Paul F. Tompkins: "How do I get a laugh without using that word?"

On the importance of coming up with clean material.

Mark Normand on why coming up with clean material is important.

I think clean material is important, because it’s good for work. Some people won’t listen to dirty comics, the same way they won’t watch dark R-rated movies. It’s good to have. Also people say, ‘Oh, I’m so funny,’ but I’m like, ‘Are you funny enough to write a clean joke about dogs or Thanksgiving?’ Because it’s actually really challenging. So, even if you don’t like clean material, I would recommend challenging yourself to try it and it’s really hard — and it’s a good exercise.

Here’s Paul F. Tompkins explaining how working clean also forces bits to stand on their own, without the crutch of swearing.

Even if people are laughing at something, I know when I could have done it better. An example is when I start a new bit, when I'm working on a new thing and it's the first time I'm doing it in front of an audience, I will tend to swear more than I ever do onstage because I'm filling in the idea very conversationally and I swear occasionally in life when I'm talking to people. But it's also there's a survival instinct that kicks in from my earliest standup days that cursing gets laughs.

People will laugh at the f-word. It adds a bite to certain things. But I have always felt that it's a crutch. I know that it is. To me, any time I'm using that word onstage and people laugh at it, I think that's the only reason they're laughing. And if that word wasn't there, they wouldn't find this funny. So I have to figure out how do I get a laugh without using that word and have it be just as big a laugh or bigger than if I was swearing.