Stand - up drollery is more than just secernate jokes on stage . It ’s an art , and one that requires accomplishment honed over years of practice session . The way comic perform their material   is far different from how you tell that queer story at your work vacation political party . So what makes a great laugh piece of work ? The YouTube television seriesThe Nerdwritertook a tone at how a joke from Louis C.K. is constructed . Here are some of the most authoritative part of a joke and its delivery , and why the comic is so in effect , according to the video :

1. PREMISE

That ’s what the antic is about . So Louis C.K. might be talk about playingMonopolywith his kids , and how his 6 - yr - old does n’t really get it . That ’s the premise . And if that premise has its own jest embedded within it — like when he references his daughter ’s inability to grapple with her “ inevitableloss in every game”—even better .

2. TIMING

A great comedian experience when people are go to react to a minute , and what to emphasize , when to pause , etc .   Louis C.K. knows when to continue the jest , hammering home the biff line with another few condemnation along the same lines . In his joke aboutMonopoly , he repeats the idea of him taking his kid ’s play money three dissimilar sentence : “ That ’s mine now . Got ta give it all to me . Give it to me , that ’s right-hand . ” And the laughs go along with him .

3. DRAMATIZATION

Louis C.K. is expectant at painting a mental picture of what he ’s describing . He uses gestures to emphasise certain component of the joke , like touching his paw to his pump when he tell the poke line .

4. BROADER COMMENTARY

At the heart of it , Louis C.K. ’s jest about destroy his kid inMonopolyand taking all of her hard - earned play money away could be seen as a commentary on what pass off every day to adults in the actual world , who often lose out to corporate interest . If you think about how a 6 - year - old feel about lose herMonopolymoney , it ’s also an analogue of what happens to , for representative , a family losing its star sign to a camber .

5. TIGHT CONSTRUCTION

Every Holy Writ of a great comedian ’s joke thing , either to the story or to the rhythm of the routine . It has to be distilled to its most powerful , distil edition , or the audience will get bored . When a trick is write well , there should n’t be any outside content . And when it ’s really on - point , that ’s when the consultation keeps on laughing at every sentence .

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