Three Steps to a Joke
by John Kinde

The Connection. This is normally the foundation for most jokes. It's the connection or relationship between two things which makes the joke tick. The process of creating a joke normally starts with finding an unusual way in which two things or concepts are related.

The Conceal. Once the connection is made, the setup of the joke usually needs to conceal that connection. Without concealment, the joke is telegraphed or is too obvious. You want the punch to sneak up on the listener. Concealment provides that misdirection.

The Reveal. Once the setup is delivered, you're ready for the reveal...the punchline, the punch word, or the activator word which sets the joke in motion. The reveal creates the surprise, the tension or the superiority factor necessary to get the laugh. Let's look at some examples. Here's a classic Groucho Marx joke: "One morning I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas I'll never know."

The Connection. The elephant was wearing his pajamas. That's a connection, or a relationship, that one would not normally make. It's a funny relationship. It's a funny picture.

The Conceal. One would normally assume that Groucho was wearing the pajamas. So the joke in "I shot an elephant in my pajamas," is fairly well concealed right from the start. It's further hidden by the addition of "one morning." This would lead one to think, "he just got out of bed and obviously was wearing his pajamas."

The Reveal. "How he got in my pajamas," reveals the humor connection. The listener thinks, "I get it...the elephant was wearing the PJs!" Getting the joke (superiority theory) he or she laughs. Or maybe the surprise of the unexpected connection gets the laugh.

So creating the joke is often: The Connection. The Conceal. The Reveal.

But the experience of receiving the joke is just the opposite. The listener experiences it this way: The Reveal. The Conceal. The Connection.

Although in the delivery process, the concealed part of the joke comes before the reveal, to the listener The Conceal is invisible (if it's done right), and not noticed, until after The Reveal happens. Initially, The Conceal is totally hidden. It's disguised. It's camouflaged. The listener doesn't experience a joke until The Reveal takes place...How he got in my pajamas. "Wow! The elephant was wearing the pajamas. I thought Groucho was wearing the pajamas. I didn't see that coming. (The Conceal is recognized). Hey, the elephant isn't supposed to be wearing the pajamas! (The Connection)" Then the laughter follows. Let's look at another classic joke, one that's very different from the Groucho joke: "Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the other side."

The Connection. The obvious answer to the joke is "To get to the other side." This is a riddle connected to the obvious, which is an unexpected relationship. A riddle would normally be connected to a twist or clever word play.

The Conceal. Being presented in the form of a riddle, the listener is tricked into thinking that the answer couldn't be the obvious one, but must certainly be a clever or tricky one (such as, to avoid walking by Kentucky Fried Chicken).

The Reveal. In this case the punchline is simply stating the obvious answer. Again, the listener experiences the joke in reverse order.

The Reveal. To get to the other side. "Oh, of course, that's why a chicken crosses the street."

The Conceal. "So you were looking for the obvious answer. I thought it was a riddle where you were looking for some kind of twist!"

The Connection. "I didn't expect the answer to a riddle to be so obvious."

The next time you're creating a joke: Start by brainstorming The Connection.

Look for an unusual relationship. Next, you conceal The Connection so the listener doesn't see it coming. And then you Reveal the connection, turn on the light switch, so the listener can see through the reveal, get The Connection and see the humor. The listener gets the joke in reverse order allowing him or her to connect the dots and discover the funny connection that makes the joke work.

(739 words)

© Copyright 2008 John Kinde

John Kinde is an observational humor specialist and Fripp Las Vegas team member. John Kinde provides keynote programs on humor, teambuilding and customer service. He also presents workshops and coaching on humor, presentation skills, and improv skills for business. Patricia Fripp recommends that you enjoy more of his humor skills articles at http://www.HumorPower.com This article from John Kinde is used with his permission.

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