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Why? First of all, we write differently than we actually talk.

Fact: One of the most prolific stand-up comedy experts continues to spread this sort of mythical nonsense year after year.

When I say old, I'm talking 30 to 50 years old (even older if you go back to Vaudeville times when they basically used the same methodology).

Unfortunately, this expert has failed to recognize that some of the most successful comedians, including Bill Cosby, Jeff Foxworthy, Ellen DeGeneres, Tim Allen....

Myth #3 If you tell a story, you are not doing stand-up.

Secondly, an audience is not going to read your act - they are going to experience it, the way you deliver it to them.

Trying to use joke formulas to get the high level of funny you want on stage is like trying to dig a swimming pool with a spoon.

Jokes written on paper may read funny but can - and will - flop on stage.

Plus, joke writing is hard and takes years to learn.

Myth #2 Jokes are developed one at a time on paper.

But you DON'T have to be a great joke writer to develop and deliver super funny stand-up comedy material for the stage.

How you say (and express) anything you want to say to an audience is far more important than mere words structured in some sort of joke formula method.

Stories are not jokes and they don't work on the stand-up comedy stage.

The more jokes you write, the more "good" ones you will "find." Fact: This whole notion of working on single jokes, one at a time and then attempting to connect them in some meaningful way that will generate big laughs is a very old, worn out and largely ineffective concept.

Trying to write funny jokes from thin air, stringing them together and expecting big laughs on stage is much like trying to eat soup with a toothpick.