Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense

by Elliott Kalan

The winner of four Emmys, a Peabody, and two Writers Guild Awards (all of which badly need dusting) explains his process for writing comedy without going insane.
 
Philosophers may debate the meaning of comedy (thankfully keeping them too busy to fall into a life of crime), but the rest of us are more likely to wonder how we can make an audience laugh—or at least, how to entertain our friends and followers. According to award-winning comedy writer Elliott Kalan, we need to stop staring out the window, waiting for hilarious bits to stroll into view, fully formed. What we need is a process to plant their premises, tend to their structure and wording, and ultimately harvest them as funny material. In short, a farm. But for jokes.
 
In Joke Farming, Kalan explains that it’s easier to write jokes when you have a dependable method for doing so. All jokes, he argues, are built from the same structure, premise, voice, tone, wording, and audience—and these elements can be applied to any comedic genre, from stand-up to sitcoms to satire. Kalan analyzes examples from his own career—including jokes that he wrote (and rewrote and rewrote and rewrote . . . ) as head writer for The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—as well as material from a diverse array of comedians, writers, and filmmakers, highlighting the phrasing, rhythm, and precise details that make their work so dang funny.
 
Drawing on his experiences in professional writers’ rooms as well as episodes from everyday life, Kalan’s guide to jokes will appeal to aspiring writers, their mentors, comedy fans, and anyone who has to speak at a wedding. Joke Farming points the way toward a writing process that lessens stress and agony and yields more reliable a surprising tagline, a hilarious word choice, and—most importantly—a bigger laugh from the audience, whoever they may be.

Genres: Humor, Writing, Comedy

322 pages, Paperback

First published November 12, 2025

Reviews

[Jeff Wait · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book stresses the importance of brevity, clarity and specificity. Fittingly, this book is a brief, clear and specific look at joke writing. The author communicates these ideas simply and effectively and creates a helpful resource for joke writers of all experience levels. It's also just a fun read. Definitely a book I'll revisit.

[Ren · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition to Kalan's clear delineation of the types and elements of humor, what elevated this for me was an honest glimpse into his creative process.

[John Pinkard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joke Farming by Elliott Kalan is the perfect blend of humor, history, and information about how to create jokes, whether that be for stand-up comedy, sketch writing, books, and even podcasting. Want to include a joke in a wedding speech? This book can help you come up with a joke for any situation.

Honestly, I read this book at the perfect time in my life since I have recently been exploring my creative side, specifically when it comes to comedy. Over the past few months, I have taken improv and clown classes, and my first sketch comedy writing class was a couple of days ago. Will stand-up comedy be my next challenge? That’s a potential goal of mine for the beginning of 2026. The lessons I’ve learned from Joke Farming will continue to be helpful as I develop my own comedic voice.

Thank you to NetGalley, Elliott Kalan, and the publisher for the eARC of this book.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this short book by the former head writer of The Daily Show about how he approaches writing comedy, which had me laughing along as it provided a set of concepts for understanding what comedy “is” and how it works. Also, I love that this book was for some reason published by The University of Chicago press and was apparently peer reviewed (by whom?!), and that this is just something we’re supposed to accept as normal.

If you’re the kind of person who (a) likes comedy in its many forms, (b) likes to get inside how things work, and (c) doesn’t get weirdly indignant about reading “how to” books for things that we all know you still mainly have to learn by doing (comedy, swimming, playing an instrument, cooking an omelette), this one’s for you.

[Steve · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Kalan discusses a wide range of humorous writing: stand-up, visual, slapstick, and others. The book is not a joke-book; it is a serious look at how to write humour, but with the judicious use of humour by Kalan and a very conversational tone. Kalan made good use of concrete examples, which greatly clarified the material. Thank you to Edelweiss and University of Chicago Press for the advance reader copy.

[Beth Gerson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this as a fan of Elliott's from his podcasting and Daily Show gigs and was not at all disappointed. While I do not personally have a career that involves joke writing, there were many different use-case scenarios, including wedding toasts and others, where this information could be applied.

The book also helps turn you into a more critical consumer of pop culture. Thinking about what you're watching or reading and being able to analyze it from a more informed lens is something that we can all use in our daily lives. This felt like non-fiction that I could easily work into my day-to-day life. I liked how it was organized in a way that made sense and never felt like it was jumping around or too niche. Strong recommend!

I received an ARC from NetGalley

[Ian · Rating 5 out of 5]

Informative, clever, and genuinely funny. I’ve never enjoyed learning a technique so much!
Elliot Kalan breaks down the art of joke farming in accessible terms. His method is easy to adopt, whether you’re refining your comedic craft or just trying to understand what makes a joke hit.

[Ceef · Rating 5 out of 5]

A genuinely thought-provoking and useful guide to writing comedy (and, by extension, doing any creative work).

Also: funny! I came, I saw, I lol'ed. (Actually. Several times.)