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I found, especially with stand-up, that if a premise works, you can make the joke work. If a premise doesn't work, you can't force it to.

Even the most complicated stories start with a very simple premise.

It's hard for the majority of people to accept what they don't understand.

But with comedy it's a simple premise. If it's funny, people laugh. If it's not, they don't.

Once you come up with a premise, you have to work out how it all happened. It's a bit like coming up with a spectacular roof design first. Before you can get it up there, you need to build a solid foundation and supporting structure.

If you don't accept there is a problem, then it is hard to debate things.

If you can't fully believe in your ideas, it very quickly communicates to a group of actors who need something to hold onto. They need to believe that whatever criticism, whatever comment is received, is meant.

It's very hard to turn writers against each other, believe it or not.

I'd rather see folks doubt what's true than accept what isn't.