Writing jokes is not like your singing ability. You are not better doing it alone in the shower!
Think about the times you were the funniest off stage. Were you sitting at a desk, alone with a tape recorder? More likely you were with friends, laughing and enjoying life.
This is why you need a WRITING BUDDY, someone to help you create and refine your good MATERIAL.
But choose wisely.
Not all buddies are created equal.
Choose the person who will give you the best chance of success on stage.
You may feel comfortable asking your spouse his or her opinion on a joke. But unless your spouse is a Comic, the only thing he or she can offer you is support. In other words: "For your sake honey, I hope that is funny."
Think of your WRITING BUDDY as a real life Bomb Squad specialist. You are new to the team and tasked with diffusing a bomb. If it blows... it's curtains. You can choose to call someone else on the Bomb Squad team, who you've seen in action and trust can handle the situation... or you can call your wife.
Now if you choose to call your wife, you may want to tell her you'll be late for dinner!
Comics like to seclude themselves and work on their jokes alone. This is because we want to spare ourselves the public insecurity of revealing just how difficult it is to write good, original MATERIAL. We assume everyone thinks this is easy. If you're funny, you're naturally funny and the jokes should come easy. Right??
WRONG.
This is hard. It takes work. There is no shame in getting help from those you trust are working in your best interest. And the easiest way to earn that trust is to be a WRITING BUDDY yourself. This give-and-take from one Comic to another is essential to master joke writing and delivery.
So just remember: if you're determined to write MATERIAL alone, the outcome you are most likely to get is the same as the object of your Explosives Expert friend: a BOMB.
Your next show is coming, still feeling like flying solo?
Tick... Tock... Tick... Tock...
