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Funny AF Academy

Unit 3 · Lesson 9 · 10 min

Joke Anatomy: The Setup Is A Lie You Tell On Purpose

Every joke is one assumption, planted and then broken. Learn to see the bones and you can build them on demand.

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A joke is not setup-then-punchline. That's the shape, not the mechanism. The mechanism is: you install an assumption in the audience's head, they build a picture from it, then you reveal a second picture that was also compatible with everything you said. The laugh is the sound of a brain rebuilding a model at speed.

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Joke Anatomy: The Setup Is A Lie You Tell On Purpose” is inside the course.

The first two lessons are free because history should be. The rest — six units, beginner to professor, plus the Gym, the Film Room, the LOL Engine and your Comedy DNA course — is $15 a month or $100 a year. That's less than the drinks you'll buy after bombing.

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