Joke Craft

Intro to Routines

• 6 week course

• Face-to-face

• Prerequisite: Intro to Jokes, Joke Plus and Rhythm Method

Homework level: Intense

Comedians are the singer songwriters of the speaking arts. Routines are the Russian dolls of comedy, a specifically stand-up form. Routines have more in common to a pop tune or, if you’re great, a concerto. You get to show real control over the form and display your individuality. There’s a reason why new comics don’t have them. They are identified by having one over-riding joke. That joke is broken into components and each component has it’s own over-riding joke with jokes inside of them. It takes a leap to go from topic to theme and to expand beyond persona into character. Tone, balance, consistency, the more subtle tools, really count. Routines make a comic more memorable and there is no limit to the number of laughs you get after the set-up so that’s why comedians who can do them get offered more writing gigs and their own sit-coms.

Each level of crafting is exponentially more difficult so if you thought the first two courses were a bit much, you’re in for a treat here.

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