What Shakespeare Knows About Jokes You Don’t (Yet)
Shakespeare and comedy might sound like an odd pair, but the Bard quietly obeyed many modern rules of comedy. His plays are full of status games: wise fools puncturing kings, lovers pretending, lawyers freezing time with endless cases. That constant shift of status – who’s really in charge of the scene – is exactly what keeps an audience leaning in. He also bends time, letting moments “amble, trot, gallop and stand still,” a reminder that stand up joke structure doesn’t have to be strictly linear. Your bit can loop back, jump forward, or freeze on a tiny detail if the laughs justify it. Add in misdirection (the plot isn’t always what he thought it was) and dense wordplay, and you get a toolkit: flip power, twist expectations, play with rhythm. For aspiring comics, Shakespeare and comedy shows that classic storytelling beats can make even a three-minute open mic set feel richer.
From The Onion to ‘Succession’: Structure Your Satire Like TV
Will Tracy’s path from The Onion to shows like Last Week Tonight and Succession is a masterclass in how to write stand up with structure. At The Onion, he learned that even the silliest headline needs research and internal logic – satire only lands if the world of the joke feels real. On Succession, he’d bring in tightly defined “bottle episode” ideas, each with its own mini-system inside the larger season. That’s a powerful stand up comedy writing tip: treat each bit as a self-contained episode. Know the premise, the stakes and the emotional engine before you reach for punchlines. If you’re writing a rant about politics or work, ask the Onion-style question: what’s the exact absurdity I’m targeting, and how does the world of this joke operate? Clear, ruthless structure turns scattered opinions into sharp, memorable routines.
Nev Fountain’s Sketch Rules, Shrunk Down for Stand-Up
Sketch writer Nev Fountain stresses having a single clear idea, keeping it brief and choosing topics carefully. Those rules of comedy translate directly into stand-up joke structure. A strong stand-up bit is basically a sketch performed solo: one focused game or pattern that escalates. Start by writing the idea in one sentence: “What if…?” or “Isn’t it weird that…?” If you can’t summarise it, your audience won’t follow either. Next, apply sketch tactics: set up the normal world, reveal the first twist, then heighten that same idea instead of adding new, unrelated angles. Callbacks – a sketch staple – are your secret weapon: reference an earlier punchline later in your set to reward listeners and tie material together. An exercise: take a long story you tell friends, underline the single funniest idea, cut everything that doesn’t serve it and rebuild the story around that spine.
Catherine O’Hara’s Underrated Rule: Don’t Be ‘On’ All the Time
Bryan Cranston recalls Catherine O’Hara’s quiet rule of comedy: go all out when the camera rolls, then rest when it doesn’t. She resisted the urge to be “always on,” instead pacing herself so the performance stayed sharp where it mattered. For stand-ups, especially beginners, this is more than social advice; it’s a craft principle. If every conversation is an audition, you burn through ideas and dull your instincts. Save your biggest choices for the stage. Practically, that means giving yourself writing time where you chase premises on paper instead of in every interaction, and building a pre-show ritual that conserves energy. Another exercise: spend a social evening deliberately not trying to be funny, then later write down moments where humour could have lived. You’ll start to see that restraint – and choosing your moments – can make punchlines feel fresher, not forced.
Practical Exercises: Tighten Rhythm, Status and Misdirection
To turn these comedy writing tips into habits, test them on a short bit. First, status: rewrite a joke so someone unexpectedly gains or loses power mid-story – a smug boss revealed as clueless, a child outwitting you. Second, rhythm: read your jokes aloud, marking where time should “amble, trot or gallop.” Trim extra words until the punchline hits at the exact point your mouth wants to rest. Third, misdirection: write a setup that leads listeners to one obvious conclusion, then land somewhere emotionally or logically true but surprising. Finally, structure your three best jokes as mini “bottle episodes”: clear premise, rising tension, clean exit or callback. Recording open mics and editing like a TV writer – cutting anything that doesn’t serve the central idea – will quickly show you how Shakespeare, Nev Fountain, Will Tracy and Catherine O’Hara’s lessons all converge on one thing: intentional, economical choices.
