COMEDY 114 [M] [READING] [1] [2] - Classroom A - Classroom B

Assignment 2

Comedy Writing  Workshop

ALTERNATE MEANINGS

WORKOUT 6C

"How Do I Get to Carnegie Hall?"

In this workout, you have more control, but that might only prove to be more of a challenge. Basically, this is the same as Workout 6A except that you compose the questions and write a joke answer to them that you think really works. That should produce better comedic results. In Workout 6A, you were primarily looking for alternative meanings; in this workout, you want more humor.

HERE'S WHAT YOU DO FOR THIS WORKOUT

Write 15 jokes in the question-and-comedy answer format, based on an alternative meaning of the question.

HERE'S WHAT THIS WORKOUT WILL DO FOR YOU

This workout will teach you how to create humor by beginning with a fun concept, finding the question that leads to the comedy, and phrasing the response.

HERE ARE SOME EXAMPLES

"If you were me, how would you play this golf shot?"

"Like I do everything else--magnificently."


"Why do you think that horse you bet on came in eighth?"

"Because there were only seven other horses in the race."


"Are you going to be cremated after you die?"

"I certainly wouldn't want to do it any sooner than that."

A WORD BEFORE YOU START

I'm admittedly prejudiced, but I think these examples have a bit more comedy than the ones from Workout 6A. That's because I wasn't locked into a random sentence. I designed the questions with an eye towards the humor content.

To give you an example, the last joke originally read as follows:

"In the next life, are you going to Heaven or Hell?"

"I suppose so. There don't seem to be any other options."

Then I thought that changing the question to "after you die" presented the opportunity for a funnier punchline, so I changed it to:

'"Are you going to go to Heaven or Hell after you die?"

"I certainly don't want to go any sooner than that." 

Then I felt that there's nothing wrong with going to Heaven for a two-week vacation and then coming back to this life, so I tried to find a question that led to a funnier picture. That's when I settled for the "cremation" set-up.

Obviously, in the previous workout we didn't have that luxury. So, go at this workout with some creativity, and stick with it. Have fun doing it, too.

 

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