How a Comedian Crafts Award-Show Hosting Jokes (Full Transcript)

She studies past hosts to learn award-show cadence, then collaborates with writers to brainstorm, push limits, and refine jokes.
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[00:00:00] Speaker 1: I feel like a little bit like, oh, I have a formula down, people like what I did last year, so I can kind of do the same thing and it will be well received. But it's also like, it was so well received, like how do I top that?

[00:00:11] Speaker 2: How do you come up with your jokes? Are you sitting there like going for a run and the jokes pop in your head? Like what's the, what's going on in Nikki's head?

[00:00:19] Speaker 1: Well it really starts with like watching award shows. So I just like start binging like every single host that came before me of all the award shows just to get into like the mindset of an award, like the, the, just the tone of the award show joke, the rhythm of it, the cadence, the, the energy behind it, what works and what doesn't. And then I can kind of start just start thinking and jokes like that. And then I just start watching all the shows and then I just start texting with my other writers about ideas and we just start kind of bouncing things off of each other and, you know, upping the ante and going too far and having to take it back. And then it's just, it's so fun.

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Summary
A comedian reflects on having a successful formula from last year’s performance but worries about how to top it. When asked how she writes jokes, she explains that she binge-watches past award show hosts to absorb the tone, rhythm, and cadence of award-show humor, then watches current shows and collaborates by texting with other writers to brainstorm, push boundaries, and refine ideas.
Title
How Nikki Develops Award-Show Jokes
Keywords
comedy writing Remove
award shows Remove
joke structure Remove
hosting Remove
cadence Remove
tone Remove
brainstorming Remove
writers room Remove
collaboration Remove
performance pressure Remove
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Sentiments
Neutral: The tone is thoughtful and pragmatic, mixing mild anxiety about surpassing past success with enthusiasm for the creative process and collaboration.
Quizzes
Question 1:
What does the comedian say is the first step in writing award-show jokes?
Going for a run to find ideas
Binge-watching past award show hosts
Reading celebrity biographies
Improvising on stage
Correct Answer:
Binge-watching past award show hosts

Question 2:
How does she develop and refine joke ideas after studying past hosts?
She writes alone and avoids feedback
She hires actors to test jokes
She texts and collaborates with other writers, pushing and dialing back ideas
She only uses audience suggestions
Correct Answer:
She texts and collaborates with other writers, pushing and dialing back ideas

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