10.7 – How to Write Comedy Like Stewart Francis

Instructor:
Jerry Corley

Master the Art of One-Liners, Wordplay & Rapid-Fire Punchlines.

What if you could get big laughs… with just a few words?

In this A La Carte lesson, you’ll break down the razor-sharp, rapid-fire comedy style of Stewart Francis—a master of one-liners, puns, and misdirection. Known for his deadpan delivery and lightning-quick joke structure, Francis proves that comedy doesn’t need long stories to hit hard—it needs precision.

Inside this class, you’ll learn how to think like a wordplay assassin—crafting tight, clever jokes using techniques like Tom Swifties, double entendres, paraprosdokians, and idiomatic twists. You’ll train your brain to see multiple meanings in words, flip expectations instantly, and generate non-sequiturs that feel both surprising and inevitable.

Through guided exercises like celebrity swap-outs, “Wrong Word Webster’s,” mondegreens, and simple truth reinterpretations, you’ll develop a repeatable system for writing concise jokes that land fast and stick.

If you’ve ever struggled with being too wordy… or wanted to sharpen your punchlines into surgical strikes—this lesson gives you the tools.

Because sometimes the funniest joke… is the shortest distance between setup and surprise.

Important:

Be sure to download both the transcript and the worksheet. The transcript provides you with a great opportunity to dissect the mechanics of Stewart Francis's joke writing and practice writing your own.