Finally realized I was overcomplicating my joke setup after a buddy at the dive bar on 3rd Street called me out

I spent 2 minutes building this elaborate premise about airport security when he just said, 'Dude, the punchline should hit by the fifth word, not the fifth minute,' and now I'm questioning every open mic set I've done since 2019 so has anyone else had a stranger or friend just nail why your material was falling flat with one simple line?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_drew13d ago

Used to think my jokes needed all this setup and context to land. But after hearing that same kind of feedback, I realized shorter is usually way better. Changed how I write everything now.

jamief6713d ago

Long setups build tension though and sometimes the payoff is way better when you've earned the audience's trust with a good story first. A buddy at my local spot tried telling me to speed it up but I saw the same crowd laugh harder on my slow-burn material than on his machine-gun one-liners because they got invested in the journey. Short and punchy works for some crowds but other rooms need you to paint the picture first or they just stare at you blank until you're done.