Can you learn comedy by the book?

Jimmy Carr is working on a book and a course to teach the 'language' of jokes. But is comedy an art or a science?

Jimmy Carr is writing a book about comedy. It sounds like the latest attempt to unscrew the nuts and bolts of humour. In the last few months we've had stand-up veteran Adam Bloom's Finding Your Comic Genius, which offers tips for working comedians and also hints for corporate speakers. And then there's Be Funny Or Die by Joel Morris, subtitled How Comedy Works And Why It Matters.

Each have their own angle, their own unique selling point. They are not all necessarily D-I-Y guides or How-To manuals and are certainly not Stand Up for Dummies. You only have to put Stand Up for Dummies into google to see that there are plenty of those already.

While Morris and Bloom's books are out now, not a lot is known about Jimmy Carr's book. But he does have previous. He has already written, in 2007 with Lucy Greeves, The Naked Jape: Uncovering the Hidden World of Jokes, so his quest for the platonic essence of the gag has been going on a long time.

I'm one of those chin-stroking critics who doesn't like some of the subject matter in Carr's jokes but does admire his skill and ability not to waste a word. I particularly like the fact that he has come up with some incredibly minimalist one-liners. One ("Dwarf Shortage") got him into hot water when he told it on TV. Perhaps he should've opted for his other two word wordplay – "Venison's deer" - I don't have to tell him that that joke is better as a verbal gag than written down.

Not a lot is known about Carr's book, but according to a report in The British Comedy Guide Carr wants to teach the "language" of joke writing with this book and a new online course, provisionally titled The Rosetta Stone Of Comedy, which he plans to launch in the autumn. He is developing it with director Amanda Baker and writer Abi Grant.

Can comedy be taught? I think he has a point, up to a point and there are already plenty of classes and courses out there. I can certainly see how some gags are "reverse engineered" – once you've got the payoff you learn how to navigate your way towards it. You can build up your comedy muscle, a joke writer once told me.

So maybe there could be such a road map. Like Bloom's book Carr's project is reported to be aimed at helping working comedians rather than newbies, and will focus on four areas, top 50 joke types and their components; timing; routine structure and live stage performance.

Carr has clearly given a lot of thought to the matter. He talked about his theories to Chris Evans when he appeared on his Virgin radio show to promote his new Netflix special, Natural Born Killer. “All jokes are the sudden revelation of a previously concealed fact ... It's pattern recognition, which is what kind of gives humanity the edge over everything else ... I think comedy is genuinely important to our evolution.”

He certainly thinks that writing jokes is as much a science as an art. He is quoted as saying: "I think there's too much mysticism about writing jokes. The idea that it can't be taught is to me so incredibly limiting. The idea that comedy can't be taught is like going, well music can't be taught." He has even suggested it should be taught in schools.

But in other areas of comedy, such as delivery, I'm not sure that I agree with his suggestions. When Carr was interviewed by Steven Bartlett for his podcast Diary of a CEO he gave this bit of advice for people – not just comedians – who want to be better communicators: "Speak at 92 beats a minute. When you look at the great public speakers, they all seem to be hitting that rhythm of 92 beats a minute."

Maybe he's right but I can't help thinking this advice sounds a little too rigid. It reminds me of an article I read when I was young – and I've got absolutely no idea why this sticks in my mind – which said that a study had been done to find the song with the perfect rhythm to follow when you are having sex. The song with the magic was Brass In Pocket by The Pretenders.

Now maybe 92 bpm is indeed right for stand-up delivery and maybe Brass In Pocket works for making love. But I imagine there are plenty of people out there who have successful long-lasting relationships by following the rhythm of Pretty Vacant by The Sex Pistols or Vienna by Ultravox. And I'm sure there are some comedians who make a decent living without a 92 BPM delivery. Carr's advice might help, but could it make a successful comedian out of even me? I’m not that sure.

Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer is streaming on Netflix now