Two-Second Jokes

In an episode of the sketch comedy show Robot Chicken, there is a scene of two old men sitting on a bench.  One turns to the other and says, "we'll be dead soon" in a very matter-of-fact tone.  That is the entire sketch.  I think it is hilarious.  It may be one of the best sketches they've done.  It is a perfect example of a two-second joke.

A two-second joke comes in, hits you, and goes away.  A single-panel comic that only has one line of text in it is usually a two-second joke.  For example, imagine a scene with a kid in school looking at his A+ paper in shock.  He is shouting out, "I'm so bad at failing!"

It is not easy to make a good two-second joke.  The example in the above paragraph took me about 10 minutes to come up with.  However, I think it is worth the effort.  If you are wanting to do comedy, two-second jokes are a great place to start.  They're easy to digest and pack a serious punch.

The basic idea is having a scene that has certain automatic assumptions made about it, then accompanying it with something totally not in line with that scene.  Nobody expects somebody to be angry about getting a good grade in school.  If somebody was shocked by getting an A+, it is expected to be a joyous surprise.  By adding a sentence explaining that the student was trying to fail, you shatter the expectations of the scene.  On top of that, you add an irony by having the student fail at failing.

There is definitely an art to making a good two-second joke, but it is energy worth spending.  Attention spans are getting shorter and shorter, so get your audience while they're still looking at you.