Comedy is like fashion.
In fashion, bell-bottoms are in for one generation. Then a new generation comes along and leg warmers and flannel are the rage.
In comedy, over-the-top shock with political reference was in fashion when the baby boomers were young. Now, Gen Z tends to like madcap non sequitur jokes with layers of observational and cultural reference.
Staying on top of such trends is easy. Just do the kind of humor that’s in vogue.
The more challenging skill is to transcend passing fads while still satisfying current tastes.
With particular Funny Filters favored from generation to generation, the best practice is to make use of all 11. This wide-net “assault of the jokes” approach usually ropes in every fish, no matter what’s popular. The movie Airplane is an example of this approach.
Stay away from specific current events that date you. George Carlin figured this out in the 60s.
If you must do current events, lampoon them in a way that even someone who doesn’t read the news can still get the jokes. Monty Python wrote sketches this way, helping their references to British politics succeed not only in America, but with future generations too.
Use characters with contrasting archetypes. Laurel and Hardy, inspired by the vaudeville greats, did this a hundred years ago and are still funny today.
It always pays to use plenty of Madcap. All of the above were masters of it.
To seal in your longevity, you can’t go wrong favoring social satire over conversational or formulaic humor, avoiding slang, using the most popular character archetypes, and focusing on universal human foibles for reference.
Have fun!
I love Airplane!
Great points! It helps having Gen Z kids keep me up to date. I’ll ask them about certain ideas I have and they let me know if they’ll fly. Luckily, animation has a longer shelf life. They are still down with The Simpsons and South Park.