Comedians meticulously write and refine their jokes until they seem polished. The reaction awareness comes from reciting the joke dozens of times, similar to when someone describes a story they&#39;ve told often, and their closest friends think &quot;, oh, this one again.&quot; 
Although groups and stories vary, people tend to respond in the same ways in the same places, regardless of who is listening.

Refining and testing jokes

For the comedian, experiencing a new joke that comes to life is an empowering moment. All jokes require the comedian to connect with the audience about the issue. It means finding some universal truth and finding the humour in it, simplifying it and refining it so that it works. The moment the audience laughs is when they realise that their experiences aren't unique - that other people go through the same stuff.

Connecting with the audience

Some comedians resort to strategic methodology to create their jokes, while others employ a more spontaneous technique. Comedians often tend to write on paper in a different voice than when speaking to an audience. Once comedians have trained themselves to live in joke writing mode, jokes are everywhere, easy for the picking. It's the comedians task to make that fruit tasty for the audience.

Strategic and spontaneous technique

Most of the time, when a comedian brings a joke on stage, it'll bomb. While bombing can be a devastating feeling, it doesn't necessarily get easier with experience. However, with time, every comedian develops a way to come back and repair a broken joke.

When a joke bombs

By Jessica Delfino<figure><img alt="" src="https://miro.medium.com/max/500/1*5Y5ZqLL-sUw8xTegoJmMtQ.jpeg" width="680" height="454"><figcaption class="lk ll gb fz ga lm ln bg b bh bi dy" data-selectable-paragraph="" dir="ltr">photo by <a href="https://unsplash.com/@mvdheuvel" class="el lo" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Maarten van den Heuvel</a> / <a href="http://www.unsplash.com/" class="el lo" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Unsplash</a></figcaption></figure>I always grapple with whether or not to tell someone I meet at a party that I perform stand-up comedy when the old, “What do you do?” question inevitably comes up. If I admit it, they’re either extremely excited or visibly, gut-punchingly disappointed that I’m not someone they recognize from their favorite current Netflix show. I often feel the need to duck, lest a piece of flying cheese hits me.The largest audiences I’ve had the pleasure of performing in front of were via TV or radio. But the most thrilling and exciting audiences I get to tell my jokes to are live. There’s an energy in the room that is comparable to an electrical storm, even in the quiet moments, when only the clinking of dishes or the sliding of chairs can be heard, though the magic is most palpable during the sudden onsets of laughter, which will be the name of my memoir, if I ever write one.The laughter comes like a dynamite blast, and sometimes at surprising moments, though most of the time, comedians have an idea how and at what point in the joke people are going to react.That reaction awareness comes from reciting the joke dozens or hundreds of times. It’s similar to when anyone tells a story they’ve told so often their closest friends in the room roll their eyes and go, “Oh, this one again,” or how when someone sings their favorite Metallica song at karaoke, the crowd turns into a (delightful) zoo. Though the groups they share their stories with or sing their songs to differ, people tend to respond in the same ways in the same places, regardless of who is listening.Many comedians meticulously write and hone their jokes for weeks, months or even longer until they deem them as finished. Some resort to strategic methodology to concoct their jokes, others employ a more spontaneous technique.Some might say the only way to really know if a joke is funny or not is to try it out repeatedly and see if people laugh. If after several tellings, the joke isn’t getting the reaction they were hoping for (laughter, in most cases), then they will retool it and try it again, send it to the scrap yard, or save it for a cloudy day.Creating a funny bit and then sharing it on stage is, most of the time, an amazing experience, which is why comedy is booming, and the reason the number of new comedians jumping on stage to give their bits a try increases every day, to the chagrin of some other comedians.I spoke to some comedians I’ve met working as a comedian myself in New York City and asked them to describe, if they could, what it feels like to write a joke and then tell it on stage.<a href="https://twitter.com/JimGaffigan?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Jim Gaffigan</a>, an author, TV star, father and comedian at clubs all over the country and the world compared the feeling of witnessing the birth of a joke to a drug rush. “Experiencing a new joke come to life on stage is every comedian’s heroin,” he told me. “It is a truly empowering, uplifting moment.”Basically Jim is saying that being on stage, which most of the world considers its’ #1 fear, is a comedian’s happy place. For him, there is an undeniable power in it. “In this chaotic world, you can finally control and even create something. A new joke, a new tag are my everything,” Jim said.It’s truly a remarkable sensation, physically and emotionally, to have an idea and follow it through to the point where it makes an audience laugh (or react the way that a comedian wants them to), and anyone who has ever made anyone laugh, whether on a stage or not, can probably relate.Comedian and actor Jordan Carlos compared joke writing to architecture, or maybe construction. “Writing a joke is like trying to build a sandcastle but with only dry sand. Every time I cobble one together, I’m like, ‘How did I do that? I need a nap.’”All jokes require a connection with the audience about the issue at hand, on a fundamental level, Jordan explained. “It takes finding a universal truth that other people have passed up and finding the humor in it, simplifying it and refining words and phrases that don’t work for those that do.”Writer, co-creator and star of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, comedian <a href="https://twitter.com/JimGaffigan?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Rachel Bloom</a>agreed on Jordan’s note about universal truths — she realized that joke writing helps everyone on both sides of it find common ground, which helps her identify what is truly funny in the comedy she creates. “The moment the audience laughs is the moment you fully realize (in the best way) that your experiences aren’t unique — that other people go through a lot of the same shit you do.”Author, New Yorker cartoon illustrator and comedian Emily Flake also sees the rewards of joke writing, and explains how, while laughter can often indicate a job well-done, a dearth of laughter can make a comedian feel extremely stupid, embarrassed or generally ill. “In the best-case scenarios, performing a joke feels like a consummation, a payoff of all the work you put into writing the goddamn thing, a moment of joyous communion between you and the audience,” Emily told me. “In the worst-case scenario, it’s like telling everyone you have a surprise for them and then accidentally taking a dump.”(Comedians generally really like to swear, and most are comfortable with dropping a well-placed F bomb from time to time.)Laurie Kilmartin, writer on the late-night comedy show “Conan”, author, comedian and host of “The Jackie And Laurie Show” podcast (with comedian Jackie Kashian) sees the benefits of writing jokes in the moment vs. sitting down with a pen and paper, which then helps her to have a better experience on stage.“Writing a joke in advance, then trying it onstage is usually messy and unsatisfying,” she explained. “Riffing jokes onstage is the best, because you’re performing in and with your natural rhythm.”Comedians often tend to write on paper in a different voice than the one they use when they are speaking to an audience or perhaps any human. “When I write a joke ahead of time, it will take longer to massage it, to make it work,” she elaborated. “I think that’s because a pre-written joke emanates from the “non-performing” part of my brain, which means it will be awkward the first time it’s performed.”Touring stand-up comedian and actor Mark Normand is known for his distinct short, punchy jokes. Once a comedian has trained their brain to live in “joke writing mode”, jokes are everywhere, hanging in the air like pieces of fruit, easy for the plucking. That doesn’t necessarily mean that audiences will find the fruits tasty or ripe, straight from the vine. A comedian’s job is to finesse that fruit, and turn it into, say, a delicious fig jam or a sumptuous apple pie.“For me, jokes ideas are always floating around my head constantly,” Mark said. “Comedy is such a weird thing because anything can be funny but making that thing funny is the hard part.”The time it takes making something funny varies, joke by joke. “Some ideas pop in fully fleshed out and some take months of tinkering to figure out,” he explained.Mark’s process is not so unusual for a comedian: “I tend to come up with an idea, write it down, play with it, say it out loud over and over in different ways, then bring it on stage. 9 out of 10 times, it’ll bomb.”Bombing can be a devastating feeling, especially for a newer comedian, and it doesn’t necessarily get easier with experience. Imagine you’re at work, you tell a joke to your boss and her response is, “Hm.” Bombing kind of feels like that, but amplified by a large room full of silence with a crowd of people who all saw the boss say, “Hm”.Every comedian eventually develops a way to come back from the pain of bombing and repair a broken joke. Mark’s process for recovery is straightforward: “You think back to what’s missing and take it back to the lab, then try again. Sometimes, the fear of humiliation will force you to come up with something,” Mark explained, “But most times, it results in nothing but a weak set and a waste of time.”Whether you are a newbie comedian or a long-time veteran who put in hours upon hours in the joke writing trenches, creating bits and then telling them on stage does not come without it’s challenges. Regardless, the experience of writing a joke and telling it on stage to an audience’s laughter is one of the best feelings that most comedians have ever experienced, up there with new relationship sex (like, one year in), the feeling when the plane you’re on gently touches down on the ground in your home city, the sensation of ripping open an envelope that contains a big check, eating a perfectly delicious meal accented with a pricey bottle of wine with people you love or tossing a piece of food up into the air and catching it in on the first try.But if I had to pick the best of the lot of them, without blinking, I’d choose writing and telling a winning joke on stage. Opening a big check is a close second.I don’t think I know any comedians who wouldn’t select telling a joke on stage as the best one, which is why, despite the hardships, broke-ness, disappointment, many bad roommates, judgment and family discouragement, among other difficult parts that come along with it, so many comedians keep doing it, anyway.Jessica Delfino is a writer, among other things, who lives in New York City with one husband, one baby and one cat. Keep in touch with her on <a href="http://www.twitter.com/jessicadelfino" rel="noopener nofollow" dir="ltr">Twitter</a>.

I always grapple with whether or not to tell someone I meet at a party that I perform stand-up comedy when the old, “What do you do?” question inevitably comes up. If I admit it, they’re either…

Stashed ideas

By Jessica Delfino

I always grapple with whether or not to tell someone I meet at a party that I perform stand-up comedy when the old, “What do you do?” question inevitably comes up. If I admit it, they’re either extremely excited or visibly, gut-punchingly disappointed that I’m not someone they recognize from their favorite current Netflix show. I often feel the need to duck, lest a piece of flying cheese hits me.

The largest audiences I’ve h ad the pleasure of performing in front of were via TV or radio. But the most thrilling and exciting audiences I get to tell my jokes to are live. There’s an energy in the room that is comparable to an electrical storm, even in the quiet moments, when only the clinking of dishes or the sliding of chairs can be heard, though the magic is most palpable during the sudden onsets of laughter, which will be the name of my memoir, if I ever write one.

The laughter comes like a dynamite blast, and sometimes at surprising moments, though most of the time, comedians have an idea how and at what point in the joke people are going to react.

That reaction awareness comes from reciting the joke dozens or hundreds of times. It’s similar to when anyone tells a story they’ve told so often their closest friends in the room roll their eyes and go, “Oh, this one again,” or how when someone sings their favorite Metallica song at karaoke, the crowd turns into a (delightful) zoo. Though the groups they share their stories with or sing their songs to differ, people tend to respond in the same ways in the same places, regardless of who is listening.

Many comedians meticulously write and hone their jokes for weeks, months or even longer until they deem them as finished. Some resort to strategic methodology to concoct their jokes, others employ a more spontaneous technique.

Some might say the only way to really know if a joke is funny or not is to try it out repeatedly and see if people laugh. If after several tellings, the joke isn’t getting the reaction they were hoping for (laughter, in most cases), then they will retool it and try it again, send it to the scrap yard, or save it for a cloudy day.

Creating a funny bit and then sharing it on stage is, most of the time, an amazing experience, which is why comedy is booming, and the reason the number of new comedians jumping on stage to give their bits a try increases every day, to the chagrin of some other comedians.

I spoke to some comedians I’ve met working as a comedian myself in New York City and asked them to describe, if they could, what it feels like to write a joke and then tell it on stage.

<a dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/JimGaffigan?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener nofollow">Jim Gaffigan </a>, an author, TV star, father and comedian at clubs all over the country and the world compared the feeling of witnessing the birth of a joke to a drug rush. “Experiencing a new joke come to life on stage is every comedian’s heroin,” he told me. “It is a truly empowering, uplifting moment.”

Basically Jim is saying that being on stage, which most of the world considers its’ #1 fear, is a comedian’s happy place. For him, there is an undeniable power in it. “In this chaotic world, you can finally control and even create something. A new joke, a new tag are my everything,” Jim said.

It’s truly a remarkable sensation, physically and emotionally, to have an idea and follow it through to the point where it makes an audience laugh (or react the way that a comedian wants them to), and anyone who has ever made anyone laugh, whether on a stage or not, can probably relate.

Comedian and actor Jordan Carlos compared joke writing to architecture, or maybe construction. “Writing a joke is like trying to build a sandcastle but with only dry sand. Every time I cobble one together, I’m like, ‘How did I do that? I need a nap.’”

All jokes require a connection with the audience about the issue at hand, on a fundamental level, Jordan explained. “It takes finding a universal truth that other people have passed up and finding the humor in it, simplifying it and refining words and phrases that don’t work for those that do.”

Writer, co-creator and star of “Crazy Ex-Girlfriend”, comedian <a dir="ltr" href="https://twitter.com/JimGaffigan?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor" rel="noopener nofollow">Rachel Bloom </a>agreed on Jordan’s note about universal truths — she realized that joke writing helps everyone on both sides of it find common ground, which helps her identify what is truly funny in the comedy she creates. “The moment the audience laughs is the moment you fully realize (in the best way) that your experiences aren’t unique — that other people go through a lot of the same shit you do.”

Author, New Yorker cartoon illustrator and comedian Emily Flake also sees the rewards of joke writing, and explains how, while laughter can often indicate a job well-done, a dearth of laughter can make a comedian feel extremely stupid, embarrassed or generally ill. “In the best-case scenarios, performing a joke feels like a consummation, a payoff of all the work you put into writing the goddamn thing, a moment of joyous communion between you and the audience,” Emily told me. “In the worst-case scenario, it’s like telling everyone you have a surprise for them and then accidentally taking a dump.”

(Comedians generally really like to swear, and most are comfortable with dropping a well-placed F bomb from time to time.)

Laurie Kilmartin, writer on the late-night comedy show “Conan”, author, comedian and host of “The Jackie And Laurie Show” podcast (with comedian Jackie Kashian) sees the benefits of writing jokes in the moment vs. sitting down with a pen and paper, which then helps her to have a better experience on stage.

“Writing a joke in advance, then trying it onstage is usually messy and unsatisfying,” she explained. “Riffing jokes onstage is the best, because you’re performing in and with your natural rhythm.”

Comedians often tend to write on paper in a different voice than the one they use when they are speaking to an audience or perhaps any human. “When I write a joke ahead of time, it will take longer to massage it, to make it work,” she elaborated. “I think that’s because a pre-written joke emanates from the “non-performing” part of my brain, which means it will be awkward the first time it’s performed.”

Touring stand-up comedian and actor Mark Normand is known for his distinct short, punchy jokes. Once a comedian has trained their brain to live in “joke writing mode”, jokes are everywhere, hanging in the air like pieces of fruit, easy for the plucking. That doesn’t necessarily mean that audiences will find the fruits tasty or ripe, straight from the vine. A comedian’s job is to finesse that fruit, and turn it into, say, a delicious fig jam or a sumptuous apple pie.

“For me, jokes ideas are always floating around my head constantly,” Mark said. “Comedy is such a weird thing because anything can be funny but making that thing funny is the hard part.”

The time it takes making something funny varies, joke by joke. “Some ideas pop in fully fleshed out and some take months of tinkering to figure out,” he explained.

Mark’s process is not so unusual for a comedian: “I tend to come up with an idea, write it down, play with it, say it out loud over and over in different ways, then bring it on stage. 9 out of 10 times, it’ll bomb.”

Bombing can be a devastating feeling, especially for a newer comedian, and it doesn’t necessarily get easier with experience. Imagine you’re at work, you tell a joke to your boss and her response is, “Hm.” Bombing kind of feels like that, but amplified by a large room full of silence with a crowd of people who all saw the boss say, “Hm”.

Every comedian eventually develops a way to come back from the pain of bombing and repair a broken joke. Mark’s process for recovery is straightforward: “You think back to what’s missing and take it back to the lab, then try again. Sometimes, the fear of humiliation will force you to come up with something,” Mark explained, “But most times, it results in nothing but a weak set and a waste of time.”

Whether you are a newbie comedian or a long-time veteran who put in hours upon hours in the joke writing trenches, creating bits and then telling them on stage does not come without it’s challenges. Regardless, the experience of writing a joke and telling it on stage to an audience’s laughter is one of the best feelings that most comedians have ever experienced, up there with new relationship sex (like, one year in), the feeling when the plane you’re on gently touches down on the ground in your home city, the sensation of ripping open an envelope that contains a big check, eating a perfectly delicious meal accented with a pricey bottle of wine with people you love or tossing a piece of food up into the air and catching it in on the first try.

But if I had to pick the best of the lot of them, without blinking, I’d choose writing and telling a winning joke on stage. Opening a big check is a close second.

I don’t think I know any comedians who wouldn’t select telling a joke on stage as the best one, which is why, despite the hardships, broke-ness, disappointment, many bad roommates, judgment and family discouragement, among other difficult parts that come along with it, so many comedians keep doing it, anyway.

Jessica Delfino is a writer, among other things, who lives in New York City with one husband, one baby and one cat. Keep in touch with her on <a dir="ltr" href="http://www.twitter.com/jessicadelfino" rel="noopener nofollow">Twitter </a>.

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career

How It Feels To Write A Joke And Tell It On Stage

Refining and testing jokes

Connecting with the audience

Strategic and spontaneous technique

When a joke bombs

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

The jokes that have made people laugh for thousands of years

Why Comedians Are Actually Master Psychologists

Who invented stand-up? The origins of a peculiarly American form of comedy

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledgeto upgradeyour career

How It Feels To Write A Joke And Tell It On Stage

Refining and testing jokes

Connecting with the audience

Strategic and spontaneous technique

When a joke bombs

IDEAS ABOUT

MORE LIKE THIS

The jokes that have made people laugh for thousands of years

Why Comedians Are Actually Master Psychologists

Who invented stand-up? The origins of a peculiarly American form of comedy

It's time to

READ

LIKE

A PRO!

Bite-sized knowledge
to upgrade
your career