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Comedian Mark Normand walks through his writing process, which involves pacing, handwritten notes, and endless word-level tweaking of jokes until they land. He also breaks down what he learned from Seinfeld, Larry David, Groucho Marx, and Louis C.K. about observation, pacing, and getting away with edgy material.
- Normand writes by pacing and talking jokes out loud, then tests tiny changes (a single word or pause) across multiple sets until a bit locks in.
- He argues many comics avoid writing because it forces them to face whether their material is actually good, and says he writes handwritten to avoid the restrictions of a screen.
- He contrasts Seinfeld's focus on minutiae with Larry David's darker territory, and explains that the best edgy jokes work through a deliberate sequence of statements that earn the audience's agreement before the twist.