Letterman Head Writer’s Tips For Late Night Jokes – Flap…

By Gabe Abelson

Composing for late evening talk shows is a terrific, sensible “following action” for any stand-up comic who wants to get into television. As opposed to composing a sitcom or movie, which can take months or years, putting a late-night packet together can be done in days.

Late evening is its very own, distinct animal, and not just have I functioned continually in that tool for twenty-five years, yet as Head Monologue Writer for Late Show with David Letterman, a large component of my work was reading package submissions, so I recognize what late night talk/variety programs are seeking, and equally as essential, what may remain in your package that might appear like a red flag to a show’s viewers and get your packet tossed. This is important info to have, as it’s similarly vital to recognize what NOT to do, as it is what TO do.

In this course, you will not only find out just how to compose funny for late evening television, but you will likewise learn about the political and social aspects of holding a staff creating task, and this is invaluable details– not simply landing the job, yet KEEPING it. Late evening writers only work in 13-week contracts, and the program must allow you know by your nine week if your agreement will be gotten. All through my years at Leno and Letterman, I observed numerous authors worked with and terminated. And it wasn’t always regarding the high quality of their work. This is where the political and social aspects of the workplace environment can be found in. It is information you won’t discover in any kind of book, yet essential info to have, which I pass on to my students.

So, aiming late-night television writers, right here are some late evening “do’s” and “do n’ts” to keep in mind (These are rule of thumbs. I’m drawing from my experience of 25 years in television. What I can inform you is, there are definitely exceptions to each one of these guidelines. In class, I will cover this in wonderful information):

1. Late night monologue is empirical, as opposed to stand-up, which is personal. Stand-up has to do with that YOU are– your likes, disapproval, worries, and so on. It’s INTERNAL. To be a terrific stand-up, you require to be able to look inward. Monologue, however is rarely about the host. You won’t frequently see a late-night host inform a joke regarding their very own individual life. Late night talk is EXTERNAL– it’s regarding “what’s in the news today”. Stand-up is also written mainly through INSPIRATION. Points need to take place to you in life; you need to experience points to cover them and for the jokes to seem personal. Late evening monologue is written via PERSPIRATION. You will certainly be allocated a particular amount of time daily on staff to compose a number of talk jokes, so you need to produce swiftly. This will certainly be covered and educated in course.
2. 80-90% of all late-night talk jokes include two or even more noticeably separate concepts, tied together in a unexpected and amusing means.As a comic this might appear international– the concept of NOT attempting to create amusing– but in creating monologue, it is the wrong technique. Composing talk is everything about connecting subjects. That’s the job- locate the topics that tie together in a completely unanticipated and amusing means, and the joke almost creates itself. An idea for a monologue joke ends up being a formula waiting to be addressed. For instance, below’s a joke I wrote just recently, based upon the summary of an upcoming film:

” Liam Neeson is starring in a new movie where he’s embeded an automobile for the whole two hours. It’s called, “Driving To LAX”.
Below’s one from a couple of months ago, based on a George Santos statement: “George Santos stated he acted upon “Hannah Montana”. In instance you’re not acquainted with the character of Hannah Montana, she’s a young girl with an alter ego, living a dual life in which she’s able to make every person believe somebody she’s not.

– No; wait. I’m sorry. That’s George Santos.”

Once again, another joke composed via pure organization. When I check out the story run-through for Hannah Montana, the parallel to Santos’ life seemed apparent. It was simply a matter of selecting the best words to birth out my point. I did not attempt to ‘believe’ of a funny punchline. I just free-associated and connected ‘takes care of’.

When I review the story of the Liam Neeson movie- “… stuck in a cars and truck for the entire 2 hours”, it made me think about traffic. When I thought of website traffic, I considered driving on the 405 to LAX. All I did was ASSOCIATE SUBJECTS, the little bit ‘popped out’, and the rest was just ‘shaping’ the joke. Not once do I ever before ask myself, “What would be a funny punchline?”, because that method doesn’t function. Below’s another joke I created at Thanksgiving time:

” Butterball has a turkey hotline. I guess turkeys obtain dispirited, as well.”

When I saw an ad about Butterball’s turkey hotline, my initial thought was, “It sounds like turkeys are making telephone call.” I free-associated and linked it with the “suicide hotline”. Afterwards, the joke was essentially done, without any heavy lifting. Simply composed through association. To stand-ups, it can be a brand-new means of approaching writing, and one that’s very routine (which as comics, we attempt to steer clear of from!) -Keep in mind, if you’re standard in stand-up, it generally implies ‘hacky’. In late evening, you MUST be standard. There’s a musicality to late night, a language with its very own rhythm, and it’s the most succinct joke-writing there is. So, this course will certainly not only aid you with late-night writing, but with EVERYTHING you compose. An added “and” or an “or” in stand-up possibly won’t make or break the joke, however in late night monologue, it can absolutely make all the difference in the world. It’s crystalizing jokes to their most basic and purest type. Notice the Butterball joke is 2 sentences and yet less than one line, and the Neeson joke is just a line-and-a-half. Which brings me to my following pointer:

3. Monologue jokes, generally, should be THREE LINES OR LESS on the published page. The host might go off on a tangent, and transform your joke right into more than three lines, yet that’s their phone call. They such as to see jokes short, in your initial entry. Once more, this information is not in any type of publication; this is simply based on personal experience in late night.

4. You are writing jokes suggest to be talked, not review. For that reason, you sentences require to be colloquial, so it seems like the host is just speaking. Watch out for utilizing vocabulary that’s “information talk”, or seems like a word you would certainly check out in a write-up, instead of a word somebody would use in conversation.

5. Whenever possible, keep away from wordplay and puns. Particularly puns. You recognize word play heres get groans if you’re a comic. Late evening hosts executing for millions do not desire groans; they desire laughs. Produce SITUATIONAL and VISUAL comedy, or, as my former boss, Dave Letterman would certainly say, “Paint words photo!” As an example, after a NYC post appeared concerning how brazen NY rats were obtaining, Letterman did this joke:

” These New York rats are brazen. Earlier today, I saw one in Rupert’s Deli, getting down a hanging salami with a knife in its teeth”.

That joke doesn’t also have the normal shocking punchline, but it’s so damned aesthetically solid, no matter! It’s everything about creating strong imagery.

6. If you’re submitting a package to a NETWORK late night talk program, keep away from what I call “very first day subjects”. I am regularly shocked when I see a few of the jokes sent in network talk, that never ever in a million years would certainly be done on the air. This isn’t great. It’s an indication to the program’s viewers that you do not enjoy a lot late evening and don’t take it very seriously, and once more, will likely obtain your package threw. As soon as you HAVE the work, do not be afraid to send anything, no matter just how questionable! In your package, NEVER have anything turned down because of content; that’s the one thing that’s within your control (whereas just how ‘amusing’ the package is, is to a level, subjective).

I would certainly determine “initial day topics” to keep away from, jokes based upon: “Death, illness, sexual preference, race and religious beliefs.”

7. In monologue jokes, the set-up MUST CONTAIN THE ESSENTIAL INFORMATION THE PUNCH WILL ADDRESS, at the END of the sentence. Why? Because your jokes must ALWAYS end on a strike WORD or more, which will be at the very end of your jokes. If you tip your joke early, or make your entire punchline the joke, it will not work the means you would certainly like it to. All-time low has to leave at the end of the line. That unexpected surprise is what generates the greatest laughs. Think of the old stand-up joke: “When I die, I wish to go like my grandfather went, quietly and in his rest. -Not like the people shouting their avoid on his bus.”

In this case, “bus” in the punch word, and comes last. We don’t see it coming, and it’s the unexpected surprise than generates the giggling.

In summation; if you’re a comedy author, this is the quickest and easiest path right into tv. You just require to learn the formulas and strategies to creating the perfect monologue joke, in addition to recognizing what not to do that can potentially lose you the job.

I can not tell you how many former students first approached me after sending to the NBC Late Night Writers Workshop, after not getting the phone call. They then take this class, and say to me, “I want I had understood all this things before I sent.” This is a means for you to recognize ALL the “things” you need to understand to land the job and keep it. Take it from a 5-time Emmy candidate, previous head author of many talk programs and the person who checked out submission packets.

Initially from New York City, Gabe Abelson holds a BA in Drama from Tisch School of the Arts at New York University where he researched with acting master Lee Strasberg. After his success in booking a number of stage functions and tv commercials after university, Abelson chose to pursue his genuine loveâEUR ¦ stand-up comedy.A popular comedian, he toured the globe for over a years before being supplied the function of Head Monologue Writer for “Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS). Within 5 years, he got five Emmy Award nominations and three Writers Guild Awards. He belongs to the WriterâEUR ™ s Guild of America) and SAG/AFTRA.
After his tenure at Letterman, Gabe transferred to Los Angeles to write for several network late-night programs, including “Politically Incorrect with Bill Maher” (ABC), “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” (NBC) for which he also composed, produced and routed sectors and “The Late, Late Show with Craig Kilborn” (CBS). On top of that, he was Producer and head author for “The Tom Green Show” (MTV), Writer/Producer on the pilot of “Lopez Tonight” (TBS) and Consulting Producer for “Pop-Up Video” (VH1).
Gabe worked as the Head Writer for the Golden Trailer Awards for 2000, 2004, 2007, 2009, and 2010 along with the Head Writer for the 2004 Canada Walk of Fame. He likewise wrote for the 2012 Gracie Awards.He has actually created for sitting U.S. head of states George W. Bush and Bill Clinton, in addition to notables Robert DeNiro and Nathan Lane. Gabe has additionally composed for and done with Hollywood movie and television stars Ray Romano, Chris Rock, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin James, Bill Hicks, Sam Kinison, Adam Sandler, Jerry Seinfeld, Kevin/or James, Dave Chappelle, Brad Garrett, Rita Rudner, Eddie Murphy, Wanda Sykes, George Lopez, Richard Jeni, Ellen DeGeneres, Sarah Silverman and Jon Stewart.He has actually appeared as an entertainer on “Late Night With Conan O’Brien” (NBC) “Late Show with David Letterman” (CBS), MTV’s “Half-Hour Comedy Hour”, “Comedy On The Road” (A&E), “The Today Show” (NBC), “Caroline’s Comedy Hour” (A&E) and Comedy Central.Gabe has been a master creating train and trainer of both late-night and stand-up tv comedy for over 35 years, connected with New York City’s Manhattan PunchLine Theater (BroadwayâEUR ™ s stage dedicated entirely to funny) to Flappers Comedy Club in Los Angeles. Most of GabeâEUR ™ s former students now have effective professions in late night network talk reveal composing, comedy writing and stand-up funny, consisting of Gary Greenburg, long-time head author and exec producer of “Jimmy Kimmel Live”. One more of Gabe’s previous Flappers pupils, Travon Free, won the Academy Award for “Best Short Subject” in 2021, in addition to numerous Emmys he obtained while creating for The Daily Show. On practically every late evening talk reveal team, you will locate among Gabe’s previous students.Gabe recently marketed an animated attribute to Dreamworks together with manufacturer Jason Koornick( “Next “with Nic Cage), Universal Press Syndicate and Andrews McMeel publishing.Gabe generated Comedy Central’s” Bar Mitzvah Bash Special”,
Nickelodeon’s “Edgar and Ellen “, Discovery’s” Josh Gates Tonight “, Planet Green’s “Go for the Green”, FOX’s “Beyond Twisted”, GSN’s “Instant Recall”, Direct television’s” Supreme Court of Comedy”, AXS television’s “Tom Green Live”, FUSE’s “Skee-TV”, Adult Swim’s “The Tom Green Flash Mob Talk Show” and FUBO TELEVISION’ ss “Call It a Night with Julie Stewart-Binks”.