and leave. Hence they’re never the best gauge of how funny your joke is. Only a real audience can give you that feedback.
Step 5: Risk it, Edit it, Test it - REPEAT
We’ve got something funny. But how funny can it get? Each of my jokes has a different grades. A It brings the house down to D which gets some laughs, is dependent on the audience type and is currently in relegation. (No F’s BABY)
Take a big risk with how you end, how you deliver it, do an act, exaggerate it, add music, become creative with it, edit and TEST.
THAT’S IT 🙃
👉 IN CONCLUSION: Every startup I’ve worked on has the same process. With the goal ALWAYS being to get the idea to feedback loop time as short as possible.
Short Feedback loops + High Iterations = NETFLIX STANDUP SPECIAL
The rate of improvement needs to be high otherwise why bother. 🤷♂️
Homework Assignment: Write one joke following these steps and send it to me. You have 1 week. Counts for 100% of your grade.
My Best Joke 💀
SO you remember the joke from last week? The Heckler. Yes that was one of the first times I was trying the “terrorist” jokes and it was ok I’d say a 3/10.
And here’s what it looks like after 6 months.
The improvement is undeniable and this is now my best joke. This joke has another minute to it that I’ve not released yet. Soon… (if you reply asking for it I’ll send it!)
Comics To Watch 😈
He’s one of Dave Chapelle’s favorite comics, he talks about him in his last special and until two weeks ago I’d never heard of him and now I cannot get enough.
Andy Kaufman.
It is impossible to describe him accurately, he’s one of the most famous comics of all time and in his own words - “I’ve never told a joke in my life”
If you watched this - you may be confused. And that’s exactly what Kaufman’s goal was. To blur the lines between what’s real and what’s scripted with a focus on pushing boundaries and making people uncomfortable.
Think Borat or Ali G but weirder 😂
I’d highly recommend watching Jim as Andy on Netflix. Which is an incredible documentary on Jim Carrey playing Andy Kaufman without breaking character…
Shows To Watch 💙
The Netflix is A Joke Festival details are out and the lineups are insane. It’s local to Los Angeles, but the shows are amazing and every comic here will be touring and most likely coming to your city this year.
My Favorite
Kill Tony - Aspiring comics come on stage to do 1 minute of comedy while seasoned comics roast them OR sometimes love them!
( I’m putting my name in the bucket! )
Reply back with any thoughts or just say hi - I’d love to hear from you!
- Talk soon Killers!