MaHB Humour

How to make sure people laugh with you and not at you.
By Kuah Jenhan

I thought it’d be cool to let you in on a little trade secret: how to write a joke. I can’t guarantee if it’ll be a good joke, but it will be original. You ask: but why? Why can’t I just memorise jokes off the Internet or rehash Harith Iskander’s jokes for the 900th time this week? You can, if you’re Harith Iskander; but he writes his own jokes, and now, so can you. In comedy, originality and authenticity is the way to go.

Essentially, jokes are broken into two parts: a set-up and a punchline. I often equate writing jokes to a boxing match (it makes me feel like I’ve exercised). A set-up is getting your audience where you want them to be, so you can throw that punch(line). In other words, jokes are basically understanding expectations and messing them up. For example:

I like going to Johor Baru.

It’s factual and not funny like Malaysian newspapers. Set-ups are meant to be like that. Next you start asking questions on behalf of the audience, which in this case is: why? And you try answering them without being funny.

1) Johor Baru has good food.

2) Johor Baru girls are hot.

3) Johor Baru is near Singapore.

4) My favourite masseuse is in Johor Baru.

5) _________________

I picked number 3. So now, you have: “I like coming to Johor Baru, because Johor Baru is near Singapore." This isn’t funny, because it’s a statement and something factually expected. Now the punchline happens when you offer the unexpected based on the expectations you predict. Eventually, it becomes:

I like that Johor Baru is so near Singapore, because when I fart, Singapore might smell it.

I reworded it, so it misdirects the audience better, but it isn’t the best of fart jokes and is bound to a local schemata (neighbourly rivalry). Let’s try writing another joke. (John Vorhaus author of The Comic Toolbox has a thing called “The Rule of Nine”, which says, “For every 10 jokes you tell, nine will be trash.”) Joke writing never ends!

Now I’ll leave you with a more relatable set-up and let’s see where we get.

I love cooking for my friends.

Here are some possible assumptions:

1)  I’m a good cook.

2)  I’m a friendly person.

3)  I cook food.

4)  My friends are human.

5)  ________________

My joke: I love cooking for my friends, because when they die, I get new ones.

Your joke: ______________________

Another set-up:

I miss my ex.

Possible assumptions:

1)  My ex is a human.

2)  My ex is of the opposite gender.

3)  I really loved my ex.

4)  My ex loved me very much.

5)  I don’t like being alone.

My joke: I miss my X. I only have 25 alphabets left now.

Your joke: ______________

Now that you know the basics, I want to leave you with this: if we ever meet in person, STOP ASKING ME TO TELL YOU A JOKE! You write your own now!