Comic Wonder will be starting a new monthly feature called "Top 10 Jokes You have to Hear!"

Each month we'll be hand-selecting ten jokes. You may or may not have already heard them; most went under the radar and never won awards; others are old gems any new member has most likely never heard.

November's Selection

November's Top 10 list boasts ten jokes that are "Short and Sweet." They have a witty and clever punchline, little set up, and are normally told in under 30 seconds.

Having short jokes in your joke-telling arsenal is important. Most times when you want to tell a joke, building up a 3-minute long story can be a bust. Many attempts to get laughs backfire from a combination of low audience patience or a punchline not worthy of the build-up. Picking and choosing your spots for when to break out a one-liner compared to a story joke is a skill we all should know.

The Art of the One-Liner

There is a certain art to one-liners. The most important element is misdirection. The audience has little time to think through the initial set up to the joke, so when you come in with the punchline, the audience will get both at the same time. The trick is forcing the audience to think one way by using a foundation of the joke relating to something they understand.

A perfect example is this one liner: "When I was a kid, I used to be scared of the dentist. Yeah, he was a pedophile."

In one sentence, the audience will think "Oh sure, so do I. Dentists are scary with their drills and crappy lounge music." Only for you to come in with a completely different reason to why you were scared of the person who was the dentist.

Here is our list of ten jokes we feel are great examples of short and sweet punchlines!