Many people will tell you that there are no shortcuts to success and for the most part they are right. However, for those of you who still have that burning desire to learn how to be funny, then the “remove and reveal” technique is the closest you can get to a tool that you can use to elicit laughs almost instantly. .

What is “Pull Back and Reveal”?

Simply put, it’s when you start a joke or funny story by focusing on a smaller aspect or detail of the situation. Then you draw back the curtain and reveal the whole picture to your audience. This technique is all about surprise and timing.

Here are some other points worth noting:

• What you are “revealing” is a missing information.
• Usually the missing information is something that is very obvious or assumed naturally.
• You want to be careful not to reveal the one fact that creates the surprise.
• It is best to begin with a very brief descriptive situation that has within an element of predictability. Ask yourself, “What is automatically assumed in this situation?”
• Keep it short. Better to be brutally brief! (Now say that 10 times faster.)

Let’s break down pullback-and-reveal in an example. Take the following joke:

“My girlfriend called me to say she thinks she’s pregnant. “Great! I said…but are you ready for that?…It can be hard being a single parent these days.”

The configuration is worded in a way that leaves a wide range of predictable assumptions, including:

1. The person telling the joke is a man.

2. The child is yours.

3. He will help take care of the child.

4. He is really happy with the news.

You can see how the use of assumption n. 3 above takes us from withdrawal to revelation. I hope this helps.