I’m writing this from an airplane 30,000 feet up!
YEAH. .my life will get even better when all airplanes get internet access. . .I’m so haThe WHEN of joking I’m writing this from an airplane 30,000 feet up! YEAH. .my life will get even better when all airplanes get internet access. . .I’m so happy. Speaking of WHEN. . .When writing a joke, a fast way to find some funny is to ask yourself “when?” and then broaden it. When – a time, When – a day, When – a week, When – a month, When – a year, When – a decade. . . you get the picture. Because WHEN something takes place may lead to the funny.
If something is happening on a Friday
as opposed to a Monday or in the spring versus the summer, then you can do jokes appropriate to those times. Joking about an event in the winter brings on weather jokes, holiday jokes etc. . . I’m speaking to a women’s health conference tonight, and I asked WHEN did they start this conference. . . 5 years ago. Which leads me to wonder – how unhealthy was this group 6 years ago? With the recent break up of Kim Kardashian, you could get to the joke by asking things like WHEN was there a wedding that was shorter than 64 hours (Britney Spears @ 55 hours), WHEN will she start dating again (72 hours ago), WHEN will she be over the grief (64 minutes). . . see how the word WHEN helps you out.
And remember,
things that happen on a Friday can have different jokes than things that happen on a Monday because we think about those days differently. I did a show for a hospital once on a Thursday night. I asked when do they usually have this event, and they said it’s always on a Thursday because, and I quote, “Friday is kind of a blow off day.” We’re talking about a hospital folks! I had a lot of fun joking about how it’s comforting to know that even a hospital has a blow off day, but that’s just wrong. . .I think I’ll schedule my surgery for Wednesday. There’s also hospital appreciation month. . make sure you schedule surgery during that month.
Asking WHEN can be a valuable tool in comedy. . .
so remember to ask it. . WHENever you’re trying to write funny.
Jan