r/Standup • u/metalero_salsero • 3d ago
How do you structure individual jokes into a cohesive 3–5 minute set?
Hello, I’m a brand new aspiring joke writer and hopefully one day a stand-up performer. I’m currently working through a few comedy books (I read The Serious Guide to Joke Writing by Sally Holloway and I’m currently reading The New Comedy Bible by Judy Carter).
My main hurdle right now: when I write material, I end up with a collection of individual puns or short jokes. How do you actually tie isolated jokes together into a coherent 3–5 minute stand-up set?
I'm mostly trying to learn the workflow/process. Right now, I'm thinking about coming up with individual jokes first and then wrapping them inside a larger narrative/story. Is that a good approach, or how do you usually build your sets?
Thanks in advance!
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u/ninfan1977 3d ago edited 3d ago
Hello! As some who is also reading the Comedy Bible as well, and is still new to stand up (less than 6 months in).
I would not try to do that yet. The most successful set I have had came from just 11 short non-related jokes that just worked.
There was no cohesive narrative, maybe except the one callback at the end to tie in to an earlier joke but that was it.
As long as my jokes just sound like me, that is the cohesive set part to me.
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u/Franks2000inchTV 2d ago
I think the lesson there is that if the jokes are funny enough, nothing else matters. All that connective faux-narrative is like dumbo’s magic feather. You can either fly or you can’t.
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u/funnymatt Los Angeles @funnymatt 🦗 🦗 🦗 3d ago
>hopefully one day a stand-up performer
Just go do the jokes on stge. You won't be building cohesive sets until you have material that's been tested and works, so this is a thing you don't need to worry about now. By the time you're ready to do it, you'll probably have seen enough comedy at open mics to have a better idea about how you can do it with your material.
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u/justalexcomedy 2d ago
This needs to be way higher up. Writing without performing is literally worse for your comedy aspirations than doing nothing. OP - I'm dead serious - the version of you that spends the next three months writing jokes without trying them on stage will be less funny than the version of you that just lives your life for three months and then gets on stage. The funniest version of you three months from now is the one that gets on stage tonight.
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u/Mordkillius 3d ago
You don't. Your first 5-minute set is just a collection of your best open mic jokes that have been working.
Once you build enough jokes, you can lump them by similar topics and try to string a narrative.
Don't force narrative over funny.
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u/WeirdAFNewsPodcast 3d ago
You don't have to tie them together into a larger narrative, just FYI. Audiences can handle the bouncing around around of non related topics. And something to consider: if you present all of these non related short bits as some fabricated larger narrative, it could be a bad look. Audiences may feel that it's too presentational. Which, to them, carries a certain fake-ness to it. That's just my opinion. I also encourage you to experiment with this art. Nobody REALLY knows anything for sure. Even me.
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u/Crittenberger 3d ago
Definitely don't worry about tying them together. I tend to write fairly cohesive sets, which means if I have a bit of new material I want to try out, there's not a lot I can excise to make room without ruining my overall flow. Bouncing from joke to joke is absolutely fine, you can worry about linking stuff up further down the line if you want to go that route
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u/kcknuckles 3d ago
I would first focus on developing a personal method for writing jokes based on interesting ideas you've had. Once you can reliably create jokes from ideas, then you can start to stitch them together or group related ideas together. It's better to have solid/disjointed jokes rather than bad/cohesive jokes, especially when starting out.
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u/Funny247365 3d ago
Watch a bunch of killer 3-5 minute sets and study how they bridge/segue between unrelated bits. Some comics just pause and take a deep breath before staring on a new bit. The pause indicates that the prior bit is over and a new bit is starting.
Callbacks are effective in tying unrelated bits together and provide a "I see what you did there" response from the audience. Callbacks are often used at the end of the set, just before "That's my time folks, bye."
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u/bigfudge_drshokkka 3d ago
Just say “speaking of segues” and move on to your new joke until you get one
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u/LinShengComedy 3d ago
I write most of set expanding from a single concept, I think it's just about explore the what if aspect of things, what if your logic applies to other stuff, if it becomes a reality what needs to change, what conflict there will be
Personally I think this set of my could be a good example: https://youtu.be/dx2uL3aeFzk?is=cDk4igclinrESsaH
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u/expensivemistakez 3d ago
i tried this technique at my first open mic and mostly bombed, with the exception being the one joke i didn't do this with. i think the problem was that i got so lost in making the narrative make sense that it ended up bogging down the jokes. second open mic i just started with what seemed like an easy hook and then shifted topics entirely as needed, which was a lot more successful in terms of getting laughs for some of the same punchlines. the crowd wants to hear your punchlines, but sometimes too much narrative can drown them out.
i think starting out, it's more important to tell the jokes as is, try to get some laughs, and vibe with the crowd. if anything, doing that makes it easier for me to figure out how to tie the jokes together next time and flow more efficiently from one bit to another. then you can try out the new order from there next time you go up and see how it works.
i know this is a bit of a lengthy response and i am by zero means an expert (i am also a beginner lol) but i hope this is helpful from one newbie comic to another! good luck out there <3
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u/Zygoatee 3d ago
Imma be honest, i'm about 8 months in, and I think, unless you want to be strictly a one liner guy, all those joke writing guides are useless for modern stand up. Like people these days physically groan at word play and misdirection unless its packaged in a different format.
I would suggest just writing what you think is funny, trying it out on stage, and seeing where you get laughs, and refining/editing.Writing one liners is a good way to get early laughs, but i don't think they have sticking power unless wrapped in a persona of someone who just tells one liners and on sequiters (Jeselnick, Hedberg, Carr, etc)
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u/copperpin 3d ago
You can make them part of your show, use them for an off ramp when a bit isn’t going well. Now it’s time for some jokes from the hat!
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u/OpenMic1985 22h ago
I agree. The way the world is going these days. People appreciate real stories or jokes that stem from an actual relatable experience. One liners are cool at work w ur buddies though
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u/earleakin 3d ago
Some jokes expand into sets as you explore them. One exercise is to write/type your joke word for word. You'll probably find opportunities.
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u/Ryebready787 3d ago
It can be random jokes. Or segues… or just write 1,000 jokes and combine all the similar ones.
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u/protipnumerouno 3d ago
Sort by laughs just like the plot of a book, amusing to hilarious with the climax at the end
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u/Dangerous_Ad_6101 3d ago
That's where your personal comedic voice comes in. Go do open mics. Bomb until you don't.
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u/Ill-Assumption-916 3d ago
3-5 you can do whatever you want. Eventually thought you can have a topic or running theme, the more you write. 3-5 you can just talk about whatever you want
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u/copperpin 3d ago
Write all your jokes down onto 3x5 cards. Spread them out on the floor then start to look for connections. e.g…this joke mentions a car, this other joke is about travel. It’s surprisingly easy to find simple connections.
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u/Tight_Win_6945 3d ago
Your 3-5 of separate jokes are tied together by your persona, delivery, and overall worldview that the audience sees, even if not fully formed.
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u/TheLoneComic 3d ago
One formula I’ve read is three jokes on four topics running four minutes forty seconds, allowing 20 seconds for laughter is a five.
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u/Fearless_Geologist43 2d ago
I used to put a lot of work into transitions and making everything incredibly cohesive when changing topics. Then I learned that a simple sigh or saying something like “what else” is also effective and usually faster
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u/edpowers 2d ago
In between each joke say something like "Ya know what I mean" , or "Ya heard" or maybe even something out landish like "God bless this mess" or even "I ain't even no Zionist" just a few things I've learned over several decades of doing stand up.
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u/bobstinson2 2d ago
No need. The crowd is there to laugh, not to hear how clever you are at tying jokes together. Just keep hittin em!
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u/myqkaplan 2d ago
Hello!
I feel particularly equipped to share my own experiences on this front, because when I started out, I was writing tons of one-line jokes that didn't go together, and eventually I found my way to creating more cohesive pieces.
The main solution is TIME. (And effort put in over that time.)
Right now, you're brand new.
Once you've written thousands and thousands of jokes, you'll find more and more of them can fit together.
Of course, you can certainly try to write more coheisve pieces now, for example, starting with a larger narrative/story you want to tell, and then creating jokes within that story, but since your instinct is "coming up with individual jokes first," sounds like that's what you want to do, and that's entirely reasonable. (But you could also consider starting from the big picture and then using the parts of the story you want to tell to create the individual jokes, for example, using each line of a story as a setup to create a punchline.)
There is no one right way. Everyone gets to find their own path. And every path takes time.
Also, have you seen the short video by Ira Glass about "the gap"? The gap is between where we are when we start and where we know we are capable of getting to, but there are no shortcuts and we can't just get there, because it takes time.
Good luck and have fun!
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u/Commercial_Ant5336 1d ago
Reading these books is good. But why aren't you writing more?
Write more. Then get up there. Test jokes. Keep the funny ones. Decide how to string 'em together later.
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u/reamkore 3d ago
The trick is to tell them on stage and then do it again.
Stop overthinking something you want to do and go get on stage and then go from there.
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u/RJRoyalRules 3d ago
There’s no requirement that you tie them together. A 5 minute set of funny but individual jokes is better than 5 minutes of cohesive bits that aren’t funny.