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Five lines, AABBA, and a punchline

Limerick

A limerick is a tiny machine for comic escalation. It sets up a person or problem, makes the situation stranger, then lands the joke.

Try Limerick

The shape

  • Five lines: the first, second, and fifth rhyme; the third and fourth rhyme.
  • The middle pair is usually shorter.
  • The fifth line is the payoff, so drafting it first can help.

A good place to use it

Absurd characters, playful language, and endings that need to arrive with a little bounce.

Try this

  • Choose a place that rhymes with a surprising problem.
  • Make the third line take the story in the wrong direction.
  • Read it aloud until the rhythm sounds like a person telling it.

A small example

There once was a cat from Peru
Who insisted the moon was brand new
It climbed up a chair
And found nothing there
Then charged the old sky for the view

Keep in mind

  • Lines 1, 2 and 5 rhyme. Lines 3 and 4 rhyme with each other and are shorter.
  • The rhythm is da-da-DUM, da-da-DUM — read it aloud and you will hear it.
  • The last line is the joke. Write that one first if it helps.
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