The more I have been writing jokes, most of which unfortunately haven't ended up on here, I've realized that it isn't the subject matter itself that people relate to, usually, but the source of emotion it elicits in them. So what does this mean for talking about traffic?
It means: that like most jokes that all actually-successful comedians employ, my traffic bit can't just be about traffic. The angle I'm going to go with, here: is that all traffic really is, is a situation where we have to deal with completely inept people. Regardless of where we have to do it, we, people, hate having to deal with other people that we think are less capable than ourselves.
I can't count the number of times I've listened to a person talk about traffic only to have them blame the matter on someone "in this car" or "some jackass in an accident." Just like gossip about someone else in a college or workplace: we like to feel like we can see the stupidity in something and provide, if not a solution, an alternative that is not as bad.
It's the same as analyzing English literature, only it's fun to listen to a person ramble about nonsense, and not necessarily fun to decipher slang from the fuckin' Middle Ages. Not to sound [more] pretentious, but one of the things that aggravated me about people who would read literature is that they would actually focus on the plot of the story, rather than what it is designed to mean to the reader. I like a good plot as much as the next person. After all, it is necessary to actually hook someone into following the tale, but it is rarely what the tale is about.
Back to traffic and morons, though: by highlighting this stupidity and knowing the audience is on the same page as I am, it's just a matter, at that point, of locking up the punchline with something even moderately funny and being likable. Something that Michael Ian Black said in one of his routines about his 6-year old son that has really stuck with me, is that:
"I have to explain to my son that although I'm a comedian, I don't really KNOW any jokes. So when I give him my sardonic commentary about the 70s, 80s, and 90s...he is really fucking under-appreciative!"
The bottom line is I need to finish funny, sure, but the point I'm making is that a joke on its own is rarely good enough. Someone with a proper set-up and relate-able emotion behind their act will always do better than someone without. At least, that is what I think about when I'm trying to come up with something. My problem will be putting it into practice. Even an author that understands how to reach his readers can't do it if he is an awful writer.
I'm just working on being a better "author" I guess.
