Short Setups and PunchlinesIn this article, , I’ll discuss this most important aspect of stand-up comedy that helps jokes get better laughs.

“In stand-up comedy, you strip out everything except what serves the joke.” – Patton Oswald.Professional comedians write and rewrite to create short setups and punchlines because they know joke must be concise. When you are editing your jokes, try to cut out any unnecessary words. Every word should serve a purpose.

The vast majority of jokes are only a couple of sentences long. Any longer and you risk losing your audience’s attention. If a word does not help advance the joke, cut it out.

The setup’s function is to misdirect the audience into believing a false narrative. Once that is accomplished, the setup is done. Any added information clutters up this function. The punchline’s function is to communicate an idea that’s compatible with the setup’s narrative, but completely unexpected.For instance, these overwritten setups and punchlines.

Setup: “As a single parent, I’m raising two mixed-up teenage boys that cause me no end of trouble. Running away is one of the many problems that I face every single day and I’m always afraid it’s going to happen.”

Punch: “But I don’t run away from them. I stay because I’m their only parent.”

Good idea for a joke, but it contains too much unneeded information. Here’s a shorter version:

Setup: “As a single parent, I’m raising two teenagers. So running away is a problem.”

Punch: “But I don’t.”

It only contains the information to make the joke work. Setup idea: teenagers might run away. Punchline Idea: parent doesn’t run away. Anything else makes the audience work too hard to figure it out.

Ask Questions to Shorten Setups and Punchlines

Often when someone writes a good idea for a joke, they stop working on it. The basic joke is just the beginning of the comedian’s process to write funnier jokes. Too much information in a joke slows down the audience’s mental process of figuring out the joke.

To remove the irrelevant wording and information, go through every word and phrase and ask: “Do I really need to say that for the joke to work?”

If the answer is “Yes,” then leave it in. Then move onto the next word or phrase. Ask the question. If the answer is “No,” then remove it. Then rewrite the joke without the unnecessary words or phrases. Continue this process all the way through the setups and punchlines of the jokes.

When you’re done, go through every word and phrase of the joke setups and punchlines again and ask basically the same question. Then do it again. Then do it again, until there is no information except what’s needed for the joke to work.

A shorter joke is almost always funnier than a longer joke because the audience doesn’t have to sift through superfluous verbiage to get the joke. You never want the audience to have to figure out more than they need to before they laugh.

In this comedy technique article you’ve learned How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 1 – Short Setups and Punchlines.

In the next joke writing technique article you’ll learn: How to Write Funnier Jokes: Tip 2 – End Punchlines with the Reveal.

Greg Dean’s Stand-Up Comedy Classes

Greg teaches his techniques in two classes. Level 1 – How to Build a Stand Up Comedy Routine is the beginning class (also called the “101 class”) that teaches you everything you need to know to build and perform a stand-up comedy routine. Level 2: Writing & Performing at the Improv (also known as the “201 class”) guilds you through the process of building a routine and preparing to perform at one of the world’s most prestigious comedy clubs.

Even though these classes are named a beginning and advanced, they are actually classes that stand up comedians of any number of years of experience can take. They are beginning and advanced in the Greg Dean system. If you’re interested in faster and better ways to create good jokes and you want to dive deeper on joke writing then you’ll want to take both of these classes.

Free On Demand Webinar: How to Build a Stand Up Comedy Routine