Anyone new to Jimmy’s comedy may wonder why in some clips (like this “Passionate “yes!” for WWE wrestling”) he is reading from a piece of paper (or he may have a clipboard, in some shows).

Being a one-liner comic means learning 2-300 jokes per show and, as he’s severely dyslexic, he had to find a way to work with compiling this large volume of material. He’s mentioned in the past that, when writing a new show, there’s no point in learning it verbatim until he knows that (1) all the jokes are staying in and (2) which order he will tell them in. Hence why the clipboard came out.

Comedians finalise their routines via Work in Progress (WIP) gigs (often in small venues and priced lower than normal) the comic tests out both the material and the sequencing. Jimmy has said that there is a logical place for certain jokes and simply moving one to a new position, of the routine, can often make a huge difference in the size of the laugh it will get.

That was his OLD work methodology. During 2023 he decided to challenge himself to write new jokes every day. It’s now commonplace, in every show, for him to pull a sheet of paper and pen out of his inside jacket pocket and read out some new jokes, marking down how big a laugh they get. Mentioned on We Might Be Drunk around 1 hour 20.

The tour Laughs Funny had its first WIP gigs in Feb 2024 and this constantly writing and testing new material has allowed him to build a body of work that will become the NEXT tour. He’s never been the sort of comedian that will end a tour and then take a couple of months off to write the next one. At the moment Laughs Funny runs until 19^th Dec 2025 – meaning the smart money would be on a new tour being prepped for 2026.

Back to the joke writing.

Talking about how a joke is formed he’s said in the past that, if the laugh is not there, then he’ll try a reword and, after 2-3 attempts, may discard it completely.

He talks about this “sheet of paper” routine, in a backstage podcast chat with Dominic Holland (recorded 5^th July 2024). Always in awe of how calm he seems in this situation – recording a podcast or meeting people backstage right before he’s due to walk out and perform.

This link starts at the point relating to the explanation of pulling out the piece of paper – but I’d recommend starting back at the beginning of the chat.

Personally, I love listening in on chats between 2-3 comedians, getting a peep behind the curtain. See also, Jimmy, Mark Normand and Sam Morril brainstorming jokes in the Middle East chapter on We Might Be Drunk.