And Here’s the Kicker is a book that features conversations with many successful humor writers about their craft. It’s coming out in July, but there are excerpts available now on the book’s official site. My favorite is this, from George Meyer, one of the geniuses behind The Simpsons:

You can see that sensibility in many episodes of The Simpsons. As opposed to most shows, The Simpsons is never afraid to mock religion and the religious.

I think what we’re really satirizing is moral certainty—the myopia of the pious. The religious ferociously defend their own beliefs, but if a Sioux wants to keep a Target store off his sacred land they’ll laugh in his face.

And this from Dave Barry, which can be applied to more than humor writing:

When you write humor, it’s not funny to you. It’s not even really that funny when you first think of the idea. There may be a glimmer of humor because it still seems vaguely original, but after a couple of days it’s not funny at all. You’re just trusting that it was, at some point, funny, and that your honing and tweaking is really improving it.

(Another interview with Meyer can be found here.)