How to Write a Good Joke

Jenny Hagel ’09 MFA loves — like, really loves — to give advice. In fact, she’s made an entire show about it. The Emmy-nominated writer and performer for Late Night With Seth Meyers has been touring the country with her interactive comedy show Jenny Hagel Gives Advice, during which she and a guest performer invite audience members to ask questions about work, love, family and more. After bestowing her wisdom on Chicagoans at the Lincoln Lodge in September 2025, Northwestern Magazine asked Hagel for some advice too: How do you land a laugh? 

The world is full of good jokes … and bad jokes. And very bad jokes. So what makes a joke good?  

Sometimes it’s an intangible bit of magic that can’t be explained. But more often, it’s thanks to the rules of good joke-writing. There are a million rules — but we don’t have time for that. So here are my top three: 

1) Make it concise.

Extra words weigh down a joke and make it harder to land the punch line.

For example, here’s a joke: 

The New York Times published a profile this week about an archaeologist from Sweden who sailed on historically accurate replicas of Viking ships to learn about medieval trade routes. So I guess the main takeaway is that men will do anything to avoid therapy. 

Here’s that same joke, minus all the fluff: 

The New York Times published a profile about a man who sailed on replicas of Viking ships to study medieval trade routes. That story again: Men will do anything to avoid therapy. 

Both versions of the joke are shockingly true. But the second one is quicker and snappier. 

2) Put the most important information close to the punch line. 

A joke’s setup usually has one crucial piece of information that makes the punch line work. Help your audience connect the dots by putting the setup and punch line as close together as possible.  

Here’s one way to tell a joke:  

A man has been friends with a female swan for 37 years, according to a recent report by authorities in Turkey. But only because she won’t let him out of the friend zone. 

And here’s another way:  

A man in Turkey has reportedly been friends with a female swan for 37 years. But only because she won’t let him out of the friend zone. 

I think we can agree the second version is better. And I think we can agree that that man should stop letting that swan play with his emotions. 

3) Have a point of view: yours!

Don’t write a punch line you think will be funny to someone else. Write one that conveys how you actually feel. There are probably others who feel that way too — your joke will connect with them and make them laugh harder than a generic joke written for a generic audience.  

Here’s one I wrote several years ago:

A brewery in New York is selling a Game of Thrones–themed beer. It’s like a regular beer, except your co-workers won’t shut up about it. 

Sure, I could have written a joke about dragons or red weddings or … whatever Game of Thrones is about. But I didn’t watch the show, so my real feeling was that I was tired of people talking about it. Did the joke work? You bet your Littlefinger it did. 

Some people think joke writing is a mystery — but the secret is just structuring a funny idea in a way that helps audiences enjoy it. (The real mystery is why an adult man is friends with a swan.)

Jenny Hagel lives in New York City. Her book Advice No One Asked For is now available for presale.