Introduction

In this lesson I am going to discuss set-up lines and punchlines as they relate to structuring the stand-up comedy material you have transcribed so far.

In other words…

What I am about to reveal to you as far as set-up lines and punchlines is only of value to you once you have:

1. Determined what you want to say and express to an audience and…

2. You are prepared to structure what you want to say to ensure you have adequate punchline frequency in your stand-up comedy material.

Otherwise, you will simply be trying to “write” set-up lines and punchlines the hard way like most every other comedian tries to do — with limited success.

Before you consume this lesson, I would strongly recommend that you review this lesson in Training Module One again:

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Set-up Lines Redefined

Before I cover punchlines, let’s tackle the definition of set-up lines since they represent the foundation for every punchline:

Set-up lines make up much of what a comedian has to say and express to an audience which includes, but are not limited to:

• Opinions and views
• General  or specific information
• Real or imagined scenarios
• Ideas and concepts
• Real or imagined experiences
• Recognizable topics
• Incidents or accidents
• Observations
• Conversations and discussions with others

In the simplest terms, set-up lines have two important elements:

1. They represent the bulk of the information that you intend to deliver and express that an audience will visualize and relate to and…

2. They also contain the information that you will react to using your sense of humor to generate laughs as you are sharing that information with an audience.

Sometimes set-up lines can and will generate laughs depending upon your delivery, timing, natural expressive comedy traits, demeanor, attitude, etc. when you express those lines.

The most important thing to know about set-up lines is this:

Knowing which lines in your stand-up comedy material are set-up lines is for structural identification once you have determined what you want to talk about and share with and audience.

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Punchlines Redefined

Here are the definitions for punchlines and tag lines that you can actually use and relate specifically to you and your sense of humor when developing your stand-up comedy material:

Here are a couple of things you should know about punchlines:

1. Most punchlines will not usually read funny on paper because they are missing the facial expressions, body language and voice inflections that give these lines the majority of their laughter power.

2. Many punchlines won’t make much sense at all without the information that comes before the punchline to make them work.

Note: There’s a bit more to know about punchlines (it’s easy) that will be covered shortly. But for now, what I have just provided is plenty.

Here’s what you need to know now about set-up lines and punchlines that will have a direct impact on the comedy material you begin to develop for yourself:

Development of stand-up comedy material that will work for you and your sense of humor DOES NOT involve knowing what your set-up lines or punchlines are BEFORE you begin to identify and develop what you are going to say and express to an audience.

Let me put this another way…

Knowing what lines in your stand-up comedy material are set-up lines or punchlines is only valuable to you AFTER you have determined what you want to say and express on stage — transcribed on paper and in the proper line length format (the way you naturally speak).

And because punchlines are your sense of humor reactions to what you have to say and express to an audience (which incorporates your natural expressive comedy traits)…

You can’t really generate punchlines effectively until you know what you are going to talk about in the first place — and can react frequently and genuinely using your sense of humor to the experiences, observations, opinions, ideas, etc. that you are going to communicate to an audience.

This is important to understand now because…

In several of the bonus lessons, I expose you to real life examples of comedy material that I was able to develop quickly and easily from simple conversations and actual everyday experiences that happen all the time.

You will be able to do the same thing, but only if you understand the foundational information provided in the lessons in this training module.

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How This Relates To Developing Headliner Level Stand-up Comedy Material

Let me cut right to the chase:

Each minute you are on stage delivering your stand-up comedy material, you are going to do that delivering approximately 16-24 spoken word lines (not sentences as they tend to be “written”).

You need to be able to react (deliver punchlines) to what you are saying and expressing to an audience about every 2-4 spoken word lines (4-6+ times each minute), otherwise…

You won’t even have a chance of delivering headliner level stand-up comedy material because every second you spend talking before you deliver a punchline, the audience is NOT laughing.

Identifying your set-up lines in your comedy material once it is transcribed on paper is extremely valuable to you because it allows you to easily see if:

1. You have too many set-up lines before a punchline.

2. You need to add a reaction (punchline) because there are too many set-up lines before the punchline.

3. You need to edit, restructure or delete lines in order to get to a punchline more quickly keeping in mind that…

You will ALWAYS need to retain your natural speaking rhythm, expressive comedy traits, etc. when you edit or restructure any lines.

Otherwise, you will end up trying to “write” funny that is fabricated and won’t work for you.

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Your Turn

Using your word processor, you want to identify your set-up lines, punchlines and tag lines in your own stand-up comedy material with:

S: P: or T:

Note: Again, tag lines are simply punchlines that immediate follow another punchline.

Here’s the Steve Trevino stand-up comedy clip I have been using as an example in this course:

Here’s how the stand-up comedy material in the video is structured once the set-up lines, punchlines and tag lines (which is just a punchline that follows an initial punchline) have been identified:

Once you have done that, you are ready to move to the next lesson to reveal some more information about punchlines.

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