Misdirection is part of the standard armoury of the comedy writer, when it comes to writing a gag. What it basically entails is taking the audience on a short journey, enabling their thought processes to be led in one direction, and then switching suddenly to give an unexpected punchline. It is one the of the simplest methods of writing a joke and can be very effective, depending on the relevance of the leading material to the punchline. In some cases a tag which is totally irrelevant might trigger the humour, whereas in others the obverse is true. Here is an example which mixes both types.
Memory Joke
Two elderly couples were having a conversation when one of the men asked the other, "Fred, how was that memory clinic you went to?"
"Great," Fred replied. "They taught us all about the latest techniques like visualisation, and association – made a big difference."
"Wonderful! What was the name of the clinic?"
Fred’s mind went blank. He thought and thought but couldn't remember. Then a smile crossed his face and he asked, "What do you call that flower with the thorns?"
"Oh, a rose?"
"Yep, that's it!" Fred turned to his wife. "Rose, what was the name of that clinic?"
In this case the joke seems to be about memory loss. It is then switched by a question about flowers, which doesn’t seem to be relevant, only to return to the original with the punchline.
The following example again plays on pre-conceptions and has a twist ending.
Men’s brains are more expensive
In a hospital relatives gathered in the waiting room, while their family member lay critically ill.
Finally, the doctor came in looking worried. "I'm afraid I have bad news," he said, "The only hope left is a brain transplant. It's a new procedure, quite risky, and you’ll have to pay for the brain yourselves."
The family members sat silent but after a short time, someone asked, "Well, how much does a brain cost?"
The Doctor replied, "$5000 for a male brain, and $200 for a female brain."
The men in the room tried not to smile, avoiding eye contact with the women, but some couldn’t help grinning. One blurted out the question everyone wanted to ask, "Why is the male brain so much more?"
The doctor smiled and said, "It's just a standard pricing procedure. We have to reduce the price of the female brains, because they've been used."
Both examples above would seem to imply that misdirection requires quite a lengthy build up, to allow the audience to register the direction they are being led in. This is not necessarily true, and thought processes can be triggered with just a few words as witness this gag from American comedienne, Lynn Lavner.
There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL.
The trigger words here are ‘mechanical devices’, ‘sexual arousal’ and ‘women’ and the listener immediately thinks they know what is being talked about. Only the revelation that it is actually a car, makes this funny. Using this method of misdirection is a useful tool for the comedy writer and though it is somewhat hackneyed, it still produces the required effect when used properly.
Gurmeet Mattu - Gurmeet Mattu was born and lives in Glasgow, Scotland, but is of Indian (Sikh) descent. He trained as a journalist at the Polytechnic of ...
