Former Head Writer of the Tonight Show Picks His Joke of the Week

Congrats to Alan Roberts for winning this week’s joke pick!

Pro comedy writer Joe Toplyn, Former head-writer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and Late Show with David Letterman, picks his joke of the week:

Winner: Alan Roberts, Follow him on Comedywire

Joe’s comments:

Setup: This three-year-old girl never sleeps, and the reason why is extraordinary.

Punch Line: What’s so extraordinary about living next door to Roy Moore?

Alan used Punch Line Maker #1 — Link two associations of the topic — to write this great joke.

One handle of the topic is “three-year-old girl,” which has the association “underage girl.”

The other handle of the topic, “never sleeps,” has the association “is afraid,” and the sub-association “is afraid of being molested.”

Alan’s punch line links the associations of the two handles by borrowing a technique from Punch Line Maker #2 and connecting the associations to a figure in pop culture, Roy Moore, who the public believes molested very young women.

Alan also wrote an angle that flows smoothly from the topic because it acknowledges that the topic calls the reason “extraordinary.”

The angle makes the joke logical, too: What young girl wouldn’t be rattled by having a potential molester as a next door neighbor?

Four-time Emmy winner Joe Toplyn is a former head writer for David Letterman and Jay Leno. He also wrote the book “Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV.