You have to be patient. You have to give yourself a chance. When you’re first pursuing a job in a field like this, there’s a strong tendency to panic. When I took classes with Del Close, he would challenge all of us to wait - to not make the cheap, easy joke in a scene but to have faith that something funnier and more organic was on the way. It can be that way with a career too. There are a lot of times when your biggest task is just to stay calm and keep working.
Former “Colbert Report” head writer/executive producer Allison Silverman, offering advice to aspiring comedy writers in And Here’s The Kicker, aka the best book ever.

Distinguishing between a funny joke and a good joke is something that I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. It’s nice to see somebody I admire articulating a similar thought, not only with joke-writing, but also as a worldview.

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