British Comedy Guide

Stand Up Comedy Writer Needs Feedback

Hello, people. I've written some one-liner jokes similar to that of Jimmy Carr / Anthony Jeselnik etc. Yet I'm not confident enough in them to try performing them live on stage just yet. Here are a few of the jokes, any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

I'm not pro-abortion, but I'm getting better at it.

I went to an all black high school and the kids used to pick on me, because my clothing was made of cotton.

One time in elementary school I showed a girl my penis. Needless to say I lost my teaching job.

When you join a cult, to become pure you have to chop off your own genitals. Man, that takes some balls.

I used to be sexually turned on by my own smell, taste and touch; but then I came to my senses.

My girlfriend and I have been dating for over eight years, today I finally tied the knot... I'm going to hang myself tonight.

Studies show that homophobes secretly have repressed gay desires. That's why I only have sex with gay men so people know I'm straight.

Love knows no bounds... Unless you're into bondage.

Marijuana is a gateway drug. So just start with coke.

I was raised by a single mother, you could tell just by looking at old family photos that my father was never really in the picture.

It's okay to disrespect a dead quadriplegic because they can't turn in their grave.

Quote: AndrewJames @ February 18 2013, 3:19 AM GMT

1) I'm not pro-abortion, but I'm getting better at it.

2) I went to an all black high school and the kids used to pick on me, because my clothing was made of cotton.

3) One time in elementary school I showed a girl my penis. Needless to say I lost my teaching job.

4) When you join a cult, to become pure you have to chop off your own genitals. Man, that takes some balls.

5) I used to be sexually turned on by my own smell, taste and touch; but then I came to my senses.

6) My girlfriend and I have been dating for over eight years, today I finally tied the knot... I'm going to hang myself tonight.

7) Studies show that homophobes secretly have repressed gay desires. That's why I only have sex with gay men so people know I'm straight.

8) Love knows no bounds... Unless you're into bondage.

9) Marijuana is a gateway drug. So just start with coke.

10) I was raised by a single mother, you could tell just by looking at old family photos that my father was never really in the picture.

11) It's okay to disrespect a dead quadriplegic because they can't turn in their grave.

Overall, I'd say they are mostly a collection of joke ideas rather than fully formed one-liners, some show some promise and others need a lot of work (although some of it depends on the comic persona delivering them).

Some specific thoughts;

1) There's a nugget of a joke there, might work as it is but, for me, pro-abortion doesn't make me think "professional" abortion. Maybe something along the lines of "If pushed, I'm pro-abortion, I mean I think it's better that pros do it rather than amateurs".

2) Might work better in the US but here in the UK I think it'd either leave people scratching their heads or potentially worrying that it's racist.

3) This is a variation of a very old pull-back-and-reveal joke, every comic in the world has written this joke at some point in their career.

4) Kinda works, although I'd get rid of "to become pure", need to try it out in front of an audience.

5) There's a germ of a great joke here but at the moment it doesn't quite work logically. Possibly needs a bit of rewording.

6) Decent joke (although get rid of the word "tonight" at the end, jokes need to end on the "punch", any extraneous words detract from the laugh)

7) Again, would probably work if delivered in the right way

8) To me "bounds" makes me think of jumping rather than "chains" or "knots". I realise this is a personal thing but to me, "Love knows no bounds, unless you go out with a triple jumper" works better. If you want to go down the bondage route then perhaps combine this one with the "tying the knot" joke.

9) Would work better as a statement. "I agree with people who say that Marijuana is a gateway drug, which is why I just went straight to crack" (again, it's a personal thing but I think "crack" or perhaps "crystal meths" are 'funny' than "coke").

10) Again another good joke in here somewhere but, for me, it's not quite there. My spin on it would be something like "Growing up, my father was never in the picture, mainly because he was holding the camera".

11) Personally I don't really like this joke, it smacks too much of being a shock gag but it could work in the right hands and delivered in the right way.

So, in summary, a decent effort, now go away, write another hundred one-liners, select the ten best, hone them, write some more and eventually get 5 minutes together (about 20-25 one-liners) then perform them on stage, keep the ones which get laughs, throw away/rewrite the ones which don't and repeat until you are up there with Jimmy Carr, Steven Wright, Mitch Hedburg, Milton Jones, Gary Delaney, Stuart Francis, etc.

Quote: AndrewJames @ February 18 2013, 3:19 AM GMT

I'm not pro-abortion, but I'm getting better at it.
(dont get it, maybe "I'm proabortion I went to college to learn how to do it professionally)

I went to an all black high school and the kids used to pick on me, because my clothing was made of cotton.
(weak)

One time in elementary school I showed a girl my penis. Needless to say I lost my teaching job.
(old)

When you join a cult, to become pure you have to chop off your own genitals. Man, that takes some balls.
(Joining my cult takes balls, we believe in castration) the joke lis almost completely in twisting the meaning and surprising the audience with that

I used to be sexually turned on by my own smell, taste and touch; but then I came to my senses.
"I get turned on by smell, touch and taste. I should come to my senses"

My girlfriend and I have been dating for over eight years, today I finally tied the knot... I'm going to hang myself tonight.
Excellent!

Studies show that homophobes secretly have repressed gay desires. That's why I only have sex with gay men so people know I'm straight.
Could be neater butthat's a good spin on an oldish joke

Love knows no bounds... Unless you're into bondage.
Neat

Marijuana is a gateway drug. So just start with coke.
"My school counsellor warned me marijuana was a gateway drug, so I started with heroin" good joke just needed framing better

I was raised by a single mother, you could tell just by looking at old family photos that my father was never really in the picture.
Joke there needs reframing

It's okay to disrespect a dead quadriplegic because they can't turn in their grave.
Not worth the poor taste.
Maybe "I shame my dead paraplegic mum every chance I get, she couldn't turn in life, so now she can turn in her grave."

Overall not bad, but you need to neaten them up. And remember jokes are feeder line punchline. So set them up, surprise the audience and then win all the way.

Quote: AndrewJames @ February 18 2013, 3:19 AM GMT

I'm not pro-abortion, but I'm getting better at it.

Doesn't make sense

I went to an all black high school and the kids used to pick on me, because my clothing was made of cotton.

I would say offensive

One time in elementary school I showed a girl my penis. Needless to say I lost my teaching job.

Not bad but needs to be re-written to be punchier

When you join a cult, to become pure you have to chop off your own genitals. Man, that takes some balls.

A bit obvious

I used to be sexually turned on by my own smell, taste and touch; but then I came to my senses.

Nice :)

My girlfriend and I have been dating for over eight years, today I finally tied the knot... I'm going to hang myself tonight.

Not bad

Studies show that homophobes secretly have repressed gay desires. That's why I only have sex with gay men so people know I'm straight.

Doesn't really work - the idea doesn't really connect with things people could relate to

Love knows no bounds... Unless you're into bondage.

Nice tag line

Marijuana is a gateway drug. So just start with coke.

Doesn't work

I was raised by a single mother, you could tell just by looking at old family photos that my father was never really in the picture.

Not bad but should be punchier.

It's okay to disrespect a dead quadriplegic because they can't turn in their grave.

OK, but doesn't really work

Hope that helps :D

Quote: AndrewJames @ February 18 2013, 3:19 AM GMT

Hello, people. I've written some one-liner jokes similar to that of Jimmy Carr / Anthony Jeselnik etc. Yet I'm not confident enough in them to try performing them live on stage just yet. Here are a few of the jokes, any feedback would be greatly appreciated...

I'm not pro-abortion, but I'm getting better at it.

I think Tony Cowards is right... Americans more likely to get the professional switch quicker, but his structure works better

I went to an all black high school and the kids used to pick on me, because my clothing was made of cotton.

Your other stuff seems more intelligent than this.

One time in elementary school I showed a girl my penis. Needless to say I lost my teaching job.

Unless you're very young, try "A few years back"
"in primary school" makes it trans-Atlantic (I think)
"I showed a girl in my class my penis." Perhaps wordier, but playground might be too obvious
"Needless to say, that was the end of my teaching career." Unless of course you're going to inject more revelations about your teaching career.

When you join a cult, to become pure you have to chop off your own genitals. Man, that takes some balls.

I liked it.

I used to be sexually turned on by my own smell, taste and touch; but then I came to my senses.

Nice. However, perhaps make it more of a recent thing or put a date stamp "the other week/day I discovered..."

My girlfriend and I have been dating for over eight years, today I finally tied the knot... I'm going to hang myself tonight.

I think the tonight needs to be there or it might just sound like you're committing suicide just because you got married. You could either put more into it before the punchline, hopefully thanking the audience if you get a cheer before actioning the hanging saying something about it working perfectly or something.

Studies show that homophobes secretly have repressed gay desires. That's why I only have sex with gay men so people know I'm straight.

I think it's good.

Love knows no bounds... Unless you're into bondage.

Hmmm... yeah, maybe combine it with tie the knot - or change it.

Marijuana is a gateway drug. So just start with coke.

Agree it needs to be a harder drug for impact...Meth amphetamine, crack, heroine - but be careful where you position this as audience might question whether you're really f**ked up on stuff if it reflects your stage presence. Equally, you could use this if you want the audience to be questioning whether you're f**ked up on drugs - but probably not.

I was raised by a single mother, you could tell just by looking at old family photos that my father was never really in the picture.

Preferred punchier suggested dad holding camera

It's okay to disrespect a dead quadriplegic because they can't turn in their grave.

It might not seem like much of a tweek, but maybe "Apparently it's okay to disrespect dead quadriplegics... Yeah, they can't turn in their graves."

But, hey, what do I know.

Thank you all for the input. One of the main critiques was the wording, but I am in the US, the humour and delivery would work/sound a lot better here. Very good suggestions, though, I'll take all of them into consideration, especially if I perform in the UK.

Hi Andrew

No it wouldn't; and the "I'm American, an astronaut a pickled herringso my humour is diferent" never holds water.

You've been offered detailed feedback by 4 writers (one of whom TC is a well known professional comic). So that's a big compliment and means you've got real potential.

Seriously check out critique for how rarely that happens.

But you need to structure your jokes better. Most of them have real potential and contain great ideas.

But the thing with jokes is all about refinement and editing.

Good luck.

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