99% Invisible How to Write a Joke
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Nov 11, 2025 
Elliott Kalan, a veteran comedy writer known for his work on The Daily Show, dives into the art of joke writing. He shares how to cultivate jokes from tiny ideas through a systematic process, analyzing classic structures like setup and punchline. Kalan discusses the critical role of the audience in completing a joke and how feedback can refine comedic timing. He also touches on the darker side of comedy, exploring how jokes can sometimes harm rather than heal. Prepare to laugh and learn the craft behind comedy in this enlightening conversation!
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Make A Process For Being Funny
- Professional comedy requires a repeatable process to produce jokes on demand rather than waiting for inspiration.
- Elliott Kalan developed "joke farming" to verbalize and replicate his unconscious joke-making steps under deadlines.
Start With Identity And Point
- Identify who is telling the joke and the point you want to make before writing the laugh.
- Build a premise, then structure information to walk the audience to that point and subvert it for the punchline.
Use Pattern Then Disrupt It
- Use premise and pattern to set expectations, then heighten examples and finally disrupt the pattern for a punchline.
- Escalate from mild to extreme examples and then subvert with an unexpected but logical reversal.
