Humor

December 05th 2005 Posted to General (Humor), General (Writing)

Scott Adams, creator of Dilbert, very generously shares with us his formula for writing funny cartoons:

Humor Formula
In todayâ€™s blog entry I will teach you how to write humor, thus removing the mystery and in the process turning you into a joyless zombie, albeit a witty one.
I wrote on this topic more extensively in my book, The Joy of Work. So Iâ€™ll just give you the highlights here. The core of humor is what I call the 2-of-6 rule. In order for something to be funny, you need at least two of the following elements:
Cute (as in kids and animals)
Naughty
Bizarre
Clever
Recognizable (Youâ€™ve been there)
Cruel

I invented this rule, but you can check for yourself that whenever something is funny it follows the rule. And when something isnâ€™t, it doesnâ€™t.

A gem from Scott. Thanks Scott. I added a comment which in part added:

One thing I will add, for maximum effect, get the keywords or phrase in the punch line as close to the end of the final sentence as possible. It builds suspense which increases the chance of a guffaw (a reason a joke in the middle of a scary part of a comedy can be really funny). Of course, in a strip it goes without saying that the main joke should be in the last cell.

As an example: I did a single panel cartoon where a cat tries to catch a fish in a fist tank. In the cartoon the cat’s paw is in the fish’s mouth and both are thinking the same thing: “Got it!! Now what do I do?!” Amusing, not fall of your chair funny, and maybe old, but much better than if it read “What do I do now that I’ve got it?” (which was probably the concept I that came to me first, but wording is important)

Read complete article: The Dilbert Blog: Humor Formula

And here’s a selection of Dilbert stuff on Amazon:

“Dilbert : I Love My Coworkers Until They Talk 2006 Day to Day Calendar” (Scott Adams)