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Introduction: You do not need any of this information, you can just follow your own unique path
Standup comedy is about trying to make people laugh. If you made people laugh you succeeded, there are no
other rules (except don’t steal jokes), the rest are just guidelines. This page is meant to provide you with
guidelines to help you develop yourself and your comedy. Pick and choose whatever works well for you.

Elements of comedy:
♦ Timing ♦ Repetition ♦ Surprise ♦ Emotional content ♦ Specificity

Types of comedy/humor categories (adapted from Scott Dikers from The Onnion):
Basically any comedic joke or bit will fall into at least one of these categories, often more than one. You can
use these categories intuitively or you can choose a category that interests you and search it online (there are
tons of free resources online). Every joke ever falls into these categories, so it pays off to be aware of them.

1. Irony 2. Character 3. Reference 4. Shock 5. Parody 6. Exaggeration 7. Wordplay

8. Analogy 9. Madcap 10. Meta humor 11. Misplaced focus 12. Intentional
misunderstanding 13. Physical Humor

General standup techniques AKA different strategies for what to do/say on stage
Again, there are no rules, but almost every standup set you will ever hear will use at least one of these
fundamental techniques. You can play around with them and see what fits your style.
□ Storytelling □ Observation □ World building (AKA “what if”) □Act out
□ Truth-telling/preaching/debate □ Simply telling jokes (this is arguably the most difficult one)
Joke Formulas
Setup-punchline or Premise-punchline or Distraction-surprise (all jokes ever follow this
structure). The first part of the joke sets up the context and builds tension, the second part surprises
and releases tension: “My parents moved a lot when I was a kid [ ←setup/distraction], but I always
found them [←punchline/surprise]” Rodney Dangerfield.
Analogy: X is like Y. “Fighting for peace is like fucking for virginity” George Carlin
Exaggeration: “I was so ugly my mother breast fed me through a straw” Rodney Dangerfield
Rule of 3: “comedy comes in threes”: Any list of examples, analogies, events or characters will be more
effective in 3s. Most basic formula- Normal, normal, funny: Directions to Martim Muniz: Go straight [1],
take a left [2], then fucking figure it out [3]

How to write/create standup material (Loosely adapted from Comedy Bible by Judy Carter)
Option A- Writing/creating in a flow state: 1- Write for AT LEAST 30 minutes without stopping or editing
(people with dyslexia can use a voice recorder instead). Write anything that is in your hear and/or mind. 2-
After doing this several times, go over what you wrote and highlight anything that is funny or has potential. 3-
Take your selected writings and refine them into jokes, at this stage the joke formulas can help you a lot.
Option B- Remember when you were in the funny zone?
1- Recall a time you had everyone laughing. 2- write down what you said/did and any other relevant
information (including physical comedy, sounds you made, facial expressions, dance moves, accents/imitation,
anything relevant). 3- Take what you created and rewrite it in a format where you can tell it to an audience.

Step 4 is the same for both methods: Try it on stage, record it, listen to it, learn your lessons and improve.

Assembled from various internet resources by Idan Ariel @DustyStarJam