# Joke Dissection Worksheet

Use this after you have a draft. Do not judge the joke first. Inspect the parts.

Joke draft:

## Comedy Stack Questions

Use these as possible explanations to test, not a checklist every joke must satisfy.

Frame:

Audience expectation:

Trigger word or phrase:

Benignness: what might make the tension feel playful to these listeners? What context could change that?

Resolution: what second meaning clicks?

Reward: recognition, relief, status, surprise, image, or insight?

Social signal: what shared recognition might be involved? Laughter alone does not establish agreement.

## Personal Revision Ratings

These /10 ratings are your provisional judgments about this draft. They are separate from the website's rule-based indicators and do not measure audience response. Add a reason or question beside each rating.

Surprise: /10

Compression: /10

Clarity: /10

Accessibility to the intended listeners: /10

## Diagnosis

Part to investigate first:

Target:

Punch word:

Words to cut:

Possible tag:

Next rewrite: