Welcome to a special edition of Peregrino! Back in October of last year,
announced the One Funny Line Humor Writing Challenge that ran from January 8th to January 21st. A prompt was provided each day, and those participating shared their lines in the chat.I had fun with this challenge and already started punching up my pieces thanks to the knowledge acquired from these mini-lessons in humor writing. I shared what I was writing in my Notes, but I figured I would compile all fourteen lines in one post and write a bit about what went well and what didn’t.
Day 14: Think of a New Title for an Old Piece
Read an old draft, zero in on the funniest part, and think of a title for a new piece based just around that.
Old title: Go camping, they said, it’ll be fun, they said.
New title: Unhappy Camper or How I Found Out What Sleeping Bag Ratings Mean.
Comedy is tragedy + time. This piece tells the story of the first time I took my family camping and the absolute failure it was. We’re hoping to redeem ourselves this summer. Who knows, we may discover new ways to fail.
Day 13: A Wordplay Prompt
How many words/phrases can you list in place of “birthday”?
Happy anniversary of the day you went through the birth canal (unless your mom had a C-section).
Congratulations on adding 365 days to your existence.
You made a trip around the sun. How adventurous.
A joyous milestone day to you.
Add another notch to your life stick.
Day 12: Two Quick Prompts
Option 1: Think of a famous writer, actor, or celebrity and write a one-sentence out of the office reply in the voice of that person.
In Sir David Attenborough’s voice: An understanding of the natural world is a source of not only great curiosity but great fulfillment, and the reason why I’m on holiday. It seems to me that the natural world is the greatest source of excitement; the greatest source of visual beauty; the greatest source of intellectual interest. It is the greatest source of so much in life that makes life worth living. Therefore, I’ll reply to your email once I return.
Fun fact: I meshed together two actual quotes from Sir David Attenborough. He could read the phone book, and I would still want to listen.
Day 11: Finding Humor Despite the Non-Humorous State of the World
Write a funny one-liner or title that pokes fun at the current state of the world, highlighting the incongruity of the trivialities we all still deal with while big, important, and terrible things are happening all around us.
Whenever I get gloomy with the state of the world, I think about the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport. I’ve never been there, but if it works for Hugh Grant, it’s good enough for me.
Also, the “sign guy” from Love Actually was so heartbroken that he moved to the US, became a sheriff, got in an accident, and woke up to a zombie apocalypse. I guess what I’m trying to say is it could always be worse.
I’m a hopeless romantic, and Love Actually is one of my favorite rom-coms. I also watched The Walking Dead until Andrew Lincoln left the show. It made sense to put these two together.
Day 10: Embracing the Embarrassing
Write a funny one-liner about something that you feel weird or embarrassed about that’s also probably pretty relatable and hilarious.
Nothing makes me blush like forgetting how to say a word in Spanish while talking to my parents. The good news is that I can buy time by saying all the curse words I remember.
Day 9: Funny Fictional Names
Pick a celebrity, a fictional character, or someone in your life. Then, come up with a name for their memoir.
“Movin’ Right Along: From El Sleezo Cafe to Hollywood” a memoir, by Fozzie Bear.
“Unbearable!”
-Statler & Waldorf
I love The Muppets, but I think this was my weakest line of the challenge, and I could’ve done better. If you don’t know that El Sleezo Cafe is the place where Kermit and Fozzie first meet in 1979’s The Muppet Movie, then the joke probably won’t work.
Day 8: Turning Anger into Humor
Get mad. Get yourself all worked up and then spew out whatever you wish you could say to the boss/MIL/roommate/dog next door.
This has bothered me for a while. Bones can fuse back together if you break them. New skin cells grow after a cut. You get your two front teeth knocked out, gone forever. Meanwhile, sharks have a new row of teeth every two weeks. Not fair.
I have a chipped crown I need to get fixed, and I keep procrastinating in calling my dentist. That’s how much I hate going to the dentist. I have thought: “I can probably live with this.”
Day 7: Combining Unexpected Things
For this prompt, think of an industry (real estate, insurance, accounting, local government, etc). How could the language from that industry be used to describe something totally different (a romantic interlude, a funeral, a high school reunion)?
Sometimes, I wish there was a manual for being a parent. Something like the pamphlet that comes with IKEA furniture. Something I could thumb through, think I understand, and get frustrated with because I skipped a step on page 2.
Day 6: Write Like a Comedian
Choose a favorite comedian, and write an original, funny one-liner in their unique style. Make sure you include the comedian’s name (in parentheses).
Some people think self-checkout is like working for the grocery store without getting paid. I call it the introvert tax. “Do I need to interact with other humans? Are there other options? Free labor? I’ll do it.” (Demetri Martin)
Day 5: Writing Weird and Freaky Jokes
Surprising, visceral, intensely specific, and often absurd humor. I was supposed to blow up the first line I wrote twenty times. Instead, a story emerged from the exercise. Any resemblance with the early history of Mexico as a country is a mere coincidence.
Day 4: Three Prompts to Choose From
Write a sentence about something you are NOT good at because writing about something you’re good at just isn’t funny. OR Write a sentence about doing something (dancing or otherwise) like no one’s watching. OR Write a sentence about the day job you’ve been forced to take while you pursue your dreams (this doesn’t have to be based in reality - the sillier, the better!)
I’m not a Do-It-Yourself kind of guy; I’m more of a Call-The-Guy-Who-Does-It-For-You guy.
I got escorted out of a store for trying on a swimsuit. I guess you can’t do that at Costco.
My day job has a lot of ups and downs. I’m a seesaw technician. One day, I’ll climb the ladder and go down the slide.
I couldn’t resist these prompts and wrote a line for each one.
Day 3: Your Funny Memoir or Essay Title
Write the title of your future humorous memoir or essay
My kids don't speak Spanish. Dad Fails of a Mexican raising children in America.
We were supposed to use self-deprecating humor, and you know I keep it real.
Day 2: Creating Funny Metaphors
For today’s challenge, write a funny simile or metaphor using two seemingly unrelated things to make an unexpected comparison.
Writer’s block is like diarrhea; it hits you at the worst time, and you wonder how long it will last.
Oddly enough, some of my best ideas come to me in the shower.
Day 1: Things That Count As Joking
Come up with your own category of “things that count as…” Choose something that is a genuine personal battle for you.
I chose “Things That Count as Working Out.”
How many minutes of watching Rocky IV’s training montage to get abs?
If you want to do a quick nineteen-minute workout, click here.
And there it is! Fourteen lines (some of them weren’t, but you get the idea) of pure comedy. Which one’s your favorite? Let me know in the comments.
Your Day 9 is my favorite!
You got some great lines in and nice work completing the challenge!