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This article is from the The Complete Guide To Hack Stand-Up Comedy, by Steven Rosenthal and Steve Silberberg (stevebo@onramp.net) with numerous contributions by others.

4a "So Howard Taft is in the news again..."

It's pretty clear that a topical comedian has to write more currently than
others. Hey, that's the price you pay for the ease of having premises
delivered to your doorstep every morning. There's nothing sadder than an
outdated topical joke. Saying, "Anyone remember the LA riots?" is just as
good as telling the audience "I haven't written much in the last three
years."

There's no good rule for determining a joke's shelf-life. Some large topics
will be good for a year or two. Others will go out of date within days.
Just stop patting yourself on the back for how great you think your joke is
and think about whether the event would still be on the minds of the
audience.

 

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• prev: 3j "Have you guys seen this nicotine patch?"
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• next: 4b "What's up with this Lorena Bobbit, huh?"

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