Hey, this is Merchant. You may know me from "Made You Laugh!" and several other Why-Times appearances.
I have been receiving countless letters asking, "How do you tell such funny jokes?" and such. In response, I am going to tell YOU how to make your own hilarious jokes! So welcome to Whyville Joke College.
It's really easy to make your own jokes if you know the basics. I will lead you step-by-step as I make up my own funny joke. Let's begin.
Read other jokes: Hearing other people's jokes gives me inspiration. I hear something funny, and I think I can do it better! Check out this joke I heard:
Why do male deer need to see a dentist?
Because of their buck teeth.
This joke was pretty funny, but it didn't have character. I knew I could do it better. Here's my improvement on it:
Why do male deer need braces?
Because they have "buck teeth!"
I added some better grammar (it helps!) and I thought getting braces was better than just seeing a dentist. Don't you agree? But anyway, don't tell these jokes, because they aren't your own. You can tell them, but jokes aren't the same if they're not original. Improving on other people's jokes is just an example to inspire you.
Also, when you're meeting someone new or whatever, and telling a joke is your way of cracking the tension, telling other people's jokes first is a great way to get your confidence going. So then you can do it with your own. But if you want to be original, don't use other people's jokes all the time.
Think up a punchline first, and then the joke... maybe think of compound words, like watchdog, buck teeth... dishwasher? Haha, be creative! I decided to use watchdog.
Describe your selected punchline: I'm going to take the watch part first. What does a watch do? It tells time, you wear it on your wrist, it makes ticking noises... ah, yes! I shall use the ticking part to make my joke. And a dog? Well, since we're talking about sounds here, a dog barks. I can use that!
Make it up off the top of your head: The best jokes are ones that are made up right away. It just makes them sillier! You'll have time to revise them later, just like you did with other people's jokes. So here's what I came up with right away:
What goes TICK-TICK, WOOF-WOOF?
A watchdog!
So how was that? Pretty good, I'd say.
Revise, Revise, Revise: Try to think of something else that would make your joke really funny. I really couldn't think of anything better for mine, but you might! Work on it.
Now you have passed the Whyville Joke College. Good luck coming up with your very own, hilarious jokes!
Now it's time for the very important announcement. Made You Laugh! would like to do a section in every column we do featuring our reader's funniest. The jokes can be long jokes, knock-knocks, anything! So please contribute, graduates, and become a Whyville Jokester. It's a very honorable position!
