LIA Quest 4: Smell of Funny

Jokes are an amazing communication device built on the idea of a setup and punchline. The setup is a premise that gets the audience to assume one thing, the punchline delivers another. We laugh form the delight of discovering the surprise the punchline delivers.

To take on this quest, you will be seriously analyzing a joke. There's no way to lose this exercise unless you pick a knock-knock joke. Questers with knock knock jokes turn to page 53 and the dragon eats you.

Beginning the Quest

Choose a joke that made you laugh at least once such as a humorous quote (Mark Twain has many), a comic strip, a joke form a comedian’s act, a sit-com TV show, anywhere you encounter funny dialog.

Write it down or doodle it in your notebook (or your data capture method of choice). Give proper attribution mentioning the author, publication, and URL if available if you’ll be posting it both to give credit and for the fun of linking to great jokes.

Regular Quest

Create a subtitle, notes, or doodle about the joke that identifies the misdirection or assumption that leads to the surprise. Optionally - take note of how the joke’s author had to avoid giving away the surprise.

Heroic Quest

Make new surprises from this joke’s structure: Offer an alternate setup, an alternate punchline, or both via making notes or doodles.

Share Your Quest

Post a link to your image or blog post via Twitter, use the hashtag #liaquest4. Deadline to have your quest materials mentioned on the next LIA Cast: March 13!