Day 2: Creating Funny Metaphors

Carlos Greaves on writing funny comparisons

These are not normal potatoes. They are funny potatoes. Photo by Franco Antonio Giovanella on Unsplash

Welcome to Day 2 of the One Funny Line Humor writing challenge.

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Today’s prompt comes from Substacker, author, and prolific humor writerCarlos Greaves …

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Writing a Funny Metaphor

One go-to technique comedians use to generate jokes is to compare two seemingly unrelated things. You’ve likely seen this approach employed in late-night or “Weekend Update”-style monologue jokes.

This type of comparison can be thought of as a funny simile or metaphor. In fact, many jokes can be written as a simile (e.g. Loosening restrictions at the height of the pandemic is like Jurassic Park re-opening the park while the dinosaurs are still on the loose). 

In the same way a poet might use a simile or metaphor to compare two things in a beautiful or poignant way, a comedian can use a simile or metaphor to compare two things in a way that’s unexpected but contains an element of truth — a reliable recipe for humor.

One way to find that comparison is to take two unrelated things, say “Seth Rogen” and “a potato” and write out as many characteristics of both as you can think of. So, for Seth Rogen you might say “funny,” “has a beard,” and “smokes weed.” And for a potato, you might say “what french fries are made of,” “grown in Idaho,” and “can be baked.”

Look closely and you’ll see an opportunity to make an unexpected comparison between the two. You could say something like “Seth Rogen is like a potato — frequently baked.” That’s not the most amazing joke ever told, but it’s a perfectly respectable punch line considering I picked those two things at random.

Prompt: For today’s challenge, write a funny simile or metaphor using two seemingly unrelated things to make an unexpected comparison.

If you’re stuck on what to pick, choose something that frustrates you, like, say “Online dating is like..” or “America’s response to climate change is like…” Then, for your second topic, try to find things that are seemingly as polar opposite as possible and try to find commonalities. You might try possibilities like, “Online dating is like learning how to ride a horse…” or “America’s response to climate change is like having a baby…”

Play around with different comparisons until you find something that resonates. Happy writing!

Carlos Greaves is an electrical engineer turned comedy writer—a career move that haunts him to this day. When he’s not busy questioning his life choices, he teaches online classes at The Second City, leads humor workshops at Writingworkshops.com, and runs the topical satire newsletter, Shades of Greaves. His writing has been featured in The New Yorker, NPR, and McSweeney’s, and his debut book, Spoilers: Essays That Might Ruin Your Favorite Hollywood Movies, was highlighted in Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of 2023.

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