The Ultimate Humor Writing Cheat Sheet - 2025 Version - Write and Publish Humor

Oct 13, 2026

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A practical, premise-driven guide to writing short humor pieces, offering foundational tools, concepts, and mindsets to develop a clear comedic idea. The sheet explains how to craft a crystal-clear humor premise, how originality and freshness determine whether an idea is funny, and why avoiding cliché-driven writing improves comedic impact. It includes a structured approach, examples from humor publications, and common pitfalls to help writers refine execution and improve their humor submissions.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryPresentations

FormatPDF

Pages21

Reading Time7 min

AccessFree to download

Index

1. How to Write a Humor Piece: A Bare Bones Intro

2. Five Features of Good Humor Writing

3. Humor Writing Mistakes

4. Humor Writing Resources

1. How to Write a Short Humor Piece: A Bare Bones Intro

0 1 The Ultimate Humor Writing Cheat Sheet by Alex Baia Cover Illustration by Megan M. Schmidt Hey there, I’m Alex Baia, a humor writer and obsessive student of funny writing. I’ve published humor in The New Yorker, McSweeney’s, Points In Case, Austin Monthly, and elsewhere. I’ve also been a long-time editor of Slackjaw, a humor publication on Medium. As an editor, I’ve read thousands upon thousands of humor submissions, thereby further refining my beliefs and scientific hypotheses about humor writing. You might be wondering,“What’s the exact number of submissions you’ve read?” The answer is 13,404 . You can find out more about my writing at [alexbaia.com](alexbaia.com). This sheet you now hold in your hands is a quick guide to writing a humor piece. If you are not holding this sheet in your hands, please hire a monk to transfer these words onto an ancient papyrus scroll. That’s how the humor writers of old did it. This cheat sheet focuses on premise-driven humor pieces, or “comedy articles.” These pieces are typically around 300-1,000 words. They focus on a main funny idea, a. k.a.“the premise.” Short humor pieces are a fun, versatile, and chameleon-like form of writing. You can do a lot with them. Not everything but a lot. This cheat sheet doesn’t cover other comedic writing forms, e.g. sketch comedy, funny personal essays, or humorous literary short stories. But some of the ideas in here are probably useful if you write comedic material of any kind. The goal of this cheat sheet is to equip you with some core tools, concepts, and mindsets to help you write humor. I call it a “cheat sheet” because I hope it’ll save you the time and agony of figuring all this stuff out on your own. And if you’re already writing and publishing humor, I think you’ll still get an insight or two. Enough explainin’. Let’s get into the cheats! 2 Index 1. How to Write a Humor Piece: A Bare Bones Intro 2. Five Features of Good Humor Writing 3. Humor Writing Mistakes 4. Humor Writing Resources 1. How to Write a Short Humor Piece: A Bare Bones Intro Let’s start with a short primer on how to write a humor piece. The pieces we’re dissecting here are the kinds of short pieces you might read in The New Yorker’s “Shoutsand Murmurs,” Slackjaw, and so on. These pieces are humorous fiction. Let’s dive in! 1. Choose a crystal clear premise The number one thing you’ll typically find in a good, short piece of humor is a clear comedic premise. Here are some good ways to define “the premise” of a humor piece: ● The main joke or idea of the piece. ● The main thing that is funny about the piece. ● The primary idea that is comedically heightened in the piece. Think of the premise as the humor vehicle: it’s the concept the author uses to drive the comedy. In a typical humor piece, the premise is communicated directly from the title (the headline)—or, at the very least, the headline suggests it. Let’s explore a few humor premises, starting with some popular pieces on Slackjaw: 3 Ernest Hemingway At The Taco Bell Cantina by Jude Flannelly In this Hemingway parody by Jude Flannely, the humor premise is that Ernest Hemingway narrates his experience of getting drunk inside a special Taco Bell serving alcohol. That’s it! Simple. When you have a good, clear humor premise, you should be able to explain it in one sentence. And the premise, as conveyed by the headline, should make your ideal reader want to read it. Here’s another popular piece from Slackjaw: New—It’s Adjunct Barbie™! By Katie Burgess In this fake product advertisement piece by Katie Burgess, the humor premise is that Barbie’s makers have created a new type of doll: an adjunct professor Barbie. Here are a couple more great premises from other humor publications. In Jack Handey’s New Yorker piece,“Job Rejection,” the premise is that a mean person repeatedly rejects a job applicant with a series of over-the-top, weird rejection letters. Here’s a key

FAQs

What is a “premise-driven” humor piece, and why does it matter?

It centers on a single main funny idea (“the premise”) that drives the comedy. The premise should be clear and communicated from the title/headline and reinforced at the start.

How can I tell whether my humor premise is clear enough for a short piece?

You should be able to describe the premise in a single sentence. The headline should strongly suggest the premise, and the opening should immediately reinforce it.

Why is originality important in humor writing?

If an idea or execution feels too familiar or similar to other work, it won’t land. The guide emphasizes avoiding cliché-driven jokes and brainstorming many premises to select the freshest options.

Oct 13, 2026

Upload by asba