Trait Incongruity Generator
A Joke Writing Tool by Jerry Corley
Start with one personal fact, flaw, status, obstacle, goal, habit, or identity. Then generate a second concept that makes that idea more specific, more revealing, more embarrassing, more desperate (higher stakes).
Example starter: “I’m lazy at sex…”
How to Use This Exercise
A single trait is often too general to be funny. “I’m lazy” is a topic. “I’m lazy at sex” is a joke premise (two ideas converging). The second idea gives the trait a location, behavior, status, and stakes.
Start with a truth.
Pick a flaw, obstacle, goal, status, contradiction, or self-description.
Ask “at what?”
Generate a target area where that trait becomes surprising, embarrassing, inappropriate, or revealing.
Write the consequence.
Ask: What would that look like? What would someone say? What is the laziest, neediest, cheapest, oldest, or most insecure version?
Note About Syntax:
The phrasing of each topic can be adjusted. Use this idea generator as a tool, not as something that forces you to stick to the precise wording that is generated.
For Example: Cheap + Romance; Rather than: I'm cheap at romance. It might be: "I'm cheap when it comes to romance..."
Example Directions
Lazy + Sex
“I’m a lazy lover… which means my favorite position is a nap.”
Cheap + Romance
“I’m cheap when it comes to romance. I don’t buy flowers. I buy her seeds and if she can nurture that relationship, I might invest further.”
Insecure + Ordering Food
“I’m insecure at restaurants. I'll look up the menu before I take a date, just to make sure I can pronounce everything.”
Ambitious + Napping
“I’m ambitious about naps. I don’t sleep. I take it offline with my pillow so I can network with my unconscious.”
More Instructions
Some work needs to be done on your part to finesse these raw concepts into a working premise.
The generator gives you two ideas to juxtapose. It does not mean you have to use the exact wording it generates. Your job as the comedy writer is to find the relationship between the ideas and then phrase that relationship in a way that sounds natural.
For Example: Celibate + Dating Apps
Simply writing: “I’m celibate at dating apps…” doesn’t really make sense.
But the ideas of Celibate + Dating Apps give us something to explore.
For the setup, you might write:
“I think they need more dating apps for celibate people... I mean really. It’s discrimination. I really urge the dating app industry to come up with a dating app for celibate people—I mean, I’m NOT gonna use it, but...”
That’s the exercise.
Don’t let the syntax generated by the tool dictate the joke. Look at the relationship between the two ideas and ask:
- How could these two ideas logically exist together?
- What would someone with this trait actually do in this situation?
- What opinion might this person have about the target?
- What problem would the combination create?
- What would be ironic, embarrassing, hypocritical, inappropriate, or absurd about the combination?
- How can I rewrite the relationship so it sounds like something a real person would actually say?
You provide the logic that turns the collision into a premise.