Comedy Writing Secrets, now in its third edition, has taught more than 175,000 readers how humor works so it can be used everywhere — in writing, speaking, teaching, pitching, and social media. Available now on Barnes & Noble and Amazon.
These posts are short rants about humor in real life — the book is where I break down how it works.
My path to funny is a tad unusual — humorist, psychology professor, death educator, and dad. I write about single parenting and life at Grown & Flown, Fatherly, Your Teen, BLUNTmoms — and here.
Click around. Borrow a technique. Make your TikTok feed funnier. Most important, have fun.
I co-author the Before You Go back page feature with the great Bob Eckstein. Here’s an example.
In 1980, at Ohio University, journalism professor Mel Helitzer offered the first college credit course in humor writing.
The final exam wasn’t a paper.
It was five minutes of stand-up comedy in front of a real audience.
The audience decided the grade.
Polite applause: C
Enthusiastic applause: B
Standing ovation: A
Thrown food: F
If food edible: D
The course had a waitlist. Students, faculty, community members — even one mortician — signed up. Rolling Stone covered it.
But, there was no textbook.
So Helitzer wrote one.
I was one of his students — not the mortician, though some of my material died. Years later, I inherited the course, became coauthor, and eventually the author.
Most humor books teach you how to write jokes for the stage.
This one teaches you how humor works — so you can use it anywhere:
Writing
Speaking
Teaching
Business communication
Social media
Because most people aren’t trying to become comedians.
They’re trying to make their ideas land.
Because humor isn’t magic.
It’s structure.
It’s timing.
It’s mechanics.
And once you understand the concepts, you can use them.
These principles have been tested for decades — in print and in person.
Comedy styles change.
The mechanics don’t.
This isn’t about being “naturally funny.”
It’s about making humor work on purpose.
