Create Your Own Knock-Knock Jokes

By Tom E. Moffatt and Paul Beavis

Knock bad jokes on the head!

Learn everything there is to know about knock-knock jokes, from their history and types to crafting your own knock-out punchlines.

Packed full of tips, easy-to-follow exercises and 100+ hilarious examples, this book gives you know-how to knock together thousands of your own jokes.

 

Craft classic knock-knock jokes, like this one:

Knock, knock...

Who's there?

Ewan

Ewan who?

Ewan me need to talk.

 

Or Unrestricted knock-knock jokes:

Knock, knock...

Who's there?

Waiter

Waiter who?

Waiter minute, I think I'm at the wrong house!

 

And have a go at making your own sound-play jokes:

Knock, knock...

Who's there?

Howie

Howie who?

I'm fine, thank you.

 

And can you break the rules, like this?

Ding-dong!

Who's there?

Isabelle

Isabelle who?

Isabelle not better than a knocker these days?

 

This comprehensive guide will transform you into a comedic master, so get ready to hear your friends knocking at your door for more jokes!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Write Laugh
• Release date: Nov 1, 2021
• ISBN: 9780473599829

Book preview

You're Joking: Create your own Knock-Knock Jokes

Tom E. Moffatt

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Write Laugh Books

Published in 2021 by Write Laugh Books

Rotorua, New Zealand

Text © Tom E. Moffatt, 2021

Illustrations © Paul Beavis, 2021

www.TomEMoffatt.com

ISBN: 978-0-473-59981-2 (print)

ISBN: 978-0-473-59982-9 (e-book)

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

A catalogue record for this book is available from the National Library of New Zealand.

Cover design and illustrations: Paul Beavis

Developmental and copy editing: Anna Bowles

Initial proofreading: Marj Griffiths, Rainbow Resolutions

Final proofreading: Vicki Arnott, Story Polisher

Print book and e-book design: Write Laugh Books

For Matilda,

Who can turn anything into a knock-knock joke.

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Contents

1. Introduction

2. What is a Knock-Knock Joke?

3. The History of Knock-Knock Jokes

4. Types of Knock-Knock Joke

5. What Makes It Funny?

6. Things to Include

7. Classic Knock-Knock Jokes

8. Unrestricted

9. Reverse Engineering

10. Sound-Play

11. Breaking the Rules

12. Developing Your Skills

13. When, Where, Who, How

14. The Beginning

Also by Tom E. Moffatt

About the Author

Resources

Introduction

Unless you’ve been living alone in a cave for your entire life, you’ll have heard a knock-knock joke. You’ll probably have told a few to friends and family. You might even have tried to make up your own.

But did people laugh?

The aim of a joke is to make people laugh. This is where many knock-knock jokes fall short. The problem is that provided you stick to the prescribed pattern, you can say absolutely anything you like and it is technically a knock-knock joke. In the same way, if you cover something with wrapping paper and give it to someone, it is technically a gift. Whether that person wants a smelly sock or a life-size plastic giraffe is another matter.

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In order to give someone a gift that they truly want, you should carefully consider their tastes and current mood. You should search diligently for the perfect item, looking in as many places as necessary. Only when you’re certain you’ve found something they’ll love should you wrap it up and give it to them.

It’s exactly the same with knock-knock jokes.

If you take the first thing that comes into your head and squeeze it into the knock-knock structure, it won’t make anyone laugh. At least, not for the right reasons. To create knock-knock jokes that your audience finds funny, you first need to understand exactly how they work. You’ll then need to come up with multiple possibilities, examining them and tweaking them, sifting through the silt for that one gold nugget.

Even then, when you have a handful of shiny knock-knock jokes, they won’t all succeed. Some will be like fool’s gold, met with groans and eye-rolls. But the more jokes you tell, the better you’ll understand what works and what doesn’t. You’ll also figure out who is likely to laugh and who isn’t.

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Join me on this journey, this deep dive into the world of knock-knock jokes. We’ll discover where they came from, we’ll analyse the different kinds and we’ll create our very own knock-knock jokes to share. But most importantly, we’ll have fun. Because joke-telling should be fun, even if the joke isn’t funny.

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What is a Knock-Knock Joke?

This might sound like an obvious question. It’s a joke, right? It says so in the name.

True. But a knock-knock joke is a specific style of joke. One that follows a set structure and requires audience participation. Here’s how it works:

The joke-teller starts by saying knock-knock, as though they are knocking on an imaginary door.

The person responding to the joke – the audience – pretends they are inside the imaginary house and don’t know who’s at the door.

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Next, the joke-teller gives the name of a person or an object that is at the door. This sets up the joke.

The person responding still doesn’t know who it is. They say (name/object) who?

Finally, the joke-teller delivers their punchline, containing the word(s) from the setup, often in a funny or unexpected way.

Here's an example:

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We can break it down even further into a template:

(Joke-teller/Audience)

Knock, knock…

Who’s there?

(name/object)

(name/object) who?

Hilarious punchline that includes (name/object).

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Here’s an example laid out as a script:

Joke-teller: Knock, knock...

Audience: Who’s there?

Joke-teller: Waiter

Audience: Waiter who?

Joke-teller: Waiter minute... I think I’m at the wrong house.

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However, just knowing the structure of a knock-knock joke is not enough. My middle daughter mastered this by the age of three, but the ‘jokes’ she comes up with are pretty far from funny, even now that she’s six. Here’s one she told recently:

Knock, knock…

Who’s there?

Apple…