The joke:
Starting tomorrow you can register to vote at Footlocker shoe stores. Then after you get your new voter registration they suggest you walk around the store with it a little to see how it feels.
How I wrote it:
This news item caught my eye because both topic handles, “register to vote” and “Footlocker,” seemed to have enough associations to build a punch line on without too much difficulty.
When I read the item a question formed in my mind like “What would voting at Footlocker be like?” So using my Punch Line Maker #3–Ask a question about the topic–I brainstormed how to answer that question using an association of “Footlocker.”
After considering for a moment that metal contraption they use to measure your foot– Did you know it’s called a Brannock Device?–I recalled how customers often walk around in shoes to test the fit before they buy them. That’s how I came up with the basis of my punch line.
But shoes are physical objects and when you register to vote I don’t think you get anything comparably physical. So to smoothly bridge between the topic and my punch line I wrote an angle including the phrase “after you get your new voter registration.” It may not be true that you get a physical voter registration, but it’s plausible enough that the audience isn’t distracted on their way to the punch line.
I also massaged my topic to streamline the joke. Wikipedia describes Footlocker as a “sportswear and footwear retailer,” but I called them a “shoe store.” That way my topic would still be true but would tie more clearly to my punch line about customers trying on shoes.