HOW TO EXECUTE A JOKE

Jokes. We all know what a joke is. If you don’t, go look in a mirror. See? That was a joke. There are good jokes and bad jokes. The mirror joke was bad, for example. Of course, it’s all a matter of opinion. There isn’t an objective standard for jokes. It’s an artform, and like all art, it’s extremely subjective. Some people think a fart is objectively funny. Others are wrong. That doesn’t mean you can’t improve the quality of a joke. You could have two jokes with the same idea and have two drastically different reactions depending upon their EXECUTION. Proper execution changes everything. Let me give you a basic example.

Look at these two comics. They’re both telling the same joke, but I bet you can sense one’s better than the other. There are hundreds of subtle, small factors that enhance the humor of any joke. What those factors are can vary wildly depending on the joke, the joke teller, and the intended audience. Regardless, I think there are some core fundamentals that every good cartoonist should know. I can’t teach you how to be funny, but I can teach you how to be funnier.

So who am I and why am I pretending to know things? I’m the creator of the comic series Mr. Lovenstein. You can read it right here on Tapas. I’ve been drawing comics for over ten years, and I’ve learned a thing or two along the way. Because of my background, I’m focusing on gag comics. And when I say gag comics, I mean short-form self-contained comic strips. I know nothing beyond that.

What makes a joke funny? For the sake of time, let’s make it painfully simple. A joke subverts expectations. It takes reality and gives it a little twist. The goal is to reveal new information to the audience that elicits surprise or shock. First you present them with something normal and familiar, and then you make it suddenly abnormal and unfamiliar. For some reason, we humans find that hilarious. Even with something as simple as playing peek-a-boo with a baby, the core principle is there.

I’m assuming you’re coming to this guide with some good ideas already rolling around in your noggin. Idea generation is a whole other can of worms, but I can help you with the ones you already have. Pretend I’m a flight instructor(joke coach), and you already own the plane (your joke). I’m going to help you take off and land your plane without crashing and burning. At the very least, you’ll walk away from the crash site. Of course, I’m NOT an “expert” in jokecraft by any means. I have a lot of experience and people seem to think I’m funny sometimes. If my style of humor isn’t for you, then this guide probably isn’t either. Also, how dare you. If it is, well then let’s GET TO IT.

CORE CONCEPTS

I’ve boiled every joke down into a few main concepts. There are exceptions to every rule, of course, but please take into consideration that I’m lazy.

TIMING - As the old timing goes, saying is everything. I don’t care how clever your joke is. If it has bad timing, it’s going to bomb. There is an innate rhythm to jokes. It’s a lot like music. You can tell when the timing is off and it ruins everything. A successful joke gives the audience enough time to absorb necessary information WITHOUT giving them too much time to predict the punchline. You have to stay one step ahead of your audience without taking so many steps that you’ve lost them. Classic jokes are often question-and-answer because the cadence of a question works perfectly for a joke. You ask the question, pause for them to think it over, and then tell them the answer. A lot happens in that pause. If the pause is too short, the audience doesn’t have enough time to absorb the question. If the pause is too long, they might figure out the answer. Either way, the timing of your joke should never feel off.

SURPRISE - Jokes, at their core, are a surprise. It’s important to remember that you, the joke teller, have ALL of the information. Your audience has NONE. They’re completely dependent on you. Your job is to give them just enough information without giving away the punchline. The less you have to tell them, the better. The entire time they’re reading your comic, they’re trying to figure it out. They can’t help themselves, and that’s half of the fun.  It’s a lot like performing magic. A magic trick wouldn’t be very magical if the magician started by breaking down how they’re about to pull off their next trick. 

SHOW IT, DON’T SAY IT - People don’t like words. I get pissed just looking at a book. I bet reading this article has been a painful experience for you. Convey as much information visually as you possibly can before resorting to awful, disgusting words. Don’t make your character say “I’m feeling sad.” SHOW the character looking sad. I promise it will improve the flow of the comic, the timing of the joke, and its visual appeal.

EDIT EDIT EDIT - Brevity is the soul of wit, my friends. Less IS more.

CORE COMPONENTS

Most gag comics are built using these core components. Conveniently, each component is often represented by a single panel.

SETUP - The journey starts here. You can’t subvert expectations if there’s nothing to subvert. Punchlines get all of the love and attention, but they’re nothing without a good setup. The setup has three jobs. First, it sets the stage for the joke. It introduces the setting, the characters, and the situation. Secondly, it grabs and holds the reader’s attention. When people see that first panel, they should be thinking “well I gotta see where this is going.” Lastly, it leads the audience to the punchline as efficiently as possible. The setup is the punchline’s wingman. It’s there to make the punchline look sexy as hell. Too many comics are dragged down by a bad setup. Either it’s too wordy, long, confusing, distracting or just plain unappealing.

MISDIRECT - Not every comic has a misdirect nor needs one. Oftentimes, the misdirect is intertwined with the setup or the punchline. If you plan for three panels or more, though, misdirects are incredibly versatile. A good joke subverts expectations. Now imagine subverting expectations TWICE. Most misdirects work in one of two ways. Either it leads the reader to believe the joke has a different punchline than the actual punchline or it makes the audience second guess the setup. The horror genre loves misdirects. A person sees a monster’s silhouette behind a curtain. They pull back the curtain. Surprise, no one there. I guess they were just seeing things. Suddenly, the monster grabs them from behind! Sorry if that spooked ya. The curtain was a misdirect, and it enhanced the incredible ending. 

PUNCHLINE - This is it. This is the grand finale. You have a great setup. You have a clever misdirect. Now you need to deliver the goods. Here’s the most important thing you should know about punchlines. They come at the end. Now for those in the back: Punchlines👏Come👏At👏The👏End. I’m sure you’re thinking, well duh! Of course they do! Listen, I can’t tell you how many comics have failed to follow that simple rule. I’ve done it plenty of times myself. I’ll probably do it again. The punchline doesn’t need anything after it. Do not include a reaction to the punchline. Do not add a second, worse punchline. Do not start with a punchline and drag it out for multiple panels. If the big reveal is in panel three, but your comic is four panels long, ya done goofed. Speaking of big reveals, don’t forget the punchline needs to be a surprise! If the reader sees it coming from a mile away, you either have a bad setup, not enough misdirection or your joke is just too simple. 

BRINGING IT ALL TOGETHER

It’s time to put everything we’ve learned into practice. Let’s analyze those two comics I showed you at the top, and figure out what works and what doesn’t work between the two. Let’s start with the setups. 

So the first major difference is the presence of a shark fin. The setup in comic A gives the reader the following information: two guys are swimming in shark infested waters, they know a shark is coming, and they’re scared. The setup in comic B isn’t as effective. Instead of an attention grabbing shark attack, it has boring, awful words. One guy is sharing a fun fact about sharks apropos of nothing. The other guy responds by saying they’re in the ocean, which is almost redundant. Instead of a shark fin, there’s a snorkel pipe. The reader might not even know what it is. It’s distracting more than anything. In the end, both setups give us roughly the same information. Two guys are in the ocean and are concerned about sharks. Comic A sets the stage nicely. Comic B gives away too much information already. “You’re more likely to get killed by a cow” combined with “good thing we’re in the ocean” already gets the gears turning in the reader’s mind. If the next panel was the cow attack, it might be quick enough to stay ahead of the reader, but it’ll feel too abrupt. Either way, the timing is off now. 

Comic A uses the second panel as a misdirect. It makes sense to share the fun fact about sharks now. It also mentions cows as a possible threat so panel three isn’t a non-sequitur. The reader won’t think much of it because they’re distracted by the shark. Hopefully this panel convinces the reader that the punchline is a shark attack. Panel two of Comic B ruins the punchline by giving it away too soon. Readers were already primed to question the situation, and the “moo” confirms their suspicions. Now the punchline won’t hit as hard as it could have.

WRAPPING UP

So there you have it. Now you know the basic mechanics of a gag comic. The veil has been lifted. Go back and look at all of your favorite comic strips. See if you can find all of the different concepts and components in practice. Where’s the setup? Is it a good setup? Is there a misdirect? Does the timing feel right? Is the punchline surprising? Is the punchline at the END? It’s amazing how many comics adhere to this structure. Will you become the next hot new cartoonist with this knowledge? Probably not. Just look at me. On the other hand, though, you could become an insufferable comic critic and ruin comics for everyone else. I’d argue that’s even better.

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