Rewriting Your Jokes
Reworking and rephrasing should also be included as part of rewriting your jokes. Do not confuse this with rearranging your show, which is for reworking your show. They do go hand in hand, but they are separate tasks. As you rewrite your jokes, you will need to rearrange your routine, and as you rearrange your routine you will need to rewrite your jokes. They are discussed separately so that you fully understand how each will help you improve your show.
When you do find a joke does not work, do not just remove it from your show. You want to discover why it didn’t work first. Go to your practice area and practice that joke again; practicing the joke will give you more insight into what may be keeping it from getting the laughs you want. If you feel it is a good joke but just isn’t working, keep practicing until it works. Here are some things you can do to help make it funnier: Ensure the audience clearly heard the joke.
Listen to the recording of your show to see if you mumbled, misspoke, stuttered a word, or were just too quiet. It is amazing how many times a joke doesn’t get a laugh because the audience cannot hear it.
Use the joke framework to check the structure of your joke. Analyze your joke using the joke framework. Ensure that all parts of the joke work well together. Are you getting the audience to your desired assumption in the setup? Is your connection clear? Is the reinterpretation surprising? Are you completely revealing story two in the punchline?
If you feel your joke is not getting the laughs that it deserves, rewrite it until you get those laughs. Sometimes you may need to just articulate the joke better.
Practice and Present Again
Improving your show needs to be constant. Now that you have a new and improved version of your show, you need to practice it using the practice model and perform it live again. The more you perform and review your shows, the better you will get by using the feedback from your audience on what works and what doesn’t work. Remember to record every show so that you can go back and review both your performance and the audience’s reaction during your show.
You will find that your show needs fewer changes the more your revise it and soon you will be continually getting big laughs with every joke. Continually improve your show and you will become a great comedian.