Jerry Seinfeld Interview: How to Write a Joke | The New York Times

The New York Times · 3.1M views · 2012-12-20 · 5:02

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Overview

In a New York Times interview, Jerry Seinfeld describes the anatomy of his Pop-Tart joke, still a work in progress, and shows his longhand writing process.

On Hacker News

HN cites it as a look at how a master comedian develops material through slow, iterative writing, and compares it to programming and other craft.

Discussed on HN; no positive recommendation is recorded in this export · HN mentions 2017–2019

Topics

Stand-up & sketch comedy Literature & writing craft

What people said

hyperpallium · 2019-12 · Reference
I agree with getting started. If Michelangelo iterated studies (in marble!) and drafts to work out mistakes and what he was doing, surely I can too. BTW Seinfeld showed his (long) development of his "pop-tart" joke: [VIDEO]
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austinl · 2018-08 · Reference
I started to appreciate stand-up comedy a lot more after realizing just how much effort goes into delivery. It's almost uncanny to watch a comedian perform the same routine twice, because their timing is so consistent. Here's a good breakdown of a Louis CK joke: [LINK] Jerry Seinfeld also gave an interview with the NYT about the process — I think Jerry is a good example because so much of his comedy depends on the delivery. [VIDEO]
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js2 · 2018-08 · Reference
Tying together two recent HN submissions. This one, and the submission on Ali Wong wherein someone linked to Seinfeld explaining how he developed his Pop-Tart joke: [VIDEO]
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Sources

Video by The New York Times, played through YouTube.

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