The thing is: not all jokes are expected to get the same amount of laughter.
And that’s okay.
Whenever I write a joke for a project that will go before a live audience (either a play or multi-cam sitcom episode) I always try to gauge how big of a laugh each joke will elicit. Then I decide whether what I have will reach that level.
But each joke stands on its own. Is it a smaller joke to help set up a bigger payoff later? Is it a cute turn of phrase to take the curse of exposition? Is it a reference that not everyone will get but the ones who do will love it? Do you know going in this joke would get a bigger laugh if a different cast member said it?
If this all sounds like “Diagnosis: Comedy,” you’re right. A lot of thought and projection goes into writing funny scripts.
It’s an inexact science to be sure. And as I’ve said many times, different audiences react differently – so a joke that gets a big laugh on Friday, gets a meh reaction on Saturday. So which audience was right? A writer has to rely on his best professional judgment. And be ready to rewrite when he’s wrong.
No one was tougher on material than Neil Simon. He rewrote his plays constantly during rehearsal and out of town tryouts. Not to always get the bigger laugh, but the right laugh.
It takes craft and experience and maybe never relying on laughter that comes out of a box.
from By Ken Levine
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