As Norm Macdonald once said, many comedians say they write jokes — as in the types of little one-liners you might read in a joke book — but they haven’t actually written “jokes†in decades. The kind of joke a stand-up might tell demands a lot more perspective, performance, and personality. A good comedian who has done the work of establishing a clear, distinct persona can get as big of a laugh on a pause as they can a punch line. Sam Morril is such a comedian. His newest special, Same Time Tomorrow, debuted on Netflix earlier this fall after he released two YouTube specials in 2020, each made up of so many good comedian jokes, like this one about the problematization of Snow White:
On Good One, Morril talks about how he writes jokes, how he avoided becoming a road hack, and how he figured out how to wring laughs from his audience just by saying “all right.†Read some excerpts from the interview below or listen to the full episode of Good One wherever you get your podcasts.
Good One
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Treating jokes like jump shots.
With this joke, you have the setup, which is “They said Snow White is problematic,†and then you have the punch line, but the first laugh line is just you going, “And I was like, ‘All right.’†What is the laugh of, “And I was like, ‘All right’�
They know who I am, so I think they know I have a problem, but they don’t know how I’m going to say it. You’re setting yourself up for bigger laughs in the next line by getting that little laugh out of the gate. You’re getting the momentum in your favor.
It’s almost like a hesi move in basketball. Like, How can I get my jump shot wide open? Gary Gulman is great at getting laughs out of places you would never think to get laughs. I remember that he had a joke where he just said “ka-ra-te.†That shouldn’t be that funny, but it is because it’s very honest to his voice. He would just say, “I don’t know why you guys are laughing. That’s the proper pronunciation.†You learn to get laughs in between the jokes, and the more you write, you need those because holy shit. Storytellers — guys like Tom Segura or Jim Jefferies, people who write these long stories — they have to find those little laughs. But joke writers need that, too. You learn how to bring yourself to a joke, so that it’s not just a “joke like a joke book†joke.
Why good comics bomb.
I’ve heard people say to you on podcasts, “You must not bomb anymore,†and you usually respond, “No, I bomb all the time.†Doing what you’re doing, why is it important that you bomb?
Weirdly, the comics who kill all the time have these huge egos, but I’m like, You’re not writing. You should hate yourself. It’s just part of the game: If you’re going to keep trying to turn over material, you’re going to fail constantly. And it’s going to make you very humble. I get why certain comics just play the hits. Maybe they’re trying to just float and stay alive, but it’s a very competitive and tough business. You’re not getting those road gigs because you have a fan base but because you’re reliable. But it’s very hard to grow out of that.
Yeah, you’re going to bomb, but it’s part of the process. And it’s fun. My friend is in the mode where he’s closing in on a special and he says to me, “I’m so jealous of you. I’m just honing for the next few months, and you’re creating. It’s so much more fun to write than to edit.†And I was like, “Yeah, it really is.†Then I said, “But you get to kill.†And he said, “That’s true.†But he’s a real comic, so he wants to write.
Why his most recent hour-long special was only 45 minutes.
You filmed seven shows for Same Time Tomorrow, but the running time is only 45 minutes.Â
The Netflix deal I got wasn’t incredible. So I’m like, Why am I giving them a full hour of material? I look at it as a teaser for the road. I cut a lot of stuff, so it’s kind of like I can self-release that stuff. It’s like bonus crowd work. I can start the new hour with some that cut material. I’ve also put out three specials in the last three years. I’m fucking tired.
Do you care about the sanctity of an hour as an idea?
I think it’s a backwards idea. They have all this data showing that people zone out after, like, minute 15. So why am I given a full hour? I think it was Ari Shaffir who told me that Comedy Central demanded he give them over an hour. So he gave them like an hour and nine minutes, and the special aired at like 42 minutes. He’s thinking, Did I just waste 27 minutes? This is crazy. I don’t think they realize how hard it is to write jokes that you’re pleased with and also promote gigs all the time.
You mentioned using the extra material, especially the crowd work, other places. You are one of the comedians who has found success putting clips up on social media. I assume you’ve noticed two trends since you started doing so. It’s reached a critical mass of both comedians posting these clips and comedians complaining about other comedians doing so. I bring this up because one of the complaints is that it’ll make the audience think they can talk to the comedian, and you have moments where an audience member interrupts during your special.
That means it feels like a conversation when I’m up there, so I’m flattered by it, honestly, because I’m like, Oh, they feel like I’m just talking to them. It can be annoying, but I do actually find that my crowd is weirdly well behaved. That just happened because we did seven shows, and we just had fun moments. Occasionally we’ll get a wild card, but it’s bound to happen.
People might think I’m always dealing with people, but no, I just tape every show, and I do a ton of shows. And I don’t know what the critique is. I got critiqued a lot for posting captioned clips, but now everyone’s doing that. If you have a problem with it, that’s cool. I’m trying to sell tickets. I don’t know who these purists are who are like, “How dare you post crowd work?†I have talked to comics who say, “I won’t do it.†I’m like, “Okay, that’s your choice. That’s fine.â€
How to be bulletproof.
You use the term bulletproof, as many comedians do, to mean your jokes work the same no matter where you are. And I want to know what that means to you practically. When you go into rooms, are you thinking about it deliberately? Like, Okay, I have this joke. I know it works in New York, but does it work here?Â
It’s a very hard line to walk when you’re doing social commentary. Like, I was doing anti-gun jokes in Kentucky. I have to address it. First off, I know where I am. I’m aware of what I’m doing. Sometimes, if I’m making fun of conservatives too much, I’ll think, Let me make fun of liberals too. As a comic, the more and more successful you get, the more and more it’s your audience, the more and more your circle kind of closes. You have to be very conscious of staying funny.
The argument against being bulletproof is essentially that the comedian is giving the audience less of themselves, less of their personal perspective. The comedy becomes more of a service they are providing. It’s stand-up as a job versus a way to express yourself.
I get what you’re saying, but the risk of that perspective is overindulgence. I’ve seen those comedians who are like, Hey, it’s my special I’m cutting. But I’ve cut jokes where I’m like, That’s too preachy. I go the other way, too, where I’m like, This will work, but I don’t like it. We’re focus-testing our next special the entire time. This is a rare form of entertainment where it’s collaborative. Martin Scorsese maybe does some sort of focus test. Comedians are focus-testing our next special the entire time.
More From This Series
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- John Early Breaks His Silence on His Joke About Us
- How to Turn a Comedy Podcast Into a Comedy Documentary