Performance
The Second Beat: Why a Punchline Often Needs a Pause
Learn when a punchline pause helps the audience complete an expectation—and when a quicker turn keeps the joke clear…
The full bill
All pieces
Explore writing, performance, comic forms, comedy history and the audience expectations that shape a joke.
Comedy Forms
Solo Set or Sketch: Where Does the Comic Voice Live?
Compare stand-up and sketch by tracing where each comic voice comes from, then use a weeklong writing plan to shape a…
Comedy History
Before the Sitcom: How Radio Comedy Made a Room
Radio comedy shaped sitcom scene-making through dialogue, sound, and imagined space. See how radio techniques clarify…
Comic Writing
The Rule of Three Is a Rhythm, Not a Recipe
The rule of three in comedy works when the first two items establish a pattern and the third changes it. Learn to…
Audience
Your First Improvised Show: Watch for the Offer
Your first improvised show is easier to follow when you watch for each offer: the detail a performer adds and the way…
Our point of view
A laugh is a moment of recognition.
Comedy can surprise, unsettle or bring a room together. We look at the choices behind that moment without reducing a joke to a formula.