A Stand-Up Comedy Writing Method

What if you could write stand-up comedy?

I understand that writing stand-up feels overwhelming for a lot of people. After writing and performing jokes for almost five years, I want to share a system that’s helped me write stand-up comedy and should help you with writing your own.

With this method, you’ll stop mind-blocks and a lack of material when writing your stand-up comedy.

My Method for Writing Stand-Up Comedy

(1) Collect Your Material

Nothing beats having ideas at the ready before even sitting down at your desk. So I recommend pen and paper throughout your home and workplace, and using the whatever Notes app you prefer. (Personally, I use the app Drafts.)

Once you start this, jotting down ideas really can become addicting as posting to Twitter. You just need courage to start.

(2) Draft Your Jokes

Gather your material or ideas. Take a pen to paper, or your hands to a keyboard, as you take them out one by one.

To aid this process, I paraphrase Seinfeld: “let the dog brain at work” at this stage.

(3) Review Your Jokes With a “Selects” Folder

For after this, you allow “the human brain” review these jokes — preferably after a nights rest. Take what stands out to a “Selects” folder, whether its digital or physical.

(4) Design Sets

Then, after another night’s rest preferably, start collecting your joke selects together into sets.

(5) Review Sets With a Selects Folder

Finally, review these collections with an additional Selects folder.

This is the folder I use before going out to an Open Mic.

With this system, you’ll start writing your stand-up comedy consistently, in larger volume, and incrementally improving your jokes over time.

Start collecting your ideas. Leave a comment to learn more.

Be organized when writing stand-up comedy using this system.