Stand up comedians dream of seeing themselves on television, hearing “From New York City, Comedy Central presents” or being a regular on Saturday night live. However, not all comics make it trough, and not all have huge audiences, a fan base and get to go to comedy festivals and be a part of the comedy circuit. If you want to know how to make it as a comic and have the best comedy shows out there, this article will tell you the secrets of stand up comedy and stand up comics.
Now, in order to make it to a comedy festival and comedy clubs, first you need enter the comedy circuit. This is done by countless open mic nights which bring you a steady audience and a fan base. However, you can only achieve this with good humor, great jokes and hard work.
You can develop your talents as a comic, and deliver great a great comedy show, but this means that you need to work on those jokes, learn what gets people laughing, and develop your own personal style that will make you a well loved funny comedian.
Let’s take it from the beginning: open mics. When you’re on a stage for the first time, and you have a live audience in front of you, you need act as a stand up comedian. Normally, you’ll be scared, but you need to push that away from you and give your fans a good time – you’re the comic, right? So, how can you do that? How can you act naturally and give the audience a great comedy show? Here are some tips you can use right away and that will help you tremendously while you’re performing and when you’re building your stand up comedy career.
Believe it or not, it involves you and a mirror. As you stand in front of the mirror look at yourself. Are you looking funny? Do you look like a celebrity? Can you make a joke about the way you look? Do you look like a fat Jesus? You can make fun: of your ethnicity, religion, mother, family, friends, first date, sexual experiences, your girlfriend, etc. Get your juices flowing and try to come up with at least 5 minutes of original jokes.
Once you done that, you’re ready to give a great comedy show to your audience. However, you will always need to work on new jokes. This is why every stand up comedian has a secret weapon: a pen and paper or a recording device that they carry with them all time. Why? Because you don’t know when inspiration hits you! You might be on the toilet, at the movies, in front of a window, et cetera. You need to be prepared. Be sure that you’ll forget your jokes before you get home and write them down. Buy a mobile with a recording function. This will help you tremendously writing new material and brushing your talent.
A good comedy show is all about humor, good jokes, big audiences and a good act. This will get you into comedy clubs, that comedy festival, and make you a part of the comedy circuit. If you’re lucky you’ll even get a special series featuring you on television – Saturday night live and Comedy central are not that far! You can do that, but you need to work for it. A stand up comedian must work and improve himself or herself, and this is done in time, keeping yourself informed, learning, and watching other stand up comedians. You can learn a lot from their act.
By: Peter S. Smith
About the Author:
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Nov 20th, 2010. 
Once you have an idea, how can you turn it into comedy? One way is by the use of exaggeration. Once you start making the end results more than they would normally be, the result is frequently humorous. Or it could be that the effort expended by your character is out of proportion to the end result – or perhaps the end result is not what he expected.
This can be seen in the Roadrunner cartoons where the ‘baddy’ tries with great effort to do the roadrunner in but his plans usually backfire onto himself.
The use of literary devices is also an aid to writing comedy. You can make use of ambiguity where there is unclear or double meaning to a word or phrase. Alliteration also creates a comic touch to the sound of your comedy. Euphemism can also be used to lighten a serious subject such as death. This can be referred to as ‘kicking the bucket’ or some of the other phrases we sometimes adopt for death and dying, while ‘doing him’ in is how murder is often referred to in comedy.
Your ideas really need to be funny to start with and then using the above devices can strengthen the humor in them. If your ideas are not funny – if they don’t make you laugh when you write them – then you must ask if they will make anyone else laugh. If not, revise.
Some writers start at the ending and work backwards. If you have a funny ending in your mind, you can write the second last line, then the last line, then go backwards from there in creating how this funny situation came about. You should never have too many characters in your comedic writing. You are not writing a novel. Two or three for each scene should be sufficient.
When you are writing comedy, don’t forget to make use of silence. It is often the silent pause that makes something funny, or even funnier. And if you want a pause, you have to write it into the script. Not everyone will realize there should be a pause there.
If you are a complete beginner, it would help you tremendously to take a course or study in writing comedy. Getting one-on-one tuition can hone your skills dramatically; with an expert to guide you, your career could take off a great deal more quickly.
By: Laura S James
About the Author:
Read more on Brainstorming Creative Ideas in Comedy Writing…
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Nov 16th, 2010.
If you were to do a word association with the prompt “Declamation,” here is a list you might accumulate:
-AIDS
-commencement speech
-hope for the future
-discrimination of any kind
-politics
- WHY SO SERIOUS?
Declamation, like most events open to both the comedic and dramatic, is mostly a thoroughfare of grave topics. Given the nature of this event it is understandable. Speeches are often delivered during a formal affair where important business is on the docket. Clearly, one would not deliver a fully comedic speech on the issue of AIDS. It would be utterly inappropriate and offensive.
Yet, when choosing a Declamation piece it is important to look for one that offers at least a handful of chuckles. Why you ask? For the same reason any dramatic film has a few solid jokes-laughter breaks the smother-heavy atmosphere and relieves tension.
People often become numb to a situation if immersed in it for too long. Translation? Too much drama and the audience might tune you out enough to not recall the message of the piece. Further, being tuned out means you have lost the audience. Losing the audience might correlate with losing the judge. And we all know what happens when we lose a judge!
After the round is completed, you want your speech to be remembered. Giving a polished performance is the first step to accomplish this. The second step is using humor to kill monotony, save your audience from boredom, and keep them invested in your piece. If you can achieve interest from the audience, than that means people are actually listening. When people listen, they remember. Therefore, an easy formula might read as follows:
Polished Piece + Laughter = Attention/Interest –> BEING REMEMBERED
Of course being remembered is not the only secret to success. But there is a correlation to being remembered and ranking higher; just stating the obvious. Besides, variety is one component of what makes a great piece; mixing humor and drama is a splendid way of adding spice to your selection.
By: Lisa Schemensky
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Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Nov 15th, 2010.
The idea behind writing for comedy is easy enough to understand – make people laugh – but the elements that result in something that is truly funny are complex and varied. Comedy is essentially drama without the laughs, and, just as in drama writing, there are formulas to writing a successful comedy. Humor can be used in almost all aspects of writing: in conflict, in character development, in story structure, and so on.
Conflict in Comedy Writing
Conflict serves as a starting point for your story structure. It is what makes the story lead somewhere; it’s what gives your comedy a point. Conflict not only makes for easy, expandable laughing points; it can serve as motivating factors for the characters as the story develops and takes shape. Much like the three types of conflict in classic dramatic writing (man against nature, man against man, and man against himself), there are three basic types of comic conflict: global conflict, local conflict, and inner conflict.
Global conflict has to do with a character being at war with the world around him or her. In comedy writing, this can go one of two ways. First, a normal character may be placed into a comic world. For instance, in the television sitcom Arrested Development, the main character Michael stands as the voice of reason in a world that is relentlessly and hilariously against him. Alternately, a comic character can placed into the normal world. For example, the 2003 Will Ferrell film Elf placed a human who has been raised as an elf at the North Pole into real world New York City.
Local conflict has to do with man versus man. There are two ways to most effectively execute local conflict with comedic success: comic character versus a normal character or comic characters in opposition. Comic character versus a normal character places an outrageous character in opposition with a normal one. A good example of this method is television show Mork and Mindy, where Mork is the comic character and Mindy is just a normal person. Comic characters in opposition place two comically opposite characters in conflict. Perhaps it’s an obvious choice, but The Odd Couple is the perfect example of this type of conflict – their opposing comic personalities clash, making for a funny premise with plenty of room for conflict.
Inner conflict places man versus himself. This is considered by some to be the deepest type of conflict, and that’s no less true of comedy writing. In many cases, a normal character becomes a comic character in this type of conflict. A good example of this is The Mask starring Jim Carrey, where Carrey’s character is a normal person in possession of an artifact that turns him into what is essentially a cartoon character – the two sides of his personality are in conflict over which he should be.
Character Development
All that conflict leads us to where the conflict comes from – comic perspective. The most important part of a comic character is his perspective – what makes him think the things he thinks and do the things he does. It is his unique way of looking at the world. The more exaggerated the comic perspective, the funnier the character is going to be. For instance, a guy who sometimes gets paranoid is not inherently funny. A guy who is so paranoid that he spray paints his car silver (because ‘they’ can’t see silver) and makes a suit of tin foil is a good expansion of that paranoid person’s comic perspective and an effective use of exaggeration.
Exaggeration takes your character’s perspective to the end of the line, which is what will make that character funny. As such, comic perspective and exaggeration go hand in hand.
A good way to build on your character’s personality is to make the character flawed. People are more drawn to characters that have recognizable flaws – nobody is perfect, and if your character is imperfect in a hilarious way, you’ve got relatable humor.
Further development can be made in revealing your character’s humanity. The Comic Toolbox describes humanity as “the sum of a character’s positive human qualities that inspire either sympathy, empathy, or both.” Humanity unites your character with the audience, allowing sympathy and empathy to work at making the viewer care about your character. It’s important in all aspects of writing, but, in comedy, if a joke relies on the audience having any emotional bond with the characters and the humanity is not there, the joke will fall flat and people probably won’t be interested.
Concepts to Build On
Humor and comedy go back as far as writing itself; and, as in any art, most of the groundwork has been laid. It is important to know where the ideas have been developed and which concepts are the most solid ground for expansion, so that you have some direction with your writing and so you don’t wind up reinventing the wheel. Building on the concepts that have already been established as tried and true is the best way to ensure that you will get the most laughs.
Clash of context is one such example of a tried and true comedic concept. In general, the unexpected is what takes us by surprise and makes us laugh – clash of context takes advantage of this effect by taking something from where it belongs and places it where it does not.
There are a few ways to incorporate clash of context into comedy writing. Physical juxtaposition puts the items that clash physically close to one another. Emotional juxtaposition would place something emotional in an impassive setting or vice-versa – for instance, a hot dog vendor selling in the aisles at a funeral. Attitudinal juxtaposition has to do with the aforementioned conflict development strategy comic characters in opposition. The clash of context between the character’s personalities is what makes this strategy humorous.
Exaggeration is another important tool of the comedy writing trade. This one has a lot of range – it can, and should be, incorporated into many of the concepts and strategies discussed here (exaggeration of comic perspective, discussed previously, is one such example). Everything your characters do should have some level of exaggeration -mannerisms, understanding of the world (or lack thereof), responses, and so on – exaggeration keeps the character interesting and makes everything a little bit more outrageous.
In writing jokes, build tension and release. Go over jokes and ensure the payoff is positioned optimally in the joke. “Sometimes when a joke doesn’t work, fixing it is just a matter of rearranging the parts. When in doubt, put the funny word last.” If you give away the punch line of a joke before you’ve built it up, the joke is going to fall flat because there is no element of surprise. The longer you can build to tension without the audience losing interest, the bigger the payoff is going to be.
Tell the truth to comic effect or tell a lie to comic effect. If one way isn’t particularly funny, try the other. Telling the truth to comic effect has to do with pointing out the truth and the pain of a given situation explicitly. Telling a lie to comic effect is a little bit like sarcasm. For example, if a friend were to ask you to accompany him for a day trip to the DMV, you might say, “I can’t think of a better way to spend my day!” Obviously, it doesn’t sound like a very good time at all, but saying the opposite is what’s funny.
The rule of threes is very simple: setup, setup, and payoff. This method is best used in lists. Start with two seemingly normal things that go together and add something completely outrageous as the third. As an example, “I’ve got to run some errands … the bank, the grocery store, and the ***** house.” The first two are obviously normal errands, while the third is shocking and takes the reader or viewer by surprise.
As with any kind of writing, the best way to get great results from comedy writing is to begin with a rough draft. Come up with a rough draft of a joke, then go back and ask yourself what the essence, the basic idea behind the joke is. Rewrite with that idea in mind to make the most out of the joke’s potential.
The doorbell effect is when the character has a strong certainty of the outcome of a situation, then his – and the viewer’s – expectations are shattered. A good example of this is in the opening scene of the film Super Troopers, where three stoned teens have a freak out because a police car with its siren on pulls up behind them. The teens experience vast relief when the police car abruptly passes them, but, as they discuss their close call, one notices in the rear view mirror that the same cop has somehow gotten behind them and is approaching the vehicle. The teens expected that the cop had driven away, when their expectations were shattered by the lights in the rear-view.
One concept popular to sitcoms is the running *** – use a joke several times, but tweaked in new directions each time. Tweaking the joke ensures that it is going to stay fresh, and there are ideal ways to go about it. Change some details each time – the circumstances surrounding the joke, the lead-up to the joke, and so on. Escalate the importance of the joke each time it’s told, so that by the end it’s a proper laugh-riot. Lastly, change the source of the joke – have a different character make the joke.
Comic stories
The center and eccentrics approach to comic stories regards an everyman surrounded by comic characters. The audience relates to the everyman and experiences a bizarre comic world through his eyes.
A “fish out of water” approach places a normal character in a comic world or a comic character in a normal world. With a normal character in a comic world, the viewer experiences life in this new, hilarious world through the eyes of the normal, relatable person. With a comic character in the normal world, the viewer experiences what life is like when you’re new to the everyday.
Character comedy has to do with direct emotional war between strong comic opposites. This incorporates the character conflict “man verses man” into plot development.
Some comedy writing has its emphasis on supernatural powers as a driving comedic factor. The powers are used as a plot device to put the character into unique situations – like in the television sitcom Bewitched. It is important to keep in mind, when writing for powers, not to be hackneyed about it. The same old thing just won’t do because nobody will care, so if a writer chooses to pursue this method it absolutely must be original.
Ensemble Comedy is when there isn’t one main character, but rather the emphasis is on a group and how they interact. This is good for multiple intersecting storylines and is most apparent in sitcoms such as Friends or Seinfeld. While there are main characters to each of these sitcoms, the larger emphasis is placed on interpersonal character interaction.
One of the easiest – and least respected – comic story structures is an emphasis on slapstick. Slapstick is generally thought of as shallow and simple, though there is value in incorporating some slapstick in situations where there is something lacking.
The last type of comic story to be discussed is satire and parody. These can be the most challenging types of stories to make original and hilarious, but the payoff is great if you can pull it off. These are not only funny and relatable, but are oftentimes socially relevant. A good example of this is the wildly popular cartoon South Park, which often satirizes politics and parodies cultural phenomena.
Conclusion
Writing for comedy sounds like a lot of fun, and one might think that because it seems like a lot of fun that it is easy. This is not the case. Like any art, writing for comedy requires practice, patience, and knowledge of the underlying structures that make for quality work. The writer must consider not only what he finds funny, but what the audience will and in what context.
Bibliography
Vorhaud, John. The Comic Toolbox. Silman-James Press, 1994.
Perret, Gene. Comedy Writing Workbook. Sterling Publishing Co.,
Luff, Brian. “Writing Comedy Sketches That Sell”. Planet Comedy. 2008 July 25.
By: Dave Mercier
About the Author:
Dave Mercier -
http://mercworks.org
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Nov 15th, 2010.
Dying is easy, comedy is hard.
Old adage and old thinking, invented by writers and performers who wanted greater kudos for a craft that was deemed to be less worthy because it dealt with the amusing.
Comedians, writers and performers, want to not only make people laugh but to be taken seriously as well.
They thought they were being linked back in time to village idiots and court jesters, buffoons and the lame-brained. It didn’t matter how much they got paid, they still had to wear that damn hat with the bell on the end.
So they absolutely had to insist that comedy was such a difficult craft to master that only those verging on genius could achieve it.
Sorry, guys, don’t buy it.
To write a comedy sketch all you need a combination of a situation, characters and dialogue, with a mix of at least one of the elements being ridiculous. Keep writing till you hit the punch-line and then edit back. Let’s try it with a little bedroom conversation sketch.
BILL: So, how do you know Fred next door’s got a bigger thingy than me?
JEAN: He showed me it.
BILL: What do you mean, he showed you it? Guys don’t just go around showing their married-next-door- neighbour their thingy.
JEAN: Fred does, he’s an exhibitionist. He says, if you’ve got it, flaunt it.
BILL: The dirty devil. Is it..eh.. really big?
JEAN: Enormous.
BILL: What, length-wise or girth?
JEAN: Both. He’s won prizes for it.
BILL: What do you mean ‘prizes’?
JEAN: Trophies. Awards. There’s an international organisation for men with big thingies, and they give out annual awards in various categories, Fred says.
BILL: He’s having you on.
JEAN: He showed me it.
BILL: So you said.
JEAN: His prize! It’s a big gold-plated thingy and it says ‘Most Promising Newcomer’.
BILL: Oh, so he’s not been in this club long?
JEAN: No, just since he was spotted. In a public toilet. That’s how they do their recruiting.
BILL: He didn’t try to… you know… when he was showing you…?
JEAN: It’s not sexual. It’s all about aesthetic qualities.
BILL: Bollocks!
JEAN: That’s a separate category.
BILL: He’s just trying to get into your pants. I’m going round there to give him a hiding.
JEAN: Hey, just because Fred’s proud of how well-endowed he is, and wanted me to see his thingy, and feel how smooth the skin…..
BILL: You touched it?
JEAN: How else was I supposed to experience the satin-like sheen?
BILL: Listen, I’m as broad-minded as the next guy, but I don’t want you going next door and looking at Fred’s thingy and touching it. It’s.. it’s.. unhygenic.
JEAN: You’re jealous.
BILL: Yes. I admit it. I am. Green-eyed. (pause) I can’t help it, but I really envy your facility for making friends, darling.
Okay, so maybe it’s not worthy of an Emmy but then again at least I’m not ashamed of my jester’s cap.
By: Gurmeet Mattu
About the Author:
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Nov 12th, 2010.
If you want to learn stand-up comedy, then you need to know what a punchline really is. Just knowing that the punchline is the funny part of a joke is not enough.
So let me redefine the term punchline:
A punchline is very simply a “reaction” using your sense of humor to that which is being talked about-whether you are talking about an experience, event, opinion or whatever is being presented.
Think of it this way. You are talking with a friend. That friend makes a statement. You “react” to that statement and your friend laughs.
You just delivered a punchline in a dialogue.
In the process of trying to learn stand-up comedy, one need only recognize that the only difference between delivering a punchline in a dialogue (talking with a friend) and delivering a punchline in a monologue (stand-up comedy performance) is…
In a monologue, you are using your sense of humor to react to what just YOU are saying.
You should also be aware that a punchline need not be spoken-it can be a look, a ****** expression or body language. All of these are “reactions” that can create laughter.
Here are some down and dirty guidelines for developing punchlines very quickly:
1. Make sure your stand-up comedy act is written out on paper or your word processor.
2. Verbalize your material out loud and try to “react” to each and every line of your act (include your natural body language and ****** expressions as you do this).
3. Insert your “reactions” to your comedy material as they happen. While you won’t be able to react to every single line in your act, you will be able to react to many lines in your act, giving you the ability to generate punchline very quickly.
Learn stand-up comedy fast tip #1: Start with topics, concepts and ideas that you can easily react to using your sense of humor. Start with life experiences, observations, and events that mean something to you personally.
This approach is well suited for comedians who are employing old school joke writing techniques, as well as those using the more powerful topic driven stand-up strategies.
Hint: You will need to “react” to your material (verbalize a punchline) at least 4 times per in order to be recognized as a comedian worthy of mention.
Learn stand-up comedy fast tip #2: Always verbalize your stand-up comedy material and react out loud to what you are saying and reacting to. Don’t just verbalize your material in your head. You want to hear what you are saying, just like your audience will. This is the best and fastest way to determine which punchlines are keepers and which ones are not.
By: Steve Roye
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Read more on Learn Stand-Up Comedy – What is a Punchline Really?…
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 9th, 2010.
If you want to write a romantic comedy screenplay then the first thing you need to think about is character. A good romantic comedy usually contains someone annoying and frustrating to the audience, and it’s their inability to change or act “human” that draws us in. When you find what your characters traits are then you can use this to your advantage and create situation comedy. Situation comedy is where the character says or does something and makes a fool of him/herself, a good example of situation comedy is The Office. The three main things you need to have in a romantic comedy are; strong comedic characters, characters with opposite personalities and an engaging plot line.
Creating Comedic Characters
Very often comedy characters are based heavily on stereotypes. If you decide to stereotype your character then you already have an idea of what they are going to be like and the audience will already be able to relate to them. If you don’ want to use a stereotype then you need to pinpoint a certain problem that character has an exploit it in every way possible, making whatever his/her goal just a little bit harder.
Using Character Opposites
In a romantic comedy screenplay you will usually find that the two lead roles are very different from each other and it’s this clash of personality that causes drama and humour. When you are thinking of lead characters then always make sure that they both have different personality’s and similar if not the same goals. That way you will find that whatever one of them does then the other will suffer in one way or another.
Structuring The Plot
Most of the time the plot of a romantic comedy will sit in the background, using mainly the characters to engage the audience. However you still need to think about a few things such as what are the goals of the leads characters? What situation are they in to cause tension? What happens in order for them to find it more difficult achieving their goals? Once you have answered these questions then you will have a good indication of where your plot might go.
Writing a romantic comedy screenplay can be quite a challenge. Remember that you don’t have to rely on gags and jokes to make your script funny, situation and clash of personality can be far stronger. If you are a beginner screenwriter and haven’t had much experience then I would recommend learning all of the basics of writing a screenplay in general and not just how to write a romantic comedy script, there are certain rules that need to be applied to all screenplays such as structure and format and you don’t want your script to be wasted just because you haven’t learnt the basics.
By: Alejandro Manuel
About the Author:
Not Sure What To Do?
Find Out Exactly How To Write A Romantic Comedy Right Here: http://www.screenwriting-secrets.info.
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 7th, 2010.
Do you want to improve your presentation skills and be a great speaker? Then you should consider learning improvisational comedy!
I know what you’re thinking: “I don’t improvise my speeches. I write them out and memorize them.”
That may be the case, but there are three reasons you should still learn improv comedy:
1) You will definitely find yourself in situations where you have to give an unscripted speech. Maybe you get asked to speak on short notice, or for a presentation so small it is not wort scripting.
2) Things will go wrong, and you may have to go “off-script” and improvise.
3) Learning to improvise will absolutely 100% improve your scripted presentation skills!
If you’re unfamiliar, improv comedy is a form of theater where performers take the stage with nothing prepared in advance and make it up as you go along. Learning improv comedy can help your presentation skills in the following powerful ways:
1) You will be more authentic – The best bit of advice you can receive as a speaker is to “be more authentic.” Unfortunately, many people who suggest this never go on to explain *how* to be more authentic. Any competent improv instructor will not only stress the importance of being authentic when improvising, but will also take you through exercises designed to help you learn how.
2) You will develop natural movements – Many presentation skills coaches and instructors teach you to not move your arms at all, and to keep them at your side. They say that hand gestures are distracting. Not true! While excessive hand gestures may distract the audience, it is even more distracting to watch someone struggle to stay still who likes to move. The exercises in improv comedy can help you develop movements that are natural and don’t distract.
3) You will be funnier – Even if you are not a humorist, if you can make an audience laugh, or at least smile, you will be a success. It’s called improv *comedy* for a reason. By learning improv, you will develop you own natural sense of humor and learn to use it off the cuff, as needed.
4) You will be better able to connect with the audience – Improv is an interactive performance form. The audience is part of the show. As you become a better improviser, you will learn to work with the audience and automatically sense when they are with you and not.
Consider taking a class or joining an improv group. All major cities and many smaller ones have improv groups that put on shows and offer classes. If not, try checking in with local theaters – many of them offer classes in improvisation.
Not only will you improve your presentation skills, but you will also have a tremendous amount of fun!
By: Avish Parashar
About the Author:
Read more on Better Presentation Skills Through Improv Comedy…
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 6th, 2010.
The British Sitcom Guide suggests that there are 10 steps to successfully writing a good comedy script. These are;
1. Be committed
2. Buy the books
3. Get the fresh idea
4. Create a fascinating protagonist
5. Create conflict
6. Write your first episode
7. Attend a course
8. Get feedback
9. Send it off
10. Sell it!
Let’s look at each of these steps in turn.
Be committed
Before you set off on a quest to create a great comedy it is important to check you understand what you are about to get yourself into. Check that comedy is the right type of writing for you. Are you really passionate about comedy? Can you handle rejection? How would you feel if the only person who found your writing funny was, well you? Also consider if you have sufficient time to create and develop a great comedy. It takes time and commitment and energy, and will take a lot more than a couple of hours to pull together a decent script.
Buy the books
Make sure you have equipped yourself with sufficient advice, tips and knowledge to write comedy well…from those who know how to write good comedy. Take a look at the dedicated websites and books that are around to help you with this.
Get the fresh idea
It is critical you base your comedy around a fresh idea which opens up plenty of potential. Make sure you ask yourself the following questions:
- Have you seen it on screen recently?
- Will it translate to screen, and if so, are there any logistical problems with turning the script to screen?
- Is it too far fetched?
- Is there no real drama, and thus no real comedy?
- Is there potential for a follow up script; a few more episodes?
- Do you have some knowledge of the situation?
Create a fascinating protagonist
Once you’ve decided upon your situation it is time to think up your characters. It is critical you get this step right as comedy is actually more about characters than situations. Consult the books you wrote in stage 2 of this process to help you with your characterisation.
Create conflict
Your characters must be fighting it out, trapped in an emotional arena with which the audience can all identify. It’s not enough to say “well, they all work in the same office” – you need to show heart-rending stories of sibling rivalry, thwarted love, co-dependant, guilt ridden awful familial relationships. Because the audience wants to laugh at them all!
Write your first episode
Plot out your episode into scenes. Make sure that there is an inciting incident, that your lead character reacts and then acts. Include escalations, at least two – go for that ‘Oh no’ moment. Then, resolve the story, simply, believably and make the answers come out of character. Oh, and check that it’s funny!
Make sure it is readable and correctly punctuated. You should also include stage directions. You need to ensure that you follow a standard script format – most sitcom books provide guidelines on this topic and looking at existing published scripts can also help you visualise what your’s should look like.
Getting your episode right can be quite tricky and will probably involve rewrites. Quite early on in the writing process you should seek external advice and editorial support because it can make the difference between you producing an average script and a really funny one.
Attend a course
Most writers serious about creating a successful comedy script attend a course. They are a great way of helping you to focus on your craft, to learn from others and to try team writing. Attending a course can also be a great way of gathering useful market information and a chance for a bit of networking.
Get feedback
Once you think your script is almost there it is really worth getting some feedback before going any further.
It’s going to be painful to get knocked down and even more painful to cut some stuff you love but it is better to do it now than leaving it to the commissioning editor. Try using external proof reading or editorial companies to glean your feedback; people you know are unlikely to give you an un-biased opinion. Also, getting an expert opinion can make a world of difference as they’ll look at your script from the view point of a TV commissioner and joke expert rather than just a potential viewer.
Send it off
Once you’ve managed to get an episode written it is time to send it off to the people who can provide the resources, budget and skills to get it on to the screen – the production companies!
A common misconception is that you need an agent before you go any further – not true! Go through the writer’s and artists yearbook and draw up a list of relevant production company contacts; make sure you check their submission rules before sending anything to them.
Sell it!
If a production company is interested in your script you will get a call and be asked in for a meeting. This is for the production company to see that you are who you say you are and for them to gauge whether they think they can work with you.
From then on in it is a case of writing more episodes, getting a pilot made, filming the thing and then sitting down on Friday night to watch your comedy being beamed out into millions of homes!
By: Josie Kehoe
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Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 3rd, 2010.
Everyone who tries to learn stand-up comedy already knows that…
One of the biggest problems most new comedians face when they are trying to learn stand-up comedy is that they can’t seem to get to the punchlines quick enough in their act.
In other words, the set-ups to the jokes are too long. Way, way too long.
This is a real problem because in order to be recognized as comedian of any mention, you must be able to command at least 4 laughs per minute for each minute you stand before an audience.
And the secret is NOT to talk faster. As a matter of fact, you absolutely don’t want to be in a hurry at all when standing in front of a comedy audience.
Please note that I said a minimum of 4 laughs per minute-headlining comedians get 6-8 laughs per minute.
Now, get ready to learn stand-up comedy from a different perspective.
Provided that you have a recording of your stand-up comedy act (audio or video) and have it transcribed on your word processor (word for word)…
You can apply the 20 word rule to get the results you want. The 20 word rule is not a hard and fast rule-it is a very flexible editing guideline that you can use now to help shorten your set-ups or identify where to add punchlines.
Here’s the simple process:
1. Use your transcribed comedy act and review your recording of that act. Make a visible mark at every point that you got laughs on your transcript.
2. Now go back and count the number of words that lead up to each laugh. If there are more than 20 words, the chances are great that you need to do some serious editing to shorten the set-up or add a punchline.
This concept applies to comedians who are employing old school joke writing techniques as well as those using the more powerful topic driven stand-up strategies.
For those who seriously want to learn stand-up comedy, it should be noted that household name headlining comedians only use 10-15 words (average) before they get to a punchline.
Again, I want to mention that the key is NOT talking faster on stage. It’s about easily structuring what you really want to say, the way you speak naturally so that you can get the maximum laughs per minute possible every minute you are on stage.
By: Steve Roye
About the Author:
Filed under Writing And Speaking by on Sep 2nd, 2010.