Writing News Jokes

[aenemaTron]

If you insist that words can only mean one thing, then yes.

[scamboogah]

The only thing I insist is that dissecting this joke goes on for another four pages...

[suavepebble]

I think that the sign on their car should have read "Just Married!" because of their marriage and the tradition of doing that.

[Brian J.]

Letterman just basically told this joke, except it was past tense from the funeral.

Cool, Thank you so much for letting me know. That's encouraging. Did it get a good laugh?

[mezmorized]

Hey I thought I would put up my Colbert Word here. Apparently I can't embed the document viewer here (might be because the code won't work here or I'm doing it wrong), but you can click below to see it on my blog. Let me know what you guys think.

http://meziszem.blogspot.com/2009/06...-june-4th.html

[MJEH]

"The amusement park company Six Flags filed for bankruptcy protection today. Some changes at the parks include a new 'Road Kill Cafe', and two new rides-"Carousel of Strippers' and 'Insolvency: The Ride'."

[scamboogah]

Norman Brinker, the founder of Chili's Restaurant passed away last week. Brinker's son said, even though he got to live a long, productive life, he still wants his father back, father back, father back...

[SoSure]

Beautiful, Scammy.

[yumitree]

Cool, Thank you so much for letting me know. That's encouraging.

jimmy fallon also did the same joke a day or two later.

[Charles Pepper]

jimmy fallon also did the same joke a day or two later.

It's an old joke. Link where Letterman did it in 2005, and if memory serves, also quite a few times before:
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache...&client=safari

[yumitree]

of course, i was just trying to illustrate to that dude that he shouldn't be encouraged by "coming up" with an obvious joke, despite it's appearance on television.
parallel thought be damned.

[mezmorized]

of course, i was just trying to illustrate to that dude that he shouldn't be encouraged by "coming up" with an obvious joke, despite it's appearance on television.

But isn't it better to have an obvious joke that gets on the air than to have a non-obvious joke not get on? My teacher said that it's better to have that obvious joke that gets on the air, come from you than from someone else. Basically: There's security in what's been done. That's why you will sometimes see Letterman do the same joke two nights in a row. It's because it works and when it works, you use it. Often times those jokes are the most obvious.

[yumitree]

i guess one could solace in the fact that you "came up" with a joke so generic/easy/obvious that two separate monologue writers used the same material.

[mezmorized]

Here's my Colbert Word for this week. Let me know what you guys think.

http://meziszem.blogspot.com/2009/06...june-14th.html

[mezmorized]

i guess one could solace in the fact that you "came up" with a joke so generic/easy/obvious that two separate monologue writers used the same material.

I'm not protecting the act, I was just giving a different view from someone who does it for a living. I know I would come up with that joke, but I wouldn't put it on my packet or send it in unless that's the best I could do. And if that's the case it's pretty grim then.

[yumitree]

...or post it on the internet?

[MJEH]

i guess one could take solace in the fact that you "came up" with a joke so generic/easy/obvious that two separate monologue writers used the same material.

Ugh, I hate obvious jokes! I think I find myself falling into this category as well, though I try very hard to avoid it. This is the primary reason I have a difficult time watching the late night guys. I think we sometimes know where they're headed with a set-up and this makes the monologue less funny for us.

[scamboogah]

Italy has confirmed that they are open to accepting three prisoners from Guantanamo Bay when the U.S. closes that facility. Preference will be given to prisoners with plumbing experience or those with a history of jihad against coin-carrying turtles...

[Brian J.]

of course, i was just trying to illustrate to that dude that he shouldn't be encouraged by "coming up" with an obvious joke, despite it's appearance on television.
parallel thought be damned.

I just started a few months ago (about the time i started this thread), and this was just the first time that's happened. Regardless of whether it's an obvious joke... if i can start coming up with more jokes that are being done on television, i would take that as encouragement because that would suggest improvement from jokes that aren't good enough to be on television. So hopefully it happens more often.

[Brian J.]

Here's my Colbert Word for this week. Let me know what you guys think.

http://meziszem.blogspot.com/2009/06...june-14th.html

I laughed several times and the last one you posted as well. How long does this typically take you to write?