Anne Libera

A joke is a setup and a punchline.

But when you equate comedy with jokes, you often equate comedy with some of the darker parts of comedy and the riskier parts of comedy.

And instead, the really central comedy that I love and that I think anybody can do is comedy of recognition.

If I share things about who I am and the way I approach the world, you are going to naturally be interested in them.

And that's a central aspect of being funny.

So a lot of what I teach to talk about my students, I'm like, don't try to be funny, which of course means trying to be funny means you're not going to be funny because there is no try.

There's only do.