Late night monologue joke writers are some of the best talented comedians in the business of television. After a decade in comedy, I’ve completely figured out it out…this is a joke. I haven’t figure it out, yet, I’ve seen some great jokes written on late night shows similar to my own style when performing jokes to comedy audiences. Some of the best writers in the business have figured out how to pump out a collection of great jokes which ultimately make it to the late screen to be told by Jimmy, James, Jimmy, and Seth, and Stephen. To start, here are the ways to write a joke:
- Start with a strong premise. The premise is the foundation of your joke, so it’s important to make sure it’s strong. A good premise is something that is unexpected, relatable, and funny.
- Keep it short and sweet. Late-night jokes are typically short and to the point. This is because they are meant to be delivered quickly and easily to a large audience.
- Use unexpected juxtaposition. One of the best ways to create a funny joke is to juxtapose two unexpected things together. This can create a sense of surprise and humor.
- Use wordplay. Wordplay is a great way to add humor to your jokes. This can be done by playing with the meaning of words, or by using puns and other forms of wordplay.
- Be yourself. The best jokes are the ones that come from the heart. So, don’t be afraid to be yourself and let your personality shine through in your jokes.
Next we get into how to craft a joke specialized for a late night show. Late night monologue jokes are topical and based on recent news. Let’s talk a news story that just happened and use some tips to get to the funny.
News Article: Former Uber executive charged, avoids prison in data breach case. First fortune 500 executive to be charged in security breach news.
First, all late night host simplify the news article to a short and sweet summary as beginning of the joke. In this case, rewriting the article to ‘Former Uber executive avoids prison in data breach case.’ Now we have the beginning of our joke.
Second, we dive into all of the assumptions that are made about this premise. Most writers start writing down everything that you should assume about the premise. In this case, let’s write a few:
- This executive is not used to prison
- Uber is not happy about the conviction
- Lyft is happy about this as they did not make the news
Third, now we shatter the assumption made within the premise, and write a couple of ideas that we can use for the final punchline to finish the joke. Here are a couple of assumptions we can now shatter based on the assumptions above:
- Judge denied the executive from taking Uber to the trial
- Uber asks all drivers to only use Uber App during their work hours.
- Competitor Lyft is now offering a free ride if your Uber has been breached.
Now, let’s put it all together to write a complete late night monologue joke:
- Former Uber executive avoids prison in data breach case, the trial judge made it worse for the executive by asking the executive to take a Taxi to the trial.
- Former Uber executive avoids prison in data breach case. Drivers of the app report that they are no longer able to watch Netflix while working.
- Former Uber executive avoids prison in data breach case. Competitor Lyft provides discount code when this happens, code is ‘Uber is asking me about a prince.” All lowercase
With jokes, you should re-write, re-organize and try as many versions of the jokes as possible. Writing jokes is a skill that takes time and practice to develop. But if you follow these tips, you’ll be well on your way to writing funny late night monologue jokes that will make your audience laugh.