humor writing

One of the most painful moments for a humorist happens after telling a joke. Someone looks confused. There’s a pause. Then the words are uttered…

Aristotle studied humor. Charles Darwin wrote about it. Sigmund Freud developed theories about jokes and laughter. Psychologists analyze humor and laughter in laboratories. Despite all…

One of the first confusing things newbie humor writers discover is that people often laugh at situations that, objectively speaking, suck. Someone slips on ice.…

Many writers believe they have an idea problem. They don’t. They sit down to write something funny, and nothing happens. The brain freezes. The page…

If you ask people why something is funny, the answers usually aren’t very helpful. “It was just funny.” “That joke cracked me up.” “I laughed…

Every family has one. The relative who tells the world’s longest joke. It’s usually an uncle or grandfather who begins a “funny story” sometime before…