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Part of my job as a dad is teaching my kids about humor and sarcasm and jokes and comedic timing. Especially my oldest, who really likes making jokes and comics of his own. If you’ve ever been around a kid trying to make up their own joke, you know how painful this can be!

When my son comes up with an idea for a joke, I like to help him improve it in small ways: cut down the number of words, lose this explanation, etc. A lot of this is stuff he’d learn on his own, but I want him to be able to identify potential stumblingblocks early on so he knows how to self-correct.

Today’s joke was one he came up with. The first two panels are his, and the last one is mine. The lesson here was figuring out how to go beyond the punchline to find another. A lot of times even the most obvious joke has something even more ridiculous just below the surface if you’re willing to look for it.

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Andrew Kaye (known in some circles as AK) is the creator of Ben & Winslow and other questionable comics, many of which can be found in his deviantART gallery and his Tumblr. He’s also the editor-in-chief of this magazine. Duh.