Jokes vs. Non Sequiturs

Many of us struggle with humor writing. In many cases, this boils down to understanding the difference between a joke and a non sequitur. I'm going to use a case study as an example.

Recently cartoonist Max Alley was looking for some help with a comic he had written:

• P1: Scientist: “Now, Watkins now!” [Presses button on control board]

• p2: Scientist: “Yes! It’s working! The super strength antigen is now coursing through the creature's veins.”

• p3: “Go forth and conqueror! The world shall surrender with your newfound might!” [creature heading away from the castle]

• P4: [Frankenstein monster is in baseball uniform, swinging a bat] <WHACK> Announcer: Going, going, gone! His third homer today. Wow, what a player!”

• p5: [Scientists decked out in baseball paraphernalia sitting in the crowd] “Not quite what I had in mind, but at least he’s conquering something.”

Jokes vs non sequiturs

The baseball gag fell flat. And Max instinctively knew that because his final panel wasn’t so much humorous as it was an attempt to explain the concept to the audience. (And that’s rarely a funny move.)

That’s because he didn’t write a joke. He wrote a non sequitur — a conclusion or statement that does not logically follow from the previous argument or statement.

Non sequiturs can be funny, but they’re not amusing automatically.