Comedy Central’s Top 100 Comedians of All-Time
Joke-Tellers vs. Storytellers
Why Are Successful Comedians ALMOST ALWAYS Storytellers?
Success In Stand-Up Comedy Is All About PERSONALITY
Personality is where humor gets its power. It’s the most important factor that makes you unique and memorable on stage and off. Bland comedians doom themselves to performing endless open-mics and hell gigs.
Comedians with personality have huge fan-bases because, personality is an important part of how humans naturally connect with other humans. Human psychology doesn’t suddenly stop working when you’re standing on stage. Personality has always been the key to connecting, and storytelling has always been humanity’s favorite way of communicating.
PERSONALITY MAKES YOU DIFFERENT
PERSONALITY MAKES YOU MEMORABLE
PERSONALITY MAKES YOU INTERESTING
PERSONALITY DRAWS AUDIENCES TO YOU
STORYTELLING ISN’T AN “ADD-ON”
You’re natural sense of humor has always incorporated storytelling. Storytelling is how humor spreads in the real world. It’s 100% authentic. They are so intimately linked that…
- The stories you enjoy telling have shaped your natural sense of humor.
- Your natural sense of humor has shaped how you enjoy telling stories.
This has been going on your entire adult life to perfectly balance the type of stories you enjoy telling, how you enjoy telling them, and your natural sense of humor. It’s like a perfect eco-system were everything is naturally in balance and aligned with each other. Just like in an eco-system, if you force something unnatural into the mix the balance fall apart and all hell breaks loose.
YOU CANNOT SEPARATE YOUR NATURAL SENSE OF HUMOR FROM STORYTELLING,
BUT YOU’VE HAD NO PROBLEMS GETTING PEOPLE LAUGHING WITHOUT FORMULAIC JOKES.
Take Your Joke Writing Skills To The Next Level With Storytelling!
Playfully Inappropriate is hyper-focused on one goal: Getting your most unique, authentic, funny self on stage.
Playfully Inappropriate builds off the lessons from Faster & Funnier and conventional joke-writing guides. The course goes beyond simply organizing jokes into a story. It teaches you what the best comedic storytellers of all-time do to captivate an audience, drip with personality and authenticity, and pack organic, natural sounding stories with laughs!
The program teaches an entirely new system of writing comedy. Why is that important? Because your ability to get writer’s block depends on how many strategies you have available to you. While you might get stuck using a conventional method of writing, Playfully Inappropriate uses your own natural sense of humor. In short, it lets you reclaim your natural sense of humor. It lets you put the funniest version of yourself on stage (you know… the one who loves making people laugh off-stage).
QUESTION: Do I need Faster & Funnier or other conventional joke writing guides if I use Playfully Inappropriate?
ANSWER: As with any skill in life, it’s important to build up slowly. Playfully Inappropriate will allow you to create material that conventional joke-telling strategies don’t allow for. If you’ve ever heard a comedian tell “a joke” that doesn’t fit any joke structure, then you already know this. Without a foundation in joke-writing, it might feel like skiing down a double-black diamond slope as a beginner. It provides an unparalleled range of options for writing comedy. While Playfully Inappropriate doesn’t need joke structures to work (just like your natural sense of humor), being comfortable with joke-writing is helpful. Faster & Funnier is designed to give you a step-by-step system that slowly progresses in difficulty. It starts with the simplest types of jokes, but also teaches you how to take more control over your own joke writing. In short, it’s a simple, fun way to learn beginner-level joke writing skills.
If you have ever felt like your comedy jokes didn’t sound authentic or real, then this program will teach you exact steps on how to break free from hacky, mechanical-sounding jokes.
Playfully Inappropriate and Faster & Funnier are built to work together. In Faster & Funnier, you’ll learn exact steps on writing every major type of joke out there. The program gives you a simple (and FUN) way to learn stand-up comedy writing. Developing a solid foundation in joke-writing is an important first step on your way to comedy success, but it’s not the only step!
To get your authentic, naturally funny self on stage, you need to combine joke-writing skills with storytelling skills.
Playfully Inappropriate and Faster & Funnier use complementary systems. They’re designed so that you can switch back-and-forth between different comedy writing strategies. Playfully Inappropriate teaches you the most natural, authentic way to begin writing a comedy routine while Faster & Funnier teaches you how to punch up the laughs using conventional strategies.
Together, they allow you to build believable, authentic, and engaging comedic stories full of laughs.
QUESTION: If contemporary comedians use storytelling strategies, why should I learn conventional joke-writing strategies?
ANWSER: The 2 systems are not inseparable. Storytellers still use conventional jokes inside material, but they take a back-seat to comedic storytelling. Think of it this way. Comedic storytelling strategies are used early on in the writing process to create a framework for the story. The comedian than uses as many storytelling punchlines as possible to let their natural sense of humor shine through. It’s only after the story is almost complete that the comedian then switches over to conventional storytelling to add extra punchlines. This results in a performance that feels very natural and authentic on stage (which forms a strong connection with the audience) but still has tons of hard-hitting punchlines!
You learn both writing styles for the same reason that you learn many different types of jokes. The more options you have to create humor, the better equipped you are to deal with any situation and the more variety you can give the audience (which helps them pay attention to you for longer).
The big difference is that Playfully Inappropriate doesn’t simply result in a few “different-sounding” jokes. It allows you to create fluid stories that engage audiences. By using Playfully Inappropriate early on in the writing process, you can quickly build long stories full of laughs. Then, as the world’s best storytellers do, you can using conventional joke writing strategies (like Faster & Funnier) to punch-up the material and get even more laughs.
QUESTION: How much overlap is there between Faster & Funnier and Playfully Inappropriate?
ANSWER: None! Each program is developed using a different writing system. Everything is different… from the initial spark of an idea to writing the first draft to editing and performing your material. We mean it when we say that this is an entirely new way of writing comedy. That’s why it’s so powerful. You get two completely separate strategies for writing comedy that complement each other. Together, they’re unstoppable.
Playfully Inappropriate is for you if…
- You have ever felt like an imposter on stage because your material simply does sound like something you’d say off-stage.
- If you love telling friends funny stories off-stage.
- You want to translate the off-stage you onto the stage (without losing any laughs in the process).
- You want to engage audiences on a deeper level to build a raving-fan base.
Module 1
The Secrets To Laughter: How To Make Anyone Laugh
Learn the secret behind why we laugh (hint: it has NOTHING to do with surprise!). This module takes you through the entire process that an audience goes through to understand a laugh at a joke. You’ll learn one super-simple method for determining whether an audience will laugh at a joke (and even how you can improve jokes that already get a laugh!)
- Why We Laugh - An Easy Way To Understand All Types of Humor - Think humor is complex or mysterious? Think again! Discover exactly what triggers people's laughter, whether it comes from a joke, a funny story, or a fart in the elevator. There isn't a single exception to the rule you'll learn in this lesson!
- How the Audience Goes From Listening To Laughing - This lesson walks you through the entire process an audience goes through to "get the joke." In the process, you'll discover exactly what the audience craves (and how to give it to them)
- What makes a Funny Punchline? - This lesson ties the module all together. This is a dead-simple way of understanding which punchlines are going to get laughs and which won't.
- How Joke Structures Get Laughs - This lesson adds a whole new level to your understanding of humor psychology by taking the joke structures from Faster & Funnier and showing you exactly how they get laughs. You won't just understand humor psychology "in theory," you'll see how it's applied to specific types of jokes.
- Comedic Tension Vs Comedic Conflict - Learn how comedic stories are structured so that the audience gets to "anticipate" the laughter and stays on the edge of their seat.
Module 2
How To Start The Writing Process
What do you do when you’re staring at a blank page? Don’t wait for ideas to come to you! Here’s exactly what you can do to make the early writing process easy and fun!
- How to practically GUARANTEE you'll write funny material - Discover the #1 key to having successful and productive writing sessions.
- Overcoming Writer’s Block - What's the most common source of writer's block and how can you easily overcome it to get words on the page. Find out in this lesson!
- Comedic Storytelling - An introduction to how comedic storytelling is different from conventional joke-writing strategies. In this lesson, discover the most natural (and fun) way write comedy.
- Finding Comedic Inspiration - Exact steps on how to find hilarious ideas to write about
- Topic Selection - Learn easy strategies that will always keep fresh, hilarious ideas coming to you. Jared walks you through exactly how he finds topics and expands on them to create individual jokes and comedic stories.
Module 3
Core Writing Skills
How do you write stories without using jokes? The same way you do in everyday life! This module walks you through a method of writing comedic stories that make it easy and fun!
- Spicing up a story - Discover how to take boring stories and spice them up to engage the audience.
- Your #1 Comedy-Making Tool - Discover the hands-down easiest way to engage an audience with any story. This one easy tool is a sure-fire way to trigger the audience's interest and bring your story to a hilarious conclusion.
- Exploration - How to Find The Best Ideas For Your Story - Learn how to take small ideas and build them into engaging stories. In this lesson, we show you how to take mundane stories and explore all the different ways to create humor inside them.
- Writing About Experiences - Ever told a friend on interesting story about an experience you've had? Great! Here's exact steps on how to turn an experience into a comedic story.
- Writing About Opinions - Learn how to take your opinions and turn them into hilarious and engaging stories.
- Writing About Observations - You know that feeling you get when you notice something a bit weird and you can't wait to tell your friends and get them laughing? In this lesson, we'll show you exactly how to take an observation, identify the humor inside of it, and then turn into a funny, natural-sounding story.
- Putting Our Writing Strategies Together - In this lesson, we show you exactly how to take the interesting experiences, opinions, and observations you've found and turn them into an engaging comedic story.
Module 4
How To Find The Funny In Any Story
So you have your story… now what? Here’s exact steps on how to tease out every funny idea for your story.
- Joke Premises - Sure. You've heard of joke premises before, but not like this! Discover an easy step-by-step process for converting generic premises into polished jokes.
- Your #1 Tool For Finding Hilarious Joke Premises or Comedic Story Premises - Want an easy tool to use that allows you to test out a ton of interesting ideas quickly? Then you won't want to miss this lesson!
- 2 Strategies For Converting Premises Into Hilarious Punchlines - What do you do when you have a funny premise or a situation with lots of comedic tension? How do you find the best way to convert that comedic tension into laughs? These 2 versatile tools are the answer! Use them any time you have a comedic situation or premise to find punchlines.
- Example Videos - Watch world-famous comedians happy these two writing strategies right in front of your very eyes!
Module 5
How To Write Punchlines
Storytelling punchlines aren’t your typical punchline. There’s actually a much easier (and fun) way to create punchlines. Here are exact steps on converting interesting ideas into hard-hitting punchlines!
- How You Naturally Think Of Punchlines In Daily Life - In this lesson, Jared walks you through a brilliant Jim Carrey example to show you the most natural way to create punchlines (hint: You're already using this system... you just don't know it yet!)
- Punchline Writing System - Learn an incredibly simply, fun, and fast tool for writing natural punchlines! This system is so fast and natural that it even works in improvisational comedy and daily conversations! This is the most fun you'll ever have writing comedy, yet it leads to consistently funny punchlines.
- 3 Types of Laugh Triggers
- Your #1 Tool For Triggering Laughter - Learn a subconscious tool you can use that's so powerful, it can even get people laughing at punchlines that don't even make sense!
Module 6
Setup Lines
Wait! Why are setup lines going after punchlines? This is where we play around with the story to make our punchlines funnier and our story more engaging to the audience.
- Combining Everything Into A Comedic Story
- Shaping How The Audience Feels - A fun strategy that makes punchlines hit harder by changing how the audience feels inside the setup.
- 3 Types of Setup Lines (plus WHEN and HOW to use them)
Module 7
Finishing Your Joke or Story
Bringing it all together: Here’s how to combine your setups and punchlines into a fluid, natural-sound story that keeps the audience on the edge of their seat!
- 2 Ways to Perform Your Punchlines - Your 2 options and how to decide which to use.
- Polishing a Joke - The easy (and fun) process for polishing a joke or story.
- Adding To Your Original Story - How to easily expand a story to add to keep the laughs up over a longer time.
Module 8
Walkthrough: From Topic To Comedic Story
Watch as Jared goes through the entire process with his own material. He’ll walk you through each step of the process and tell you what he was thinking and how he created his material, from start-to-finish.
- Starting My Writing Process - Jared identifies a topic he wants to write about and finds 4 premises to that will guide the comedic story.
- 4 Video Walkthroughs - Jared takes the 4 premises and converts them into an engaging story with 12 punchlines! Each mini-story is separated into its own video lesson where Jared describes how he used strategies from Playfully Inappropriate to create comedic tension, identify ptoential premises, select the best premise for each joke, and then convert that premise into 1 or more punchlines and tag lines.
Module 9
Troubleshooting The Writing Process
Here are the most common issues that comedians have with storytelling and exact steps on how to fix them. Use this troubleshooting guide to diagnose problematic material and punch-up stories that are already getting laughs!
- Troubleshooting A Comedic Story - The 3 most common mistakes new comedians make when using comedic storytelling that results in confused or bored audiences.
- 4 Ways To Fix Comedic Tension - Comedic tension has a magical quality to it. When you get it right, the audience will be hanging on your every word. They'll be so ready to laugh that they're just dying to hear your next punchline... but what if your story isn't commanding the audience's attention like it should? Here are 4 ways to fix your storytelling structure to keep the audience engaged.
- 4 Ways Punchlines Can Fail - It might feel overly simpistic, but there are only 4 underlying reasons why a punchline can fail to get a laugh. This lesson teaches you the source of the problem, so you can treat the disease, not the symptom.
Module 10
Psychology of Humor
This module goes even deeper into why we laugh. Using 4 of the most influential scientific theories on humor, discover ways you can boost laughs (and avoid embarrassing punchlines).
- Why We Laugh: The 3 Competing Theories of Humor (And How To Use Them In Your Writing)
- Relief Theory - Using comedic tension to create small amounts of stress in the audience that you can relieve with a punchline.
- Superiority Theory - Making the audience feel good about themselves.
- Comprehension-Elaboration Theory: Giving the audience more than just a surprise.
- Bonus Lesson - How To Get The Most Out Of Theories of Laughter
Make Your Natural Sense of Humor THE RULE,
Not THE EXCEPTION!
Introducing…
What's Inside...
- Storytelling Structure shows you how to write comedy the same way you naturally tell funny stories
- Writing with Comedic Conflict is fun and easy - Use 1 strategy to write any type of joke
- No boring brainstorming techniques
- Works for stand-up, improvisational comedy, sketch comedy, screenwriting, and more.