I recently busted out the new camera while sitting with buds Seaton and Johnalynn at a Brooklyn bar on Comedy night. An hour later, Seaton took the mic and absolutely killed. People always complain that when comedy isn’t good, it’s unbearable. This was unbearable for completely the opposite reason — my stomach hurt afterwards.

What I most like about a good joke is how economical it is with story — setup and punchline must necessarily be rid of all extraneous elements. Only what is funny is left in. We storytellers could learn much from studying the technique of comedy writing.