There’s been a lot of discussion on the Internet regarding the larger cultural forces and attitudes that are congealing around Paul Feig’s new version of Ghostbusters (2016).

(L to R) Melissa McCarthy, Kate McKinnon, Kristen Wiig, Leslie Jones

So I thought instead of talking about the same things as everyone else, I would go in the opposite direction, and focus on something small and granular:

HOW DO YOU EDIT A JOKE?

Here is the second U.S. trailer for Ghostbusters. Don’t watch all of it. Just the first 18 seconds:

Now here’s the U.K. trailer for the film. Again, don’t watch all of it. Just the first 18 seconds:

Which joke did you laugh at?

I can’t speak for anyone else, but I laughed at the British one. At first glance, the two jokes seem almost identical. So allow me to show you that they are not the same, at all.

Before we begin, here’s a great quote about analyzing jokes:

So with your permission, I’m going to dissect some frogs.

1) Setting Up the Joke

The major difference between the two trailers is that one has a good set-up for a joke, and the other does not. I cannot emphasize this enough: The set-up matters more than the punchline. Always get the set-up right.

Here’s a Chris Rock quote from “Talking Funny:”

“A lot of comedians have great jokes and they’re like… well why isn’t this working? It’s not working because the audience does not understand the premise [of the joke]. So I’m going to make sure… if I set this premise up right, this joke will always work.”

Let’s take a look at the set-up from the American trailer. Here are all the shots leading up to the punchline: