There is a saying in stand-up comedy that you can’t have a joke without a surprise. While this is generally true, any attempts to quantify humor into predictable formulas, renders the joke stale and predictable. That is what makes humor so fascinating to me. Humor like pornography is hard to define yet easy to recognize. This reminds me of the famous quote by US Supreme Court Justice, Potter Stewart , who said of pornography, “I know it when I see it.” One technique that stand up comedians use to create humor is the “punch line”
Have you ever really asked what a punch line is? It’s the yang to the ying of joke formation. It’s the Robin to Batman. The punch line is the partner to the premise. The premise of the joke sets the expectation but is usually not the “funny part”. The funny part is reserved for the punch line. At its core the punch line creates a surprise and it is this surprise that the audience finds funny. If you examine the punch line carefully, it does several things, it offers a “twist” and the twist allows for a re-interpretation of the event aka the joke. Greg Dean, in his book, Step by Step Stand Up Comedy explains this clearly. The punch line explains what happens. The audience member gets the “aha” or “Eureka moment” and after the enlightenment, humor is found.
Emo Phillips is the master of this type of punch line. Notice how at the end of the punch line, he offers a reinterpretation to the story/joke. If you can get over his weird voice and you just study the way he constructs the joke, you will see that he is a comedic architect that was far ahead of his time. It is not surprising that he is revered and is a great influence on today’s comedians. Rather than trying to decipher my mumbled thoughts, it’s best if you can see an example in motion. I bring you Emo Phillips.
Watching the video next. YouTubes have been moving so slow for me. You gotta appreciate all types of humor. I love humorists who are good with the punchlines. =)
ReplyDeleteIt's quite an art timing a punchline to perfection!
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed that standup by Emo. The moment when the audience "gets" the punchline and makes the alternate interpretation is critical. It should be almost like a lightning strike, occurring the moment the punchline is uttered. If it takes too long to figure out the joke the comic is already on to setting up the next joke. You miss critical info and probably won't get the next joke either. That's how the artist loses his or her audience. By the same token if you're ahead of the comic and know where's he's going with it before he delivers the punchline, it diminishes the impact as well. Emo was right in the pocket. I would estimate that 85% of the time the punchline was a surprise and produced an immediate lightning strike of recognition. I was a little late getting it about 5% of the time and a little ahead of him about 10% of the time, but it was a terrific routine. Thanks, Isreal!
ReplyDeleteI've often wondered about what goes in to timing the punchline and the hit or miss of a joke. Good post!
ReplyDeleteAnother great blog Israel. One of the things I love most about my husband is his seemingly effortless ability to give the twist at the end of something we've been discussing. I never see it coming, even after 17 years and it is a gift.
ReplyDeleteYou too have a gift of comedy Israel. I'm so glad you share it here.
lmfao omg! I wish I could tell a decent damn joke. I'm tired of tapping my fist and yelling, "is this thing on?"
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