Communities

Writing
Writing
Codidact Meta
Codidact Meta
The Great Outdoors
The Great Outdoors
Photography & Video
Photography & Video
Scientific Speculation
Scientific Speculation
Cooking
Cooking
Electrical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Judaism
Judaism
Languages & Linguistics
Languages & Linguistics
Software Development
Software Development
Mathematics
Mathematics
Christianity
Christianity
Code Golf
Code Golf
Music
Music
Physics
Physics
Linux Systems
Linux Systems
Power Users
Power Users
Tabletop RPGs
Tabletop RPGs
Community Proposals
Community Proposals
tag:snake search within a tag
answers:0 unanswered questions
user:xxxx search by author id
score:0.5 posts with 0.5+ score
"snake oil" exact phrase
votes:4 posts with 4+ votes
created:<1w created < 1 week ago
post_type:xxxx type of post
Search help
Notifications
Mark all as read See all your notifications »
Q&A

What are the key elements of a humor story?

+0
−0

I've always loved humor stories, and relish the idea of making one. But the thing I cannot grasp is the key elements of one. Are the key elements the same as a normal story (Problem, Solution, etc.)? Or are they different?

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.
Why should this post be closed?

This post was sourced from https://writers.stackexchange.com/q/42891. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

0 comment threads

1 answer

+0
−0

+1 to Hink, the elements are the same. They still follow the three-act structure.

But often the "problem" facing the protagonists is ludicrous (a funny friendly alien needs help, the end of the world is coming, they discover a time-traveling hot tub), and their reaction to the problem is likewise ludicrous and irrational, or self-indulgent.

The essence of a joke is to lead the audience to rationally expect one outcome, and spring either the opposite or something else on them that still makes sense. "Spring" is an important word here, a joke has a surprise ending, often in the final word, and they won't laugh if they anticipated the twist. The surprise is why it is called a "punch line", it has some kind of impact like a punch. Which is why jokes wear out, people learn the punch line as one possible outcome, and stop laughing if the punch line is something they already expected. The punch line has to be unexpected to elicit a laugh.

This is actually somewhat difficult to pull off; and also difficult to analyze logically and decide whether a joke works. That takes years of experience in the comedy business. It is also why many intended comedies fall flat.

But that said, a comedy story is the same as other stories, but usually using characters with noticeably unusual personality traits, as a device by which the author(s) can create the unexpected outcomes necessary to get the audience to laugh.

For the same reason, comedy (minus stand-up) is often written in collaboration, because the author can be "too close" to their own material, they already know the punch line. So others that can be surprised by the punch line provide a valuable critique.

The key element of a humor story is whether the jokes are funny. A story is necessary, but you get much more leeway in the plot and realism of the characters and settings and reactions, most people will forgive a lot if they are busy laughing at the jokes.

History
Why does this post require attention from curators or moderators?
You might want to add some details to your flag.

0 comment threads

Sign up to answer this question »