The joke:
A new study says that Tyrannosaurus rex and other dinosaurs had lips. Which explains why the next “Jurassic Park” sequel will be a romantic comedy.
How I wrote it:
This news item caught my eye because it was so weird. And the two topic handles—dinosaurs and lips—each seemed to have enough associations for me to use in one of my Punch Line Makers.
I started by trying my Punch Line Maker #2: Link the topic to pop culture. I tried to think of some dinosaur-like has-been of a celebrity who uses a lot of makeup. Kris Jenner came to mind, but she didn’t seem quite right.
Then I tried my Punch Line Maker #3: Ask a question about the topic. I asked myself what the brand name would be of a lipstick made for dinosaurs. But I couldn’t think of a real-life lipstick brand name that I could easily blend with a type of dinosaur.
Finally I arrived at my Punch Line Maker #1: Link two associations of the topic. I associated the topic handle “lips” with “kissing,” and with the vivid image of two dinosaurs kissing.
That image seemed very cinematic and prompted the question, In what movie might one see two dinosaurs kissing passionately? “Jurassic Park” seemed like a step towards the answer.
Then it occurred to me that a “Jurassic Park” romantic comedy would be a logical answer to the question. And I had the idea for my punch line.
Stating that the next sequel will be a romantic comedy seemed to me to have an extra element of truth—and therefore funniness. Turning “Jurassic Park” into a romantic comedy seemed like the sort of desperate move the studio might make to wring a few more box office dollars from a tired movie franchise.