Pros Pick Their Joke of the Week

Congrats to Tom Padovano for winning this week’s joke pick and to the 4 private session winners: Blonde Orchid, Alex Garrettson, Gavin Kaplan and Ian Jasper!

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

Winner: Tom Padovano, Follow him on Comedywire

Joe’s comments:

Setup: Ivanka Trump gives birth to third child, Theodore James.

Punch Line: When her water broke it was Perrier.

Tom’s great joke is an example, I think, of Punch Line Maker #1: Link two associations of the topic.

The two handles of the topic that Tom picked to work with are “Trump” and “gives birth.” “Trump” has the association “luxury” and the sub-association “Perrier.” “Gives birth” has the association “water breaks.”

Tom’s punch line links “Perrier” and “water breaks” to make an observation that most people would accept as true: Trump would insist that any daughter of his would only have her water break in the most luxurious way.

Tom kept his joke as short as possible and his laugh trigger — “Perrier” — at the end, helping to maximize the joke’s impact.

He also managed to write a Trump joke that makes fun of Trump without slamming him so hard that he alienates Trump supporters, of which there are a fair number. My instinct when writing a joke, and it comes from my experience working for big networks, is to try to write jokes that as many people as possible will find funny. That way I’m doing my part to help the ratings stay high so nobody gets fired.

Congrats, Tom! Joe will be sending Tom an autographed copy of his book, “Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV,” the book that teaches you how to write jokes like a pro.

AND…

Cory Kahaney (HBO, Letterman, Late Late Show), Peter Charkliss (former writer for Arsenio Hall, Craig Kilborn, Craig Ferguson), Gabe Abelson (former head monologue writer for Letterman) and David Weiss (Emmy winning writer, written for Dennis Miller, Martin Short, Late Late Show) select their 4 comedy dedication recipients: Blonde Orchid, Alex Garrettson, Gavin Kaplan and Ian Jasper. Check them out on Comedywire!

Cory, Peter, Gabe and David will be giving Blonde Orchid, Alex, Gavin and Ian each a free one-hour creative session to discuss comedy and her/his body of work.

Be sure to keep writing and staying engaged every day like these writers. The more your write and the more you vote, the better your chances of becoming next week’s winner!