12. Have you ever thought that something wasn't easy and if so, why?
Yeah. Making a joke that is funny is not easy.
You're preaching to the choir, man! Haha.
In all seriousness though, as long as you're pleasant and respectful towards people, jokes don't have to be very funny for other people to laugh. You'd be amazed how much a positive personality and/or reputation is enough to make up for a weak joke. As Shawna from Martha Stewart Apprentice would say, "fake it 'til you make it."
Norm MacDonald, perhaps my all-time favourite comedian, has always said that it's actually funnier for him if his jokes didn't end up being viewed as funny. Comedy is supposed to be full of surprises. If they land that's great, if they don't land that's just as funny.
And as somebody who has a lot of friends involved in comedy, the stereotype that A LOT of successful comedians are severely depressed is absolutely true. Constantly writing jokes all of the time stressing over whether or not they're funny or as perhaps their only way of connecting with people proves to be a fatal amount of stress that some can't handle. Not to mention their livelihood depends on jokes constantly landing.
I remember my university professor for my Creative Writing classes had just finished reading biographies of former comedy writers from Saturday Night Live who all talked about the amount of time and energy they invested in trying to be funny.
In the past I remember stressing out a bit if a joke didn't land or if I'd get a random person responding that they didn't like a specific joke. It reminded me of something former Mixed Martial Artist Quinton "Rampage" Jackson used to say--"whenever I lost a fight, for some reason the fans never let me forget."
I remember getting random hate mail about a specific joke I made six or seven years after the fact on Twitter. I have made literally tens of thousands of jokes about The Amazing Race and other RTV shows over the years, but for some reason somebody took the time to sift through for their least favourite one. I've never understood why people invest their time this way.
In short, if you're keen on writing jokes, just start writing 'em. Don't overthink it. There are MANY times where I initially think a joke is not funny after I see it written out. I go through with it anyway and a bunch of people specifically cite the joke I thought was the least funny. I've been doing this for a decade and my process is still evolving to this day.
