Paul Berger on Jokes, Systems, and Taste

About this episode

Paul Berger has written a joke every day for forty years — and kept nearly all of them. In this masterclass on systems, he shows Elias the archive: filing cabinets of premises, the “ten-year drawer” for ideas that aren't ripe, and the ruthless weekly review where good jokes go to get better.

They also discuss taste — how to develop it, how to trust it, and why Paul still does small clubs unannounced.

Key takeaways

• Office hours: write 9–11am daily whether inspired or not — output is a function of attendance.
• The ten-year drawer: never delete a premise — file it; a third of Paul's best hour is rescued drawer material.
• Saying no: the two-sentence decline that protects the calendar — and the one question that earns a yes.
• Small rooms forever: test everything unannounced, monthly — the audience is the only focus group.

About Paul

Paul Berger is a comedian, writer, and producer whose observational work defined a generation of stand-up. His archive project is digitising 40,000 pages of notebooks for comedy researchers.