Two Jokes Doesn't Mean Twice As Funny

I learned a hard truth today, ladies and gentlemen.

I was working on my TV pilot script, and sat there analyzing how- if at all- two of the jokes related to each other. Both of them had racism as their subject matter. Please note that neither were what I (or, presumably, a switched-on audience member) would consider racist; the jokes both centred on one of the characters being so oblivious that he didn't get why something he said could be interpreted as racist.

Once, this was fine. The joke comes across well enough, and it's clear (both in my mind and in feedback I've gotten from folk who've read it) that the joke is indeed on the character, not on any ethnic minorities.

Twice, however, and we get into trouble. Not because having a similarly-themed joke later in the script pushes the concept into some previously-uncharted area of prejudice; simply because it muddies things. Hear a joke once, and it's just a joke. Hear a different-but-similar joke later and we start seeing a pattern. The audience will wonder if there's any inferences that are supposed to be made about the character, or the writer, or the nature of the script.

So, one of the jokes disappeared. The script may be ever so slightly less funny (depending on one's opinion of how funny the new replacement joke is), but it's significantly clearer in tone. And no one will be wondering why the topic of racism seems to be at the forefront of one of my characters' minds.

Another lesson learned!