Writing Comedy is Harder Than You Think – A Book Review

There is nothing better than good comedy, and perhaps, there is nothing worse than bad comedy, and I suppose if you are a writer, you’d pretty much like to stay in the “Good Zone” and if you are a comedian saying the lines, you definitely want to be out of the target zone if you have to read one of those bad lines. In any case, I’d sure like to recommend a very good book to you on writing great comedy;

“Comedy Writing Secrets; the Best-Selling Book on How to Make Money, Write Funny, Act Funny, and Get Paid for It” by Mel Helitzer and Mark Shatz, 2005.

The authors give a lot of writing techniques when it comes to humor. They explain that humor can be created in a number of ways such as plays on words, and speeches to make them laugh first. They also explain how to take a simple truth and make it into a joke. They also have a chapter on comedy as a rubber sword. They suggest that you should never underestimate the use of comedy with regards to realism and exaggeration. They explain the difference between the use of funny words and foul language. Gutter comedy, maybe easier to write, but it gets old quick.

They give tips on when to use humor as filler and there is a chapter on how to find the right words because this is the key to humor. Then there are suggestions on using statistics and a novelty to create humor. I enjoyed the chapters; Teach Learn and Laugh and Bewitched, Bewildered, Bothered. You can tell that the authors themselves have a sense of humor, and therefore, you are learning from two of the best writers around. Indeed, I hope you please consider this.

By: Lance Winslow

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