May 18, 2012
[eim] The actual order of the Top Ten
Rob Burnett, executive producer of Late Night with David Letterman is finishing up five hours of IAMA at Reddit, and 27 seconds ago posted a response to the question “Why is number 5 always the funniest out of the top 10?” What a dumb question! It’s always been obvious to me that #2 is the funniest.
And, well, I don’t mean to brag, but I’m right and gregorkafka (if that’s his real name) is wrong. Here’s Rob’s response to the question:
Don’t get me started. Every headwriter has their own approach to the Top 10. Here was mine:
10 Funny, but also straight forward. Reinforce the topic.
9 Medium strength. Start with two laughs. Get a tailwind.
8 Can be a little experimental. Maybe not everyone gets it, but ok.
7 Back on track. Something medium.
6 Crowd pleaser. One that will get applause. Will help bridge the first panel to the second.
5 Coming off #6, time to take a chance.
4 Starting to land the plane. Gotta be solid.
3 For me always the second funniest one you got.
2 Funniest one you have.
1 Funniest one that is short so the band doesn’t play over it.
I always tried to never give Dave two in a row that didn’t get a laugh. Of course you want all 10 to be killer, but you don’t always have that going in.
Number 2! We’re Number 2!
