How to Fix a Joke (in Real Time)

Comedians throw away way too many joke ideas.
Jerry Corley, Aka the "Joke Doctor" helps a new comedian in Mumbai fix a joke that he was trying to write.
98 percent of the time if you think an idea is funny, it is. It just needs to be presented to the audience so that they can "see" the funny in the joke.
In this video watch Jerry demonstrate how to apply structure to a joke idea or premise to trigger the laugh in the joke.
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Don't forget to get the book "Breaking Comedy's D.N.A." where Jerry breaks into the secrets behind what makes the human brain trigger the body's laughter mechanism and how to write the jokes to make that happen.

[@mikerobideau6712]

A reinterpretation version of the original joke might be: Interviewer: Where do you see yourself in five years? Applicant: Why is that relevant? Interviewer: You're applying to be a psychic. We make the audience reinterpret "see yourself in five years" in the punchline. The starting joke from the video has a solid foundation. There are two dissimilar ideas (job interview and astrologer) and it finds a clever way to bring them together ("Where do you see yourself in five years?"). To make it a reinterpretation joke, we just need to leave some information out of the setup and reveal it in the punchline. A bigger, more absurd reveal is oftentimes better, so rather than "sounds like a question for a psychic" we want "you ARE applying to be a psychic."

[@aranorbruce]

Jerry's back!!! Gettin worried there for a few, Man. Great to see your vids, thanks for dropping another!

[@JerryCorley]

Aranor Bruce Good to be back. Been super busy. Missed you guys!

[@MrKellz411]

The specifics just helped me add a tag to a joke that I was already killing with... I can’t wait to try it.. Appreciate that.

[@Remember-Death]

[Interviewer @ Visa] “Where do you see yourself after 5 years?” [Me] “To be honest, I don’t have a lot of ambition and I don't think things will be different. After 5 years, I’ll probably still be wanted by the FBI for identity theft, wire fraud, and hacking into Mastercards website.”

[@bookerhumor4964]

The doctor is back

[@BringBalanceback]

I got his joke, he means to say indirectly that he is not an astrologer to know what's gonna happen after 5 years

[@Fanta2320]

Perfect topic, I was locked up on a joke just last week due to overthinking, thanks Jerry

[@JerryCorley]

Netherpast Glad I could help you pick that lock.

[@JohnPSmithJr]

Thanks Jerry for another brilliant episode. For me it was a great reminder to identify the Character, Theme, Setting, Plot, & Conflict. *High Five*

[@radiomalagawulirizaf.m]

Following several episodes of the joke Doctor, I discovered that comedy is not only a talent but also an arena of creative and interested personnel who can think and manufacture jokes. I can now produce some as well!!. Thanks to Jerry Corley.

[@JerryCorley]

john baptist Glad to help.

[@TrevorHStoonSK]

Jerry, you are the best. Very generous of your time and you can help anybody that WANTS the help. If you have a negative view of comedy coaches and subscribe to the theory that you either got it or you don't, you are keeping a closed mind. You should always seek out people who are smarter than you that have different areas of expertise. Otherwise, how do you learn? For example, I started out writing self deprecating stuff all the time about me, now I have ventured into Christian material (making fun of the bible), and now that I work in retail, I will be putting together a retail themed set, that might get the attention of companies for corporate events. Get off your ass and get Jerry's assistance. What do you have to lose? Tomorrow isn't guaranteed for any of us.

[@BrooklynPeterParker]

Interviwer: where do you see yourself in 5 years? Jerry: thinking of a funny answer to this question to amuse my KZbin viewers

[@malako777A]

so by specifics, you mean to build your premise better, right? man, all these tips on how to build a better joke works for my area too.. and I am an illustrator. Thank you for sharing Jerry!

[@BarChordA]

Hey Jerry, I admire your service to comedians. Do you have a method for extracting maximum humor out of an already-decent joke? Like how to find the optimum word choice, timing, and delivery to turn a decent joke into a stellar one?

[@JerryCorley]

Jason Hollowell So interesting. I was just working on an exercise for that very thing today. I like to treat premises like a wet towel and wring them out for everything I can get. Then pull it back a little. I’ll do something on that subject soon

[@BarChordA]

Jerry Corley Awesome, looking forward to it!

[@BGMcWhirter]

Good stuff.

[@guillonremi5668]

Hey Jerry, very good content as usual! thanks! :) I just have a concern about the part you talked about avoiding jokes making fun of women. I'm soon going to participate to my very firt open mike and the main theme of my set revolves around men and women relationships nowadays. That's something that i found really fascinating and worth joking about but it sure has a controvertial side that adds stress to an already stressfull first experience as a comedian. My point is do you think it's a bad idea (even though let's be honest I'm not going to completely change my jokes now) to talk about these sensitive subjects? I feel like it's part of the job of a comedian to talk about these sorts of things (what people think but don't dare discussing in public...). I'd mch prefer risking to offend some people rather than being too politicaly correct ... any thoughts?

[@aranorbruce]

I'm not Jerry, but if I may offer my own thoughts... I totally understand (and share) your concerns, Guillon Rémi, & agree with you; for the comedian, it *is* part of the job to speak of the things most others don't dare to. I think you've misinterpreted Jerry's tip. Jerry never said to avoid making fun of women; but that it *may* be best to avoid _name-calling_ using a particular word or two. I share the same concerns as you do regarding this because some of my material addresses subjects like neo-feminism & sexism. As Jerry says (in his vid Comedy In This Hypersensitive PC World), what's most important is "not the words, but the HEART behind your words". You can make fun of women all you want, but once a comedian starts name-calling-- especially using harsh words-- it _could_ seem _less_ like a well-crafted joke and _more_ like an incriminating venting of unnecessary insults. I think the point is to use discretion when choosing our words (especially the insults we label others in), and to be sure that what we're saying *is* a joke. It seems like you've put ample thought into your material, are willing to be seen as offensive by some while being "the voice of the people", and you seem to be caring (as opposed to uncaring), so I think you'll do great telling *jokes* about sensitive subjects with the audience. The world needs to hear you, and as long as you remember to *_use humor_* as the Trojan Horse for your message, you're going to crush it, Man.

[@guillonremi5668]

@@aranorbruce well thanks very much foryour kind words, I agree with everything you said and i'll try my best to crush it 😅 I'll try to remember to Come back to this comment and tell you how it went😉

[@aranorbruce]

@@guillonremi5668 Thanks, please do!

[@amaurifte]

Nice tips. By the way, is a little strange when you say stuff like "Comedy is everywhere now, it used to be only USA, Canada, Australia, UK...". The whole world always had comedy, we're talking about an especific type of comedy, wich is Stand Up Comedy, this one is blowing up for sure and I hope it keeps getting bigger. But we all been doing comedy since ever. Greeting from Brazil.

[@JerryCorley]

Amauri Silva Yeah, I knew when I said it that I probably should have clarified that I meant Stand-up Comedy is blowing up around the World. Thanks for putting it out there!

[@squirrelattackspidy]

Theme is not a job interview. That's what the story is about (plot). The theme is what the story is trying to convey (the misery behind working in a corporate cube environment).

[@oniciamuller]

Thanks, Jerry

[@Batronyx]

Hmm. Good stuff. On the original joke though, I think he might have been looking for a way to say what you did about the "Astrologer should know" as in "Where do you see yourself in 5 years?" "How would I know? Do I look like an astrologer?" His phrasing didn't translate well and could use some English "punch-up" since it isn't his first language. How would you have helped fix/improve that punchline?

[@beforeyourimmigrants8471]

Jerry is this your real personality and the way you talk in real life? Or is it because you're presenting information.

[@0ceanicify]

Where do you see yourself in 5 years time? Nearly 5 years into a sentence for co-worker-cide.

[@markrandall2997]

Rosetta Stone pays him. Can you give us a lesson on how to get paid for product placement in stand up ?

[@1Challino]

If I squint it looks like you are shirtless. Skin colored shirt. Cool

[@internalinjectiontrulyhere770]

Ha