The secret to writing great jokes, from Daily Show alum Elliott Kalan
30 January 2026

The secret to writing great jokes, from Daily Show alum Elliott Kalan

Bullseye with Jesse Thorn

About
Elliot Kalan has been the head writer on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart and the Mystery Science Theater 3000 reboot. Now he’s written a book about joke writing. It’s called Joke Farming: How to Write Comedy and Other Nonsense. He talks to Bullseye about developing a process for writing jokes reliably, writing topical jokes, and writing jokes for voices other than his own.

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