Monthly Archives: August 2020

Joke About a Solar-Powered Aircraft

Posted on by

The joke:

Today a Swiss man performed the first jump and free fall from a solar-powered aircraft. He said he decided to perform the jump when the sun went behind a cloud.

How I wrote it:

This news item made me think “A solar-powered aircraft? That can’t be a good idea.” Based on that flash reaction, I decided I could turn the item into a joke.

Then I realized that the news item also reminded me of a joke from one of the late-night shows. I wish I could remember which show, because it’s a great joke: “In California, a 90-year-old grandmother celebrated her birthday by going skydiving. Not intentionally…she just kind of wandered off the plane.”

Inspired by that joke, I turned to my Punch Line Maker #3 and asked myself the question “What surprising reason could the man have had to jump out of the aircraft?”

To answer that question, I thought of associations of the topic handle “solar-powered,” one of which is “sun.” And I realized that if the sun disappeared, the aircraft could lose power and start to fall out of the sky. That chain of logic led to my punch line.

I used my Joke Maximizer #11–Don’t be too on-the-nose–by leaving out the last two steps in that chain of logic. Otherwise the joke would have ended something like “…when the sun went behind a cloud and the aircraft lost power and started to fall out of the sky.” Not as funny.

I also made the joke a little funnier by saying “he decided” in the angle. That makes the punch line more surprising because it reveals that the man didn’t actually have much choice in the matter.

Joke About Syracuse University

Posted on by

The joke:

Syracuse University suspended 23 students for breaking rules against large gatherings during the pandemic. In their defense, the students were playing that new drinking game–Hydroxychloroquine Pong.

How I wrote it:

I decided to write a joke about this story because several news outlets covered it. Plus the topic handles “students” and “pandemic” seemed to have many potentially useful associations.

I used my Punch Line Maker #1: Link two associations of the topic. “Students,” especially in the context of college gatherings, is associated in my mind with Beer Pong.

“Pandemic” is associated with “hydroxychloroquine,” which at one point was touted as a possible treatment for Covid-19. I was pleased that the word has four stop consonants; my Joke Maximizer #7 is “Use stop consonants, alliteration, and assonance.” Substituting “hydroxychloroquine” for “beer” links the two associations and creates the punch line.

To set up the punch line effectively I used my Joke Maximizer #4: Make everything clear; I did that by including the phrase “drinking game,” so the meaning of the punch line would be immediately apparent. Is hydroxychloroquine, in fact, something you drink, like beer? Or is it a pill? I didn’t bother to check, because I didn’t think my audience would know or care.

I made sure to include “during the pandemic” in the topic, so that the connection of the topic to hydroxychloroquine would be even clearer. And I used my Joke Maximizer #3‑‑Backload the topic‑‑putting that phrase at the end of the topic so it would be closer to the punch line that relies on it.

Joke About AMC Theaters Reopening

Posted on by

The joke:

Next week the movie theater chain AMC will reopen more than 100 U.S. theaters. But they’re taking precautions for the coronavirus. To make sure the theaters get filled to less than 10% of capacity, they’re only showing Adam Sandler movies.

How I wrote it:

I focused on this news item because the topic handles “movie theater” and “coronavirus” have many associations that might be used to create a punch line.

I started with my Punch Line Maker #1–Link two associations of the topic. I considered linking the association “movie theater popcorn” to the association “virus” to create some kind of punch line about the chemicals in the popcorn butter killing the virus. But the punch line didn’t seem strong enough.

Then I tried my Punch Line Maker #3 and asked this question about the topic: “How will they keep the number of patrons low?” To answer that question, I brainstormed reasons that people might not go to the movies, one of which is that the movies stink.

That seemed like a promising area for a joke, so I needed an actor who is well-known for appearing in lousy movies. A few minutes online took me to this article, “The top 15 actors who make the worst films.”

I didn’t think enough people would recognize the first actor on the list, Rob Schneider. And the second actor has such a strong reputation for appearing in crummy movies that I thought using him might strike my audience as being lazy and hacky. But none of the other names on the list seemed to work as well in the punch line. So Adam Sandler it was.

The news story said that AMC is capping attendance in their theaters at 30% of capacity. But I changed it to 10% in my angle, exaggerating how much Adam Sandler repels audiences, to make the punch line a little clearer and funnier.

Joke About Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese

Posted on by

The joke:

Cheetos is coming out with Cheetos-flavored mac and cheese. Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese will come in three flavors: Bold & Cheesy, Flamin’ Hot, and I Don’t Care What I Put in My Body.

How I wrote it:

This news item caught my attention because the new product seemed to contain an unusually large amount of cheese–or at least cheese-like substances–which I thought I could write a joke about.

I turned to my Punch Line Maker #6, “State the obvious about the topic.” That’s because, to me, there was something obvious that could be stated about the new product, which is “That stuff can’t be good for you.” And I thought that most of my audience would accept that statement as true.

So I needed a punch line that said in a clever way “That can’t be good for you.” I considered naming the third flavor something like “Taste of Poor Life Choices,” but that seemed a little vague.

I also considered naming the flavor “Call 9-1-1.” But while I thought the audience might agree that the product was unhealthy, I didn’t think they’d go along with the implication that it would give you a heart attack.

Eventually I landed on the punch line you see here.

Normally I like to use Joke Maximizer #6, “Make the punch line parallel,” which would mean choosing a third flavor that’s only a couple of words long, like the other two flavors. But in this case I thought that this nine-word flavor would be more surprising in contrast, and therefore funnier.

Another way I made the joke funnier was to write the angle as “Cheetos Mac ‘n Cheese will come in three flavors,” instead of “It will come in three flavors.” I thought that repeating “Cheetos” and “cheese” as much as possible would subtly emphasize the unhealthfulness of the new product and make the punch line clearer.

Joke About National Lipstick Day

Posted on by

The joke:

Today is National Lipstick Day. So put on your favorite, sexiest color lipstick, pucker up, and then describe to people what it looks like under your face mask.

How I wrote it:

This news item caught my eye because a holiday can often be a useful handle for a joke. That’s because a holiday usually has many associations, including how people might celebrate it.

That line of thinking led me to my Punch Line Maker #2: Link the topic to pop culture. To find such a link, I started by visualizing an association of the topic handle “lipstick,” namely a woman applying lipstick.

That mental picture suggested an image of something else that people are doing to their mouths during this pandemic, namely covering them with face masks. That link became the basis of my punch line.

Next I needed an angle to guide the audience smoothly and logically from my topic to some punch line involving a face mask. I considered writing an angle about how people are carefully applying lipstick only to have it smeared by their face mask.

But instead I thought it would be funnier to make the angle about how no one can see what’s under your mask. That way I could summon up a sexy image in the angle and make the introduction of the unsexy face mask in the punch line even more surprising.

When I wrote the angle I also employed my Joke Maximizer #10–Use the Rule of Three; two unfunny activities are followed by the punch line activity of describing your lips.