How to Kill a Joke

In a lot of ways, creating comedy is like building a house of cards. One of the similarities is that you’re more likely to finish if you’re alone when you do it. If even one person is in the room with you and sees you building a house of cards, they will be tempted to either bump the table or “accidentally” startle you. My theory is that successfully building a house of cards is tremendously satisfying and very difficult, while destroying someone else’s house of cards is only a little satisfying, but very, very easy. It seems to be basic human nature, and the same thing happens with comedy.

One of the most popular ways to knock down a comedian’s house of cards is to deliberately misunderstand a joke, often before the joke has even finished, interpret it in the most offensive possible way, then demand an explanation or an apology. You’d be surprised how often this happens, even in the middle of a show at a crowded comedy club.

There’s a reason so many comedians seem to be fundamentally angry people.

As always, thanks for using my Amazon Affiliate links (US, UK, Canada).