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Comment by pryelluw | Hacker News Reader

One of my few hobbies is writing standup comedy jokes.

To give you some insight into my style, here is non-offensive joke:

I recently bought myself a do it yourself boat kit from Amazon. Haven’t finished assembling it yet. Just need to add water.

Anyhow, I’ve really tried to use multiple models to aide in writing but they fall short. Mostly due to comedy being a performance art. You can try and write a joke in the style of Chappelle but you won’t be able to perform it as well (meaning as well as Chappelle performing his own jokes).

Will that ever change? I don’t know and I truly don’t care. Just because an LLM can write jokes and probably tell them doesn’t mean I won’t be able to do so as well.

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Comedians practice and code review their art with each other. And in review, they critique and improve their performances. the performance is probably the last 10% that takes another 90% of the time to master. So I get why most folks wouldn't want to spend the time.

That is a very astute observation. There is that tough code review-like process that takes place in clubs. Most don’t even care much about the audience (well, they want people to have a good time). But do care what others comedians say. It’s why I reason LLMs have a long way to go. That is until OpenComedyWriter takes the stage. I can imagine the audience booing the LLM telling it to “create more meaningful weights by accessing better datasets”…

I’m perplexed by this comment on a few levels. Is this one of those replies on LLM-related posts that’s entirely LLM-generated to prove a point or whatever?

Because… that joke isn’t funny at all, right?

I didn't think it was LLM-generated, but wouldn't be surprised if it was. What tipped you off, and what makes you so certain? Is there a checker you can easily run it through?

I did write it and I appreciate the feedback on the joke. It’s hard to write comedy much more sharing with others. I knew the joke wouldn’t do well here!

Anyhow, I don’t post LLM generated anything.

For what it's worth, I chuckled.

Thank you! I hope that chuckle made your day better.

same here.

Have you tried these jokes in front of an audience? Because that boat joke doesn't work... the punchline doesn't match the setup. It's close but it doesn't fit precisely enough to be a proper punchline.

Yes, and this is the only joke I have that is not offensive in any way. So I don’t expect it to do much. It’s a silly dad joke.

My actual material is a little more raw. I didn’t want to share it here and somehow end up on twitter cancelled.

This would actually work well, but you'd have to be Steven Wright.

Thank you! He was indeed my inspiration. I practice my writing by adapting the style of others. I’m an amateur (and will stay as such) with no style. Have to adopt someone else’s.

I feel that's true for everyone in many creative fields, until a slightly different, more personal voice emerges.

Louis CK talked about this extensively, especially in relationship to Carlin, Bruce, etc.

Keep doing it!

can you review the first half of this article (background story) https://newbeelearn.com/blog/what-happens-when-you-get-2nd-p... it was my attempt at being funny.

I can’t tolerate self deprecating humor. Your post should not aim to be funny at your expense. Shouldn’t have the tone of “oh poor me”.

I’d rewrite it and remove the humor. Only add humor if it adds value to the information.

And that’s the crux of it. Focus on giving as much value as possible. Forget the rest.

thanks for reviewing it.

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