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When I am writing something that I am (trying) to make funny, one technique I often use is the funny parenthetical. This is essentially the use of parentheses for comedic effect.
I like this technique because it can be applied to many types of writing (books, satire pieces, notes to your coworkers), and it is easy to try out if you want to add humor to something you are writing.
Some ways to use funny parentheticals
Add a parenthetical that includes a commentary or a funny explanation to the middle or end of a line.
Examples:
“The summer after my freshman year of college, a friend and I psyched ourselves up to try a free stand-up open mic at a Best Western (where dreams are made).”
-Aparna Nancherla, from her book Unreliable Narrator
“The first few years of the 2000s (I still don’t know what to call that decade—oughts? aughts? oots?) were a whirlwind.”
-Wendi Aarons, from her book I’m Wearing Tunics Now
The Complete Book of Cat Names (That Your Cat Won’t Answer to, Anyway)
-Title of a book by Bob Eckstein
Sometimes the parentheses can also comedically answer a question:
“How old should your child be before you let them eat a hot dog without being under your watchful eye? (The answer is eighteen. And make sure it’s cut into tiny pieces.)
-From Shelly Mazzanoble’s book How to Dungeon Master Parenting
Inserting a single word strategically can also work:
“Make sure the house is spacious enough to accommodate everyone (technically) but also no one (comfortably).”
-From the McSweeney’s piece “How to Ensure Your Annual Beach Vacation Destroys Your Relationship with Your Extended Family” by Talia Argondezzi and Jeff Bender
Sometimes a funny question can also be inserted into parentheses — something my book title does:
Babies Don’t Make Small Talk (So Why Should I?)
Bonus tips
Reading funny books, satire publications, and newsletters can also give you more examples and ideas for how to use parentheses to add humor to a piece.
Sometimes it works to add the funny parentheses at the editing stage rather than the drafting stage. If something isn’t coming to you in the first draft, you can go back and look for opportunities to add it when you edit a piece.
Thanks for reading Humor Me, a newsletter featuring funny stuff and writing tips. In case you’re new here, I’m a humor writer and freelancer whose work has appeared in New Yorker Shouts, McSweeney’s, Real Simple, and more. Find out more about me at julievick.com.
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Thanks, Julie! How do you decide whether to put a joke in parenthesis or not? (By the second option, I mean just continuing the text and including the joke without parenthesis.)
The reason the parenthetical works is that it's the only punctuation that simulates a second voice. The main clause is the official statement; the parenthetical is the same person telling you the truth out of the side of their mouth. The "(technically)" / "(comfortably)" example is the purest version — the parentheses are doing the thing a comic does when they undercut their own setup. Bonus mechanical note: the parenthetical has to land on the punchword, same as any other joke. "(where dreams are made)" works because "made" is last. "(where dreams are made at a Best Western)" would die.