Introduction

This lesson is designed to provide additional information about the structure of spoken word punchlines.

There are two very good reasons to thoroughly understand how punchlines generate laughter:

1. You will know exactly why the things you say generate laughter, whether on or off the stand-up comedy stage.

2. You will be able to intelligently evaluate your punchlines to make adjustments if needed to produce a greater laughter response in your stand-up comedy material.

For comprehensive instruction on punchlines, please review the Success Primer Punchline Secrets lesson.

Now, let’s explore some important attributes of punchlines.

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Punchline Structure

Here is a brief review of the information provided in the lesson on Comedy Mechanics and some additional information you need to know about spoken word punchline structure:

1. Most punchlines intended to be spoken and expressed instead of read will not usually “read” funny from a piece of paper.

That’s because the delivery and expression elements of what you have to say (93% of an individual’s laughter power) are missing from mere words and sentences transcribed on paper.

As I mentioned earlier, you DO want to have your comedy written down for a number of very important reasons.

But don’t expect punchlines that are designed specifically to be expressed to an audience to “read” funny from a piece paper.

2. Punchlines do not have to be words. They can be as subtle as a simple look or a gesture following a statement or question.

Be aware that you will never be able to accurately represent this aspect of laughter generation with words and lines transcribed on paper.

3. Spoken word punchlines are usually 5-9 words long and can be an independent line or the last part of a sentence.

A spoken word punchline (or tag line) can also be a single word or two, depending on the context and delivery.

4. Most punchlines usually have a specific sentence structure that contributes to the element of surprise or unexpected aspect of punchlines.

This sentence structure involves the placement of a key word or a key word phrase at the end of a punchline which does not reveal the actual meaning or context of the line or sentence until the key word or key word phrase is spoken.

It is this structural aspect that magnifies the element of surprise many punchlines exhibit:

Examples of this keyword or keyword phrase sentence structure are provided in the sections that follow.

5. Set-up lines not necessarily intended to generate laughter can in fact generate laughter just like punchlines, especially when comedy material has been tightly structured and the comedian or presenter is capitalizing on their natural expressive comedy traits, timing, etc.

I want to provide you some examples of punchline usage in context in order to further expand your knowledge about punchlines and ultimately illustrate how you can easily generate punchlines for your own comedy material.

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Street Joke Punchline Example

A “street joke” is a stand-up comedy term to describe jokes told on the street — everyday jokes told among friends, families and co-workers.

Here is a street joke example — the punchline is in italics. My comments follow:

Here’s what you want to observe in this example:

1. Notice that the punchline is a sense of humor reaction by one of the characters described in the joke.

2. The punchline is 7 words long and is the end of a sentence.

3. Notice that the keyword phrase “weight wrong too” is at the end of the sentence, adding to the element of surprise when the real meaning of the line is finally revealed.

4. As with any street joke, most of the laughter power will come as a direct result of its delivery — not how funny it “reads” from paper.

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Stand-up Comedy Punchline Example

Now, let’s examine some stand-up comedy material from comedian Steve Trevino again:

Now, let’s look at the word structure of the punchlines in the bit above as previously described. Below, you will find the keyword or keyword phrases in bold (I only did the biggest laughs):

Here’s what I want you to absorb from this 69 second stand-up comedy clip by Steve Trevino:

1. Note that in most of the punchlines, the keyword or keyword phrase that gives the line its ultimate meaning is at the end of the line. Of course complete short lines of just a few words can constitute a punchline.

2. Because the material is very tightly constructed with frequent punchlines along with a steady rhythm and genuine delivery, some set-up lines get laughs.

3. It is Trevino’s delivery (particularly the use of voice inflection and tone changes as opposed to animated body language) that gives what he has to say and express its true laughter power — not the words as they appear above.

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Wrap Up

If you are not sick of me saying this by now, I can assure you that you will be…

One of the reasons most comedians struggle to develop punchlines for their stand-up comedy material is because they try to “write” something (in the literal sense) that “reads” funny on paper and doesn’t represent natural sense of humor reactions (and associated expressive traits) to the topic or subject they are trying to deliver to an audience.

Most of a comedian’s laughter generation power does not come from the words they speak, but rather how they say and express those words when communicating their thoughts, ideas, opinions, experiences, observations, etc. with an audience.

Here’s the last little bit of information that I want you to know about punchlines:

Let’s say that you deliver a punchline on stage that doesn’t get the laughter response you want (or possible none at all).

There are only five major reasons why that punchline didn’t work well:

1. The punchline is simply not funny and needs to be replaced with a different sense of humor reaction or abandoned.

2. The audience can’t visualize, understand or relate to the points of references being use or the topic being discussed.

Subsequently, they won’t “get” the point of view or perspective you provide in your sense of humor reactions to that material (punchlines).

3. Your body language is not in alignment, leading the audience to conclude on a conscious and/or subconscious level that you are not being sincere and you are simply trying to “joke” them.

4. The keyword or keyword phrase is at the beginning instead of the end of punchline. In other words…

You are giving away the element of surprise before you finish delivering the line. And if you are talking after the audience has already gotten the “joke”, they aren’t going to laugh or the laughter will be severely suppressed.

5. Any combination of conditions 2-4 above.

You should not need to get overly technical when developing your comedy material.

If you are a naturally funny person and you start with topics, subjects, observations, ideas, opinions, etc. that are of interest to you AND you can easily react to using your own sense of humor with confidence through proper preparation…

You will have much more solid stand-up comedy material than you will ever have stage time to perform it all.

Now let’s talk about what you need to know to tighten your stand-up comedy material.

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