Writing A GREAT Joke Set-Up Line

So much of what we focus on in joke writing is the punch line, but one way to make a great punch line is coming up with a great set-up line. My first three tips for a great set-up line are to: Make it Short. Bill Cosby can go on forever and ever, but the rest of us...

Wearing the same outfit – oh my!

A funny thing happened to me on the way to the stage. . . Okay, yesterday I did my Finding the Funny in Change humor keynote for a major health care group in Kansas. It went great, but it could have started out horrible since the speaker before me was Kathleen...

Joke Writing for One Demographic

All Women All Day! This week I got a chance to present my “Finding the Funny in Communications” program to a group consisting of all women! They were great! I do a lot of programs in which there are just women, or even just men, in the audience, and I usually never...

Writing Super-Funny Jokes

I think one thing that hangs many of us up in joke writing for a group that we are speaking to is that we think the jokes have to be SUPER FUNNY. Yes, you want ‘em to get a laugh, but remember that sometimes just mentioning the things that the group is going through,...