Comedy Writing Secrets

Funny is a skill

Comedy Writing Secrets by Mel Helitzer with Mark Shatz is a practical guide to writing humor. Helitzer first published it in 1987. The widely used second edition, co-written with the psychologist and comedy writer Mark Shatz, came out in 2005. A third edition followed in 2016, after Helitzer's death. Helitzer taught humor writing in the journalism school at Ohio University and had worked in advertising and public relations.

The book starts with a strong claim. Many people believe comedians are born funny. Helitzer calls this a myth. He argues that humor follows patterns, that those patterns can be studied, and that anyone willing to practice can learn to write jokes that work. The book reads like a course: each chapter explains a concept, gives examples from well-known comedians and writers, and ends with exercises.

Helitzer also argues that humor is useful far beyond comedy clubs. Speakers, teachers, managers, advertisers and columnists all use it to hold attention, make a point stick and build a bond with an audience.

Why we laugh

Before teaching technique, the book reviews the main theories of why people laugh. One theory says we laugh from a sense of superiority, when we see someone else fail. Another says we laugh at incongruity, when two ideas that do not belong together collide. A third says laughter brings relief, releasing tension or fear. Helitzer also stresses surprise. He does not pick one theory. He uses them to show what a joke must do: create an expectation, then break it in a way that feels both unexpected and right.

The THREES formula

The center of the book is Helitzer's THREES formula. He argues that good humor, from a one-liner to a full routine, contains six elements.

• Target. Humor is criticism dressed up as entertainment, so every joke has a target: a person, a group, an institution or an idea. The writer must choose a target that suits the audience. Self-deprecating humor, where you are the target, is often the safest choice.
• Hostility. Humor gives people a safe way to express the hostility they feel in daily life. Helitzer lists common sources: authority, sex, money, family, anxiety, technology and differences between groups. A joke works when it taps a frustration the audience already shares.
• Realism. Most good jokes rest on a truth the audience recognizes. Without that base of reality, there is nothing to relate to.
• Exaggeration. The writer has a humor license, like a poet's license, to stretch reality. Exaggeration takes a true observation and pushes it far enough to become absurd.
• Emotion. A joke builds tension and anticipation. Helitzer compares it to a balloon that fills with air until it bursts. The release of that tension is the laugh.
• Surprise. The punch line must catch the audience off guard. If they see it coming, the joke fails.

He argues that when a joke falls flat, a writer can check it against these six elements to find what is missing. A joke with no clear target feels vague. A joke with no realism feels silly rather than sharp. A joke with no surprise feels flat, because the audience got there first. The formula is a diagnostic tool as much as a recipe.

The structure of a joke

Helitzer breaks a joke into two parts. The setup creates an expectation. It leads the audience down a path and makes them assume they know where it goes. The punch line turns them in a new direction. He advises keeping setups short and placing the key word of the punch line as close to the end as possible, so the surprise lands at the last moment. Extra words after the punch weaken the laugh.

He also stresses rewriting. A first draft is rarely funny. The writer cuts words, sharpens the target, tests different punch words and tries alternate versions. He uses examples from comedians to show that less is often better: the tightest version of a joke usually gets the biggest laugh.

Techniques: plays on words, reverses and triples

The book teaches a set of traditional techniques for building jokes.

• Plays on words. Puns, double meanings, misused words and twisted clichés. Helitzer shows how to take a familiar phrase and change one word, or read it literally, to create a surprise.
• Reverses. The setup points one way and the punch line flips it. The audience expects a normal answer and gets the opposite.
• Triples. A list of three where the first two items set a pattern and the third breaks it. This rule of three is one of the most common structures in comedy.
• Pairings. Joining two ideas that do not belong together to create incongruity.

He also covers exaggeration and understatement, funny names and sounds, and the use of specific details, which are funnier than general ones.

Finding material

Many beginners say they cannot think of anything funny. Helitzer gives methods for generating material. One is listing: choose a topic and write down every word, idea and image connected to it. Another is association: look for links between items on the list, especially unexpected ones, and build jokes from them. He urges writers to keep notes on daily frustrations and observations, because these are the raw material of most humor. A writer who carries a notebook, he suggests, will never run out of topics. The habit also trains you to notice the small absurdities most people pass by.

He treats the audience as the final judge. A joke is funny only if this audience, in this room, laughs. Writers should know who will hear the joke, what they share and what will offend them. They should test new material in front of real listeners, keep what works and cut what does not, without arguing with the silence.

Markets for humor

The second half of the book applies these tools to specific kinds of writing.

• Stand-up comedy. How to build a routine from jokes, find a persona, and test material in front of audiences.
• Speeches and presentations. How to open with humor, use it to make points, and avoid jokes that offend the room.
• Roasts. How to tease the guest of honor with affection.
• Columns and essays. How to sustain humor over a longer piece.
• Sitcoms. How comedy grows from character and situation.
• Greeting cards, advertising and T-shirts. How short, commercial humor works and how writers sell it.
• Teaching. How teachers can use humor to hold attention and help students remember.

The book also discusses the risks of humor that targets ethnic groups, sex or disability, and how a writer can tell when a joke crosses a line for a given audience.

What the critics say

The book is widely used in humor writing courses. Critics note that some of its examples and views are dated. The writer Saul Austerlitz called some of its statistics dubious and some of its views on comedy old-fashioned, while granting that much of its advice is sound for new comics. Some readers also find that analyzing jokes this closely takes the fun out of them, and that a formula cannot replace a writer's own voice.

Who should read it

Read it if you want to write jokes, add humor to speeches or presentations, or teach with more energy. It suits beginners who want a clear method and exercises more than writers who already perform regularly.