the initial subject, he rarely comes up with anything, but once I have put the
work in and got lots of basic ideas, his mind dances the fandango with them.
Without me, he draws a blank. I’m the one putting in the time in this scenario.
I admit I’m tenacious and put the hours in to find the set-ups. But isn’t tenacity
an easier thing to achieve that to be born with talent?
I have another comic friend with a brilliant comic mind. At one time I would
slave over writing sketches for hours then phone him up and he would instantly
come up with the topper jokes for me. I used to
be jealous and wonder why he
wasn’t writing sketches but he (due to his health) couldn’t put the time in.
Perhaps that’s how writing partnerships work. One person putting in the broad-
based effort, the other topping it up.
I started thinking of myself as the hardworking one. When I thought about joke
writing, I would think I can do this because I put the time in. I’m a plodder.
Then, when I started teaching joke writing, I realised a wonderful thing. When I
looked at students’ work I could often see punchlines they couldn’t but that were
based on their ground-work and set-ups. Suddenly I was being the clever one. I
realised that the work has to be done by someone. It just happened that for once
it wasn’t me.
We actually go into an office every day and we work from eleven until half
four, or, if we’re feeling particularly creative, until five.
Caroline Ahearne
So where does the real talent lie? Is it thinking of the joke or finding the set-up?
There’s no definite answer to that but I’ll let you ponder it.
Either way, putting in the time looking for potential set-ups
and fertile ideas is
very important, if only so you can feed them to other people to deliberately
stimulate their thinking (and then, if you can, keep the jokes).
No matter how talented you are, unless someone is putting the time in, you’re
not going to be a prolific joke writer. I’ve known very talented stand-ups who
churn out the same material for years with the occasional new line thrown in.
You can get away with it as a stand-up. Sketch and sitcom writers or cartoonists
can’t.
So what are we really doing when we are putting the time in?
Years ago, when I started out joke writing, putting the
time in was the only tool I
had. I literally used to sit in front of a computer and type out vague things to do
with the subjects I wanted a gag on, and hope for the best. I would sit there until
I had done whatever time I had set myself.
Nowadays, I can write a lot faster, because I have tools. I can force angles and
ideas out more quickly by using the exercises I teach in this book. People have
been so impressed with the speed I can come up with topical jokes they have
called me wonderful things which I’m too modest to write here. I admit my brain
is
attuned to joke writing, but I’m still putting time in. I run the subject through
as many of my joke writing methods as appropriate. I like to do at least an hour a
day (and more if I’m on a tight deadline). I break it up, do a bit here and a bit
there. I allow my brain time in between, to process everything, and hey presto
the gags come. In the initial stages, I am looking for ideas and potential set-ups.
In
the secondary stages, I am following every lead, chasing down every glimmer
of a gag, and telling all my ideas to my partner and any friend who’ll listen.
My message is that joke writing can seem hard at first but it’s great once you’ve
got some ideas. Your brain loves it. You are giving it something to work with.
You tell a friend and their brain loves it too, and each brain has its own special
take, so that’s twice the joke potential.
Maybe that’s why TV companies often put writers into groups. In my writing
classes I always encourage students to chip in on other people’s stuff, but I tell
them that any jokes generated are owned by the person whose subject it is,
because they’re the ones who put in the work. They provided the stimulation for
the rest of the class’s brains.
If you have built castles in the air, your work need not be lost; that’s where
they should be. Now put the foundations under them!
Henry David Thoreau
So I actually love it when people use my set-ups to write better jokes than me.
What’s more, they love it too. They feel clever. And I let them. They don’t know
that I was deliberately tickling their brains with my well researched set-ups.
They are usually keen to let me keep the jokes, and my partner always tells me
to take the credit for them (bless him).
For me, song writing is something I have to do ritually. I don’t just wait for
inspiration; I try to write a little bit every day.
Sean Lennon
None of us likes drudgery. They say great detectives spend a lot of time sifting
through stuff, ruling stuff out and I recognise that process when I’m writing
jokes.
That’s not to deny talent.
I could always write jokes, in my slow, lumbering way.
I was always witty with friends. Doing it to order, though, or doing it to make a
living, requires time and tenacity as well.
