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The Serious Guide to Joke Writing: How to Say Something Funny about Anything
How To Write Jokes for Fun & Profit This comprehensive joke writing masterclass has been devised for beginners and experienced joke writers alike. The techniques you will learn can be used again and again to write funny and original material for: Stand-up comedy; Speeches; Political satire; Monologues; TV, Stage & radio; Witty articles & blogs; Comedy sketches; Sitcom scripts; Cartoons & Comic-Strips; Business Presentations. You hold in your hands the key to unlocking your inner comedy genius. When you read this book you will discover... * Simple yet powerful ways to write hilarious material on any subject * Insider tricks professionals use to get going and keep going * Where jokes really come from and why this makes writing easier * Techniques for creating simple puns and wordplay for laughs * How to tap into a continuous stream of comedy consciousness * Creative tools such as Joke-Webbing and the Hadron Joke Collider * How to mine newspapers and headlines for topical comedy gold * Ways to take jokes in weird and wonderful directions with surrealism * How to hone your jokes to maximise laughs and minimise memorisation If you want to write comedy of any kind this book is for you...
212 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 2010
319 people are currently reading
934 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews
April 16, 2012
Anyone who thinks that they are going to get the answer to how to become a great stand up/writer in an instruction manual is a fool. This book doesn't have the golden secret about how to be a comic, no book does. What it is very good for though is providing various writing exercises and disciplines to help get your creative juices flowing when the alternative is to just stare at the blank screen/page. I have used a number of the exercises in here a number of times. Even when it doesn't lead to much in itself, the process of writing ANYTHING gets the mind working and it can be amazing what comes to you later on.
A criticism of the book I have heard before is that the process presented can be quite sterile, producing solid comedy writing, certainly, but not having anything of the person in it. The book is intended mostly from the position of those writing to order for papers, TV, radio, etc, and in that end it is very good. Wannabe stand-ups shouldn't ever think the writing exercises presented here are the beginning and end of the process, otherwise they will just churn out soulless observations repeated a hundred times over by other comics. If however you see this as a supplement to your existing writing methods, you could be on to a winner.
A criticism of the book I have heard before is that the process presented can be quite sterile, producing solid comedy writing, certainly, but not having anything of the person in it. The book is intended mostly from the position of those writing to order for papers, TV, radio, etc, and in that end it is very good. Wannabe stand-ups shouldn't ever think the writing exercises presented here are the beginning and end of the process, otherwise they will just churn out soulless observations repeated a hundred times over by other comics. If however you see this as a supplement to your existing writing methods, you could be on to a winner.
January 11, 2022
A reminder that behind the scenes these people work through a tough barrier with frantic desperation, determination and can only keep their jobs if they produce consistently original ideas by unforgiving deadlines. Then they can flick out that hard won product in public, the witty catchy line, as if they had put in no effort at all and are naturally brilliant. The reality is they do have a quick mind already but that isn't good enough until they work hard at it. The funny business clearly is no laughing matter.
April 18, 2013
I write topical comedy myself (as a poet- it does count-honest) and recognised many of the methods Holloway uses here. She explains them so well- and has structured and refined them- that I found her methods really helped me out of a fallow period. I also like how she uses real life examples from classes she's taught (and is obviously a natural and passionate teacher). Highly recommend as a guide to anyone interested in joke writing or in how jokes work.
Read
October 1, 2024and yeah I did the exercises too, most of them. not just a book for reading!
April 7, 2013
I'm not sure anyone serious about entering the world of stand-up (or other comedy writing) would necessarily be reading this book. But then that isn't the only audience that may find it interesting. Even as an 'fascinated audience member' it can be fun to think a bit further about what kind of processes a comic *may* have used to get to the joke you've just seen on stage.
Holloway presents a series of practical methods and exercises that may assist you in the writing process. Starting with Puns and wordplay (including exercises going through newspaper stories selecting interesting words and working with them) through allowing your brain some time-off for 'background processing' and then creating 'joke webs' (mind maps and word association based on a topic). The 'colliding' of these webs is probably the final practical exercise that doesn't necessarily rely on a particular 'talent' - whereby the creator of joke maps attempts to join two ostensibly unrelated maps to find common ground to riff on.
It is after these chapters that it really becomes clear that even with a series of step by step actions to take there still needs to be an element of experience, talent, magic (whatever you'd like to call it) in the mix. Surrealist inquisition (looking at the problem from a diverse variety of positions) and 'Honing' (to a much stronger extent) rely upon the joke author creating a rhythm, timing, framing and elaboration/extension of the joke to make it something that would stand up for use with a general audience.
Of course the performer would also require a charm and stage presence. Tim Vine, for example, relies heavily on puns.. but the reason they work is his delivery and mixing them up with surrealist songs and skits not what could be described as rather basic puns.
Holloway ends with a case study of her own whereby she, in diary style, describes her involvement in writing a routine for a corporate gig.
Interesting and worth a read perhaps more so as a means of directing creativity in any form not just joke writing. Will you be the next Jimmy Carr or Sarah Millican? probably not but you'll be armed with a few techniques to get you on your way.
Holloway presents a series of practical methods and exercises that may assist you in the writing process. Starting with Puns and wordplay (including exercises going through newspaper stories selecting interesting words and working with them) through allowing your brain some time-off for 'background processing' and then creating 'joke webs' (mind maps and word association based on a topic). The 'colliding' of these webs is probably the final practical exercise that doesn't necessarily rely on a particular 'talent' - whereby the creator of joke maps attempts to join two ostensibly unrelated maps to find common ground to riff on.
It is after these chapters that it really becomes clear that even with a series of step by step actions to take there still needs to be an element of experience, talent, magic (whatever you'd like to call it) in the mix. Surrealist inquisition (looking at the problem from a diverse variety of positions) and 'Honing' (to a much stronger extent) rely upon the joke author creating a rhythm, timing, framing and elaboration/extension of the joke to make it something that would stand up for use with a general audience.
Of course the performer would also require a charm and stage presence. Tim Vine, for example, relies heavily on puns.. but the reason they work is his delivery and mixing them up with surrealist songs and skits not what could be described as rather basic puns.
Holloway ends with a case study of her own whereby she, in diary style, describes her involvement in writing a routine for a corporate gig.
Interesting and worth a read perhaps more so as a means of directing creativity in any form not just joke writing. Will you be the next Jimmy Carr or Sarah Millican? probably not but you'll be armed with a few techniques to get you on your way.
February 5, 2015
I come back to the techniques in this book again and again.
The thing about writing jokes is that you can't just sit around waiting for a great joke to jump into your mind. Writers who depend on comedy in their writing need to have a set of tools by which we can produce jokes "to order" about any topic.
This book is structured around a workshop which Sally Holloway gives to stand up comics to hone their joke writing skills.
It provides a great, usable toolkit for joke production.
The only warning I have about this book is that after reading it, I became obsessive about finding jokes in everything! This went on for several months, until my girlfriend told me to cut it out. Every newspaper article, radio bulletin or random comment by a friend became a potential mine of joke possibilities.
The thing about writing jokes is that you can't just sit around waiting for a great joke to jump into your mind. Writers who depend on comedy in their writing need to have a set of tools by which we can produce jokes "to order" about any topic.
This book is structured around a workshop which Sally Holloway gives to stand up comics to hone their joke writing skills.
It provides a great, usable toolkit for joke production.
The only warning I have about this book is that after reading it, I became obsessive about finding jokes in everything! This went on for several months, until my girlfriend told me to cut it out. Every newspaper article, radio bulletin or random comment by a friend became a potential mine of joke possibilities.
November 12, 2025
This book presents a textual version of the author's joke writing seminar. It offers a few techniques for joke writing that are informed by the premises that: 1.) jokes exist out in the world for one to find -- rather than to create; 2.) Anyone who is funny with his or her friends can be a funny joke writer, BUT not without effort. That effort comes in the form of training oneself to look at words and phrases in unconventional ways and in applying (largely mechanical) processes to coax or wheedle the jokes out of the ether. I say "largely mechanical" because there is a chapter on stream-of-consciousness joke writing, but the heart of the book is a process called joke-web building that is a step-by-step approach to finding humor wherever it may hide.
The book alternates practical and "theoretical" chapters. The "theoretical" chapters are mostly about the psychology that gets in one's way as a joke writer and the ways around it. That is, those parts deal with the value of breaks and the need to manage anxiety. The practical chapters explain the procedures and have Q&A style troubleshooting sections in addition to a description of the process.
I found the book to be interesting and a quick read. Some of the procedures seem a bit tedious, but they do produce results. It may be possible to streamline them to one's own situation.
The book alternates practical and "theoretical" chapters. The "theoretical" chapters are mostly about the psychology that gets in one's way as a joke writer and the ways around it. That is, those parts deal with the value of breaks and the need to manage anxiety. The practical chapters explain the procedures and have Q&A style troubleshooting sections in addition to a description of the process.
I found the book to be interesting and a quick read. Some of the procedures seem a bit tedious, but they do produce results. It may be possible to streamline them to one's own situation.
July 30, 2022
Joke writing is joke thinking, and joke thinking is going places that are mentally scary and putting your thoughts on the line
I've been spending most of my YouTube watch time listening to old broadcasts of Opie & Anthony and Tom Snyder's Late Late Show. Comedians are always considered bottom of the barrel when it comes to pop culture influence, but so many pivotal moments in especially recent American history was the result of some shock jock antic:
Trump's tramps
Weiner's weiner
Proud Boy ploys
Fake News blues
The destruction of the family unit
Society truly stands on the back of giants.
As for the book, most of the jokes were unfunny to me, but my sense of humor was shaped by complete garbage like Drawn Together and MadTV. The references are also very British. One of the exercises, I had to look up who the hell Carol Vorderman was, to make a joke about Amy Winehouse misreading "math show" for "meth shop."
The quotes by entertainers throughout the book, though, were definitely inspiring.
...whoever that is.
The great thing about human nature, I find, is that we're naturally funny, especially when interacting with others. You can find laughs in anything one would otherwise assume to be boring, for instance, in a political call-in show, an Orthodox vs Catholic debate, and even a eulogy. I've always thought God is a comedian.
I've been spending most of my YouTube watch time listening to old broadcasts of Opie & Anthony and Tom Snyder's Late Late Show. Comedians are always considered bottom of the barrel when it comes to pop culture influence, but so many pivotal moments in especially recent American history was the result of some shock jock antic:
Trump's tramps
Weiner's weiner
Proud Boy ploys
Fake News blues
The destruction of the family unit
Society truly stands on the back of giants.
As for the book, most of the jokes were unfunny to me, but my sense of humor was shaped by complete garbage like Drawn Together and MadTV. The references are also very British. One of the exercises, I had to look up who the hell Carol Vorderman was, to make a joke about Amy Winehouse misreading "math show" for "meth shop."
The quotes by entertainers throughout the book, though, were definitely inspiring.
To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong. - Joseph Chilton Pearce (p.128)
...whoever that is.
The great thing about human nature, I find, is that we're naturally funny, especially when interacting with others. You can find laughs in anything one would otherwise assume to be boring, for instance, in a political call-in show, an Orthodox vs Catholic debate, and even a eulogy. I've always thought God is a comedian.
April 27, 2023
This book was recommended to me by a fellow aspiring comic. I don’t know what I eventually want to do in the comedy space, but it’s always been something that draws me and one day I may hit up an open mic to try performing a five-minute set. I liked that this book was so practical. Each chapter has easy to digest information that makes the process seem less daunting. Holloway tells the reader to “just start” at several points in the book and encourages them to be okay with not being great at this (not even if you’ve been at it for a while), but she also includes bite-sized exercises that make “just start”-ing immediately possible. Some examples were hard to understand—either because of how outdated they were (some of the sex and sexuality stuff was not it and I was visibly cringing) or because of how British they were. But I will boldly say that I had an idea for a bit within an hour of picking this up, so I can only imagine what I can come up with if I truly do put into the time and effort, as the book encourages. Overall, a super helpful read that I can see myself revisiting time and again.
February 17, 2024
This book is very good at providing various writing exercises and disciplines to help get your creative juices flowing. It starts with almost like a 'crawl walk run' type of introduction to different forms of comedy and introduces us in an order to:
1. Redefinitions & Puns
2. Topical joke writing
3. Character comedy
4. Surreal comedy
Along the way it offers us a range of methods such as:
- Joke webs: Basically mindmaps for jokes
- The Hadron joke collider method: This one comes down to bashing together two opposing subjects to create jokes between two previously unrelated subjects
- Stream of consciousness: This one is the opposite of the precious more analytical methods and you would just start speaking or writing freely on a particular topic. Let your thoughts roam free.
- The surrealist inquisition: This one is about finding new angels on old and well-worn topics and you'll start asking yourself surreal questions such as 'Describe the topic to aliens'.
In between all the various method, the book also talks about leveraging your unconsciousness adequately and building in breaks between writing for walks, exercise, and sleeping. But regardless of all the exercises and ways of coming up with jokes, it does remain hard work
1. Redefinitions & Puns
2. Topical joke writing
3. Character comedy
4. Surreal comedy
Along the way it offers us a range of methods such as:
- Joke webs: Basically mindmaps for jokes
- The Hadron joke collider method: This one comes down to bashing together two opposing subjects to create jokes between two previously unrelated subjects
- Stream of consciousness: This one is the opposite of the precious more analytical methods and you would just start speaking or writing freely on a particular topic. Let your thoughts roam free.
- The surrealist inquisition: This one is about finding new angels on old and well-worn topics and you'll start asking yourself surreal questions such as 'Describe the topic to aliens'.
In between all the various method, the book also talks about leveraging your unconsciousness adequately and building in breaks between writing for walks, exercise, and sleeping. But regardless of all the exercises and ways of coming up with jokes, it does remain hard work
April 30, 2021
An easy to read and follow guide on how to start or get better at including humour in your writing. Written in an informal chatty style, it never gets too serious (despite the title). There’s plenty of examples and exercises you can use.
Some of the joke examples are obviously based on cultural references from when it was written back in 2010, and it’s very UK centric. Some jokes might not make sense if you don’t know UK culture.
But, the explanations of the difference exercises and approaches are clearly written, the tools she suggests are genuinely helpful. It’s a good read to find out more about joke writing if you’re interested in this topic. There’s a lot of enjoyment you can get out of clever word play and colliding ideas together to make them funny.
I liked that she also stressed that it’s a skill you have to work at to get better at, and there was a good range of examples, not all of which made me laugh, but enough of them did to make it a fun read.
Some of the joke examples are obviously based on cultural references from when it was written back in 2010, and it’s very UK centric. Some jokes might not make sense if you don’t know UK culture.
But, the explanations of the difference exercises and approaches are clearly written, the tools she suggests are genuinely helpful. It’s a good read to find out more about joke writing if you’re interested in this topic. There’s a lot of enjoyment you can get out of clever word play and colliding ideas together to make them funny.
I liked that she also stressed that it’s a skill you have to work at to get better at, and there was a good range of examples, not all of which made me laugh, but enough of them did to make it a fun read.
March 4, 2018
I enjoyed the enthusiasm and energy of the author, joke writing and joke telling are near and dear to my heart and this is a good addition to one’s comedy toolbox. She presented several different methods of writing jokes, but there are others. I have a totally different method of writing jokes and a different tone of humor though. I gained some valuable insights into the origins of jokes and the creative process. Hmm, maybe I should do my own workshops and joke book?
April 30, 2020
As a comedian, I read a lot of books on writing comedy. This is by far the best one. So many different strategies for how to write and exercises. The fact that Sally Holloway writes it through a course she taught is striking at first, but works tremendously. Makes it feel like you're really there! I'm Serious. (pause for laughs.)
No, but honestly, I'll definitely be returning to this book whenever I feel stuck.
No, but honestly, I'll definitely be returning to this book whenever I feel stuck.
July 15, 2022
I loved the setup of this book. Each chapter was about a different joke-writing function. And each chapter had multiple actionable examples of how to best write a joke. It's really amazing how difficult it actually is to be good at writing jokes. But the author provides the template to be successful. I read this book to introduce humor into my writing, not to become a stand-up comedian, and I still found it extremely valuable.
November 27, 2024
The reference section and the hyperlinks towards the very end incorrectly spell Anne Lamotte's name as Anne Lamont. That's an error that should be corrected.
Some of the joke-writing references were probably topical at the time and for the place (the UK), but out of time and place they are less successful as illustrative examples (e.g., references to the Spice Girls)
Some of the joke-writing references were probably topical at the time and for the place (the UK), but out of time and place they are less successful as illustrative examples (e.g., references to the Spice Girls)
December 16, 2018
Practical useful advice about joke writing
Enjoyable, humour and liked that it’s broken down into sections with clear examples. Easy to refer back to. Helps you to believe that if you put the work in you will see the results!
Enjoyable, humour and liked that it’s broken down into sections with clear examples. Easy to refer back to. Helps you to believe that if you put the work in you will see the results!
December 16, 2024
The book was okay at best, nothing wrong with some of the tips and techniques but in general really light on useful information. I found myself reading through very sparsely informative chapters. There was also a lot of filler material. I was somewhat disappointed with it and left wanting more.
February 5, 2025
Dobre vežbice za pisanje duhovitih ideja; od igre rečima, kreiranja mreža za šale, do toka svesti i nadrealnog narativa. Autorkini saveti mogu biti od pomoći svima koji su zainteresovani za svet skečeva, sitkoma i stendapa!
November 12, 2025
The book is full of really good ways to create really bad jokes. To be fair, you probably can also create good jokes with the methods given, but as the author is painfully unfunny, she was unable to demonstrate this.
September 16, 2019
ফার্স্ট দুইটা চ্যাপ্টার ভালো। বাকিগুলা এতো কাজের লাগে নাই।
April 3, 2021
Good notes and wider applications to the general creative process
November 10, 2021
This book gave me few new ideas for writing jokes.
January 25, 2022
Jokes are present in the ether waiting to be caught!
February 26, 2024
Book 9 of 2024.
Incredible how such a useful and interesting toolkit for creativity in the realm of comedy could have just that many unfunny jokes.
Incredible how such a useful and interesting toolkit for creativity in the realm of comedy could have just that many unfunny jokes.
July 3, 2024
I would be a big fan of stand-up, so found it very interesting to read the processes involved in writing a joke.
October 14, 2024
This book is helpful if you’re just getting started writing jokes, but it’s a bit boring otherwise.
October 22, 2024
Far more "idea generation" than "joke writing". This is for people who are afraid of sitting down and writing jokes, not for people looking to improve their ability at writing jokes.
October 29, 2024
Took my writing to the next level with the techniques in the book.
August 27, 2021
Very awesome exercises
This book really should be the foundational text for any joke writing class. As a matter of fact, it works for all writing!!
This book really should be the foundational text for any joke writing class. As a matter of fact, it works for all writing!!
November 28, 2024
Learnt some stuff. Now to apply the stuff...
Displaying 1 - 30 of 37 reviews