"The only guaranteed way to make something not very funny is to make it vague"
About this Quote
Comedy dies in the fog. Thomas Lennon’s line reads like a writer’s-room law disguised as a clean insult: if your joke isn’t landing, odds are you’ve padded it with generalities to avoid committing to an angle. “Vague” here isn’t just unclear wording; it’s fear. Fear of naming the target, fear of sounding mean, fear of being wrong, fear of alienating someone in the room. Vagueness is the social-media apology of humor: a preemptive softening that drains the voltage before it reaches the punchline.
As an actor and comedy-maker who’s lived in the machinery of sketch and sitcom, Lennon is pointing to the craft truth audiences feel instinctively. Funny relies on specificity because specificity creates a picture, and a picture creates timing. We laugh when we recognize something sharply enough to anticipate it, then get surprised by the twist. Vague jokes can’t build that ramp; they float. “A guy” doing “a thing” in “some place” doesn’t produce friction, and friction is where laughter hides.
The subtext is also a quiet critique of contemporary risk management. In an era when creators are trained to sand down edges, Lennon argues that the safest route often produces the most lifeless comedy. Not every joke needs cruelty, but every joke needs a decision. Commit to the detail, the point of view, the weird little truth. The audience can forgive boldness. They rarely forgive blur.
As an actor and comedy-maker who’s lived in the machinery of sketch and sitcom, Lennon is pointing to the craft truth audiences feel instinctively. Funny relies on specificity because specificity creates a picture, and a picture creates timing. We laugh when we recognize something sharply enough to anticipate it, then get surprised by the twist. Vague jokes can’t build that ramp; they float. “A guy” doing “a thing” in “some place” doesn’t produce friction, and friction is where laughter hides.
The subtext is also a quiet critique of contemporary risk management. In an era when creators are trained to sand down edges, Lennon argues that the safest route often produces the most lifeless comedy. Not every joke needs cruelty, but every joke needs a decision. Commit to the detail, the point of view, the weird little truth. The audience can forgive boldness. They rarely forgive blur.
Quote Details
| Topic | Witty One-Liners |
|---|
More Quotes by Thomas
Add to List
