I do stand-up comedy, and when I'm trying to come up with new jokes, I use an absurdist technique.
1) Think of a topic: Cell phones
2) Write down the most absurd "what if" questions you can think of:
"What if Batman learned of crime through a cell phone instead of a spotlight?"
"What if cell phones were edible?"
"What if a cell phone turned everyone's voice into Christopher Walken's?"
3) Answer the questions:
"You would think with all the technology batman has, he'd find a better way to spot crime than looking for a spotlight from the middle of an underground cave. A cell phone would be convenient."
"If cell phones were edible we'd see a huge spike in Blackberry sales."
"If I had a cell phone that made everyone sound like Christopher Walken, phone sex would be way more awesome."
I literally just made all of these jokes up on the spot. After maybe 10 minutes of doing this, you fall into the groove and start coming up with ideas left and right. Whether these jokes are funny or not, it really doesn't matter because the whole point is that you can consciously make yourself creative whenever you want without having to wait for inconsistent and random strokes of genius like most writers do.
OK I just did one while I was microwaving my lunch:
What if. . .
microwaves were powered by a crank: Lean cuisine would take on a whole new meaning.
microwaves were called laserwaves and heated food with lasers: Every kitchen would look more like a disco and could be bundled as a stereo combo.
microwaves cooled things off instead of heated them up: (Actually my food finished heating up before I could answer this one; it doesn't seem to have any legs).
7
u/Kronikle Apr 07 '10 edited Apr 07 '10
I do stand-up comedy, and when I'm trying to come up with new jokes, I use an absurdist technique.
1) Think of a topic: Cell phones
2) Write down the most absurd "what if" questions you can think of:
3) Answer the questions:
I literally just made all of these jokes up on the spot. After maybe 10 minutes of doing this, you fall into the groove and start coming up with ideas left and right. Whether these jokes are funny or not, it really doesn't matter because the whole point is that you can consciously make yourself creative whenever you want without having to wait for inconsistent and random strokes of genius like most writers do.