The Serious Guide to Joke Writing: How To Say Something Funny About Anything pdfdrive com

Exercise 14: Different ways of saying your
jokes out loud
It  can  get  very  boring  just  reciting  your  material  to  yourself  so  here  are  some
things to try...
• If you imagine a large audience it’s easy to think your words aren’t good
enough.  But  in  fact  your  large  audience  is  made  up  of  lots  of  individuals
who need to understand the words you are saying. So try saying your joke
to  one  person  as  in  conversation.  Play  it  down,  go  low  key.  See  how  it
changes the way you say it.
•  Try  whispering  the  joke  to  someone  real  or  imagined  across  the  room.
Whispering  is  hard  so  you  will  naturally  hone  what  you  are  saying  down
and give it a different emphasis.
• Imagine you’re in a radio studio sitting opposite a presenter. Imagine him
asking  you  questions  on  the  subject  and  try  and  drop  the  gag  into  your
answer. That will show you what you need around the gag.
• If you’re hoping to turn your joke into a sketch, start improvising the joke
within the sketch, add things to it. Invent characters around it.
• If the joke’s going into a stand-up routine try saying it with the gag before
and the gag after. Does it need a link line? How does it flow with the other
gags? This could lead to you thinking of extra link lines or adding different
emphasis.
• Try performing the joke in a foreign accent, strangely this can often help
find the right timing or rhythm.

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