A one-liner is a

joke A joke is a display of humour in which words are used within a specific and well-defined narrative structure to make people laughter, laugh and is usually not meant to be interpreted literally. It usually takes the form of a story, often with ...

that is delivered in a single line. A good one-liner is said to be pithy – concise and meaningful. Comedians and actors use this comedic method as part of their act, e.g.

Jimmy Carr James Anthony Patrick Carr (born 15 September 1972) is a British-Irish comedian, presenter, writer, and actor. He is known for his deadpan delivery of controversial one-liners and distinctive laugh, for which he has been both praised and criti ...

Tommy Cooper Thomas Frederick Cooper (19 March 1921 – 15 April 1984) was a Welsh prop comedian and Magic (illusion), magician. As an entertainer, his appearance was large and lumbering at , and he habitually wore a red Fez (hat), fez when performing. He ...

Rodney Dangerfield Rodney Dangerfield (born Jacob Rodney Cohen; November 22, 1921 – October 5, 2004) was an American Stand-up comedy, stand-up comedian, actor, screenwriter, and producer. He was known for his self-deprecating one-line joke, one-liner humor, his c ...

, Norm Macdonald,

Ken Dodd Sir Kenneth Arthur Dodd (8 November 1927 – 11 March 2018) was an English comedian, singer and occasional actor. He was described as "the last great music hall entertainer", and was primarily known for his live stand-up performances. A lifel ...

Stewart Francis Stewart Francis is a Canadian comedian, actor and writer. In addition to his work in Canada and the US, he frequently tours in the UK and appears on British television. Both of Francis' parents are British. Francis was born in Saint Joseph's ...

Zach Galifianakis Zachary Knight Galifianakis (born October 1, 1969) is an American actor and comedian. He appeared in ''Comedy Central Presents'' special and presented his show ''Late World with Zach'' on VH1. Galifianakis has starred in films including ''Th ...

Mitch Hedberg Mitchell Lee Hedberg (February 24, 1968 – March 30, 2005) was an American stand-up comedian known for his surreal humor and deadpan delivery. His comedy typically featured short, sometimes one-line jokes mixed with absurd elements and non se ...

, Anthony Jeselnik,

Milton Jones Milton Hywel Jones (born 16 May 1964) is an English comedian. His style of humour is based on one-liners involving puns delivered in a deadpan and slightly neurotic style. Jones has had various shows on BBC Radio 4 and was a recurring guest p ...

Shaparak Khorsandi Shaparak Khorsandi ( fa, شاپرک خرسندی, born 8 June 1973), formerly known as Shappi Khorsandi, is an Iranian-born British comedian and author. She is the daughter of the Iranian political satirist and poet Hadi Khorsandi. Her family l ...

, Jay London, Mark Linn-Baker,

Demetri Martin Demetri Evan Martin ( el, Δημήτριος Ευάγγελος Μάρτιν, ''Dimitrios Evangelos Martin''; born May 25, 1973) is an American comedian, actor, writer, director, cartoonist and musician. He was a contributor on ''The Daily Show'' ...

Groucho Marx Julius Henry "Groucho" Marx (; October 2, 1890 – August 19, 1977) was an American comedian, actor, writer, stage, film, radio, singer, television star and vaudeville performer. He is generally considered to have been a master of quick wit an ...

Gary Delaney Gary Delaney (born 16 April 1973) is an English writer and stand-up comedian. His style of humour is one-liners involving puns. He is known for delivering them in a slightly deadpan manner. Early life Gary Delaney received a degree in Economic ...

, Emo Philips, Tim Vine,

Steven Wright Steven Alexander Wright (born December 6, 1955) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and film producer. He is known for his distinctly lethargic voice and slow, deadpan delivery of ironic, philosophical and sometimes nonsensical jo ...

Gilbert Gottfried Gilbert Jeremy Gottfried (February 28, 1955 – April 12, 2022) was an American stand-up comedian and actor, known for his exaggerated shrill voice, strong New York accent, and his edgy, often controversial, sense of humor. His numerous r ...

, Mike Bocchetti, and

Henny Youngman Henry "Henny" Youngman (16 March 1906 – 24 February 1998) was a British-born American comedian and musician famous for his mastery of the " one-liner", his best known being "Take my wife... please". In a time when many comedians told ela ...

. Many fictional characters are also known to deliver one-liners, including

James Bond The ''James Bond'' series focuses on a fictional British Secret Service agent created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short-story collections. Since Fleming's death in 1964, eight other authors hav ...

, who usually includes pithy and laconic quips after disposing of a villain.

Examples

* "Never read a pop-up book about giraffes." (

Sean Lock Sean Lock (22 April 1963 – 16 August 2021) was an English comedian and actor. He began his comedy career as a stand-up comedian and in 2000 he won the British Comedy Award, in the category of Best Live Comic, and was nominated for the Pe ...

) * "Throwing acid is wrong. In some people's eyes." (

) * "My girlfriend makes me want to be a better person - so I can get a better girlfriend." ( Anthony Jeselnik) * "Cricket. No matter who wins, both teams, and all the fans, are losers." ( Frankie Boyle) * "If life were easy, it wouldn’t be difficult." (

Kermit the Frog Kermit the Frog is a Muppet character created and originally performed by Jim Henson. Introduced in 1955, Kermit serves as the everyman protagonist of numerous Muppet productions, most notably ''Sesame Street'' and ''The Muppet Show'', as well ...

) * "An escalator cannot break, it can only become stairs." (

) * "My movies were the kind they show in prisons and airplanes, because nobody can leave." (

Burt Reynolds Burton Leon Reynolds Jr. (February 11, 1936 – September 6, 2018) was an American actor, considered a sex symbol and icon of 1970s American popular culture. Reynolds first rose to prominence when he starred in television series such as ' ...

) * "I'm on a whiskey diet… I've lost three days already." (

) * "What Iran needs now is a more modern leader—a mullah lite." ( Shappi Khorsandi) * "I have nothing to declare except my genius." (

Oscar Wilde Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (16 October 185430 November 1900) was an Irish poet and playwright. After writing in different forms throughout the 1880s, he became one of the most popular playwrights in London in the early 1890s. He is ...

, upon arriving at US customs, 1882) * "Take my wife ... please." (

) * "They hired a 3-piece band that was so lousy, every time the waiter dropped a tray, we all got up and danced!" (

Les Dawson Leslie Dawson Jr. (2 February 1931 – 10 June 1993) was an English comedian, actor, writer, and presenter, who is best remembered for his deadpan style, curmudgeonly persona and jokes about his mother-in-law and wife. Early life Les Dawson w ...

) * "What a magnificent show this is going to be when it starts!" (

) * "I have a girlfriend! I've been going out with my girlfriend for… sex!" (

) * "I have an L-shaped sofa… Lowercase." (

) * "Crime in multi-story car parks is wrong on so many different levels." ( Tim Vine) * "My wife – it's difficult to say what she does. She sells seashells on the seashore." (

) * "In Scotland the forbidden fruit is fruit." (

) * "I collect books on minimalism." ( Brian Lister)

References

External links

Humorous one-liners, quotations, last words, Murphy's Laws & more
{{Authority control Jokes Stand-up comedy

Examples

See also

References

External links