Creating a Comic

There is a difference between telling funny stories and telling jokes, and the most common rookie mistake at open mic is not understanding the difference between the two. The distinction is subtle but crucial, and is largely a matter of proper joke structure.

Simply put, jokes have punchlines, whereas stories just sort of ramble on. People often have a few legitimately amusing stories in their back pocket, the type of stories that regularly crack up their friends or entertain people at parties. They think that if they get on stage and just tell those same stories, they’ll kill at open mic.

Believe me: they won’t. A comedy audience is primed for a certain performance rhythm; that’s why the setup, punch, tag/tag/tag joke structure is so crucial. The crowd is rooting for you to make them laugh, but you need to give them natural opportunities to do so. If you take too long between laugh breaks it’s just going to frustrate them, and the whole set will detonate in a smoking mushroom cloud.

Yes, even the professionals

But wait, haven’t you heard famous comedians tell stories? What about Dave Chappelle’s ghetto baby story from Killing Them Softly, for example? Watch closely, counting the laughs, and you’ll see that Dave’s hilarious story is actually a string of related jokes. Since it forms a coherent narrative, it seems like just a story, but it’s actually a series of jokes, woven together, each building upon each other.

The same goes for a comic like Dane Cook, who doesn’t always use traditional punchlines in his act. You’ll notice that he still religiously follows the rhythm, though, even when he replaces a punchline beat with (for example) an act-out¹.

What to do with your funny story

The good news is, you don’t necessarily have to throw your funny story out the window; you just need to work on rewriting it in such a way as to follow the setup/punchline rhythm. Try writing it out and then brainstorming some explicit laugh lines to insert along the way. Soon that long-winded story can become the backbone for a solid bit, or even an entire routine.

Related entries in Creating a Comic:

• How to write a joke: Joke Structure
• How to tell if new material is any good
• Preparing a set list
• Working new material into a stand-up set
• Open Mic: First Timer Primer

1. An act-out is when a comedian physically acts out a joke, typically with exaggerated body motions and gestures. See the Stand-up Comedy Glossary for other terms and definitions. [↩]

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