COMEDY WRITING ADVICE
FUNNY WRITING ADVICE! HUMOR WRITING TIPS! MAKE UM LAUGH!
Coming up with creative humorous ideas.
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COMEDY and CREATIVE WRITING!
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Writing Funny!
by Stu Leventhal
Pull out a fresh piece of paper, grab a pen or sharp up a pencil or two then settle down in front of your crackling fireplace. No one else is home, there are no distractions. Now is the time you’ve put aside to tackle the toughest writing challenge of your life. You’ve written essays, book reports, dabbled at penning a few short story mystery fiction tales, even wrote a sci-fi story about a robot named Blinky who saves mankind. Heck, when you are tanning by the beach and everyone else is swimming, body surfing, riding in the waves, leisurely strolling along the water’s edge or collecting shells, you are frantically scribbling away, crossing out words forming sentences trying to think of all the words that rhyme with tither; hither, slither, with her… “I just need to find the perfect word to complete this poem or music lyric I’m working on then I can go play some beach volleyball.”
Let’s face it, you’ve been procrastinating, putting off attempting what most of us writers feel is the hardest writing skill of all to teach or learn. Writing funny; Three parrots walk out of the jungle and into O’Sullivan’s Bar. Parrot number one says. “Polly wants a cold beer.” Parrot number two says “Polly wants a cold beer.” Parrot number three says. “Polly wants a cold beer.” Well, we know this is going to end up funny without even reading another word. We all loosen up immediately and naturally when we sense a joke is coming. We also all engage our brains at full capacity to try to predict what the author’s punch line will be. As much as we love a good joke, we all take pride in our ability to pre-figure out a new joke while it’s still being presented to us. This instinctual vainness we all have when it comes to listening to or reading humor is what sets us up to be totally duped and is also the secret to producing fits of uncontrollable laughter. The best jokes hint that a certain conclusion is coming then deliver us something totally from the opposite direction.
Utilizing absurdity is the key. Three parrots walking out of the jungle together is absurd. That the three birds all walked into O’Sullivan’s Bar then ordered a cold beer each, is even more absurd. The only thing that’s not absurd is that the three parrots used the same exact words to order their beers because we all know parrots repeat what they hear. Also, the most popular name for a parrot is Polly Thus, the line, “Polly wants a cold beer.” While being especially absurd, in this case actually cuts the absurdity down a little bringing the audience back towards reality, relaxing the listener or reader while setting up a slew of routes to potential punch lines.
Adding jokes to one’s prolific prose is difficult, challenging and definitely risky. But, writing humorously can be oh so rewarding if tackled properly. Humorists develop a readership quicker than any other writer. Readers quickly form a bond with a writer who makes them laugh. Humans value their sense of humor and anyone who can connect with our funny bone gains our respect and loyalty instantly and usually for life. The power of sarcastic, funny wit is immeasurable. A good joke spreads faster than a wildfire. Politicians and advertising gurus have known for years, a humorous quip is far better PR than any serious critique written by the most well respected political columnist or any credential wielding expert’s opinion.
To start writing funny stuff, you might as well first ask yourself what makes you laugh. If quick one liners have been your favorite type of comedy for a long time then it makes sense for you to begin trying to learn how to pen a joke style that you are already quite familiar with and know you enjoy. There are so many variations of humor that picking a form you like and have knowledge of, will speed up your learning and make it easier and more enjoyable for you to study while you practice and perfect the craft of being funny. Becoming a funny writer takes work and dedication, quite possibly a change in lifestyle and attitude if one intends to write consistently and produce a good amount of fresh, funny material. Being aware of everything that is going on around you is important. Finding creative ways to showcase the humor in otherwise everyday bland situations is what writing funny and creating humor is all about.
But do you have the guts to make fun of yourself, your friends, neighbors and workmates? All for what may seem like a cheap laugh? All successful comedy writers will tell you the real funniest humor is derived from true life experiences. Life is full of pain, broken dreams and despair. Being able to summons one’s sense of humor to evoke laughter while standing tall and staring diversity right in the face is where true humor is born. Tragedy, shame, embarrassment are all funny situations especially if you are not the brunt of the joke. Although some of the world’s funniest jokes poke fun at the teller. Who can forget Rodney Dangerfield’s facial expression when he stares questioningly at his audience, tugging on his tie and remarks. “I get no respect. I tell ya, I get no respect at all!” Any situation where yourself or someone else feels helpless, the more helpless the better is an opportunity to create a humorous take on the seemingly dire situation.
Sad situations are the perfect set up for jokes as is failure. The reason we accept these subjects as material for humor and don’t jump to label the joke tellers as barbaric is because we all have an inherent need for releasing the stress caused by these adverse conditions. Joking about things that have or will affect all of us at one time or another, helps us bond with one another and realize we are not alone in our pain and suffering. We recognize that we’ve been there or someone we know has been in that same situation. The more seemingly helpless and hopeless the conditions are and the more universally familiar the situation is to the reader, the funnier the statements are.
Sure, the statement “There is some truth behind every joke.” May be true. But man needs to be able to express his feelings on particularly difficult and painful subjects. We must be able to make light of these seemingly helpless circumstances we find ourselves immersed in more times than we’d like to admit. The fact that strife hits everyone eventually and that bad things happen to each of us or to someone we know during throughout the course of living our lives makes good jokes universally, appropriate and appealing to just about any audience. Everyone can relate to being ill or ending a love relationship painfully. Jokes about these subjects help us all move on, heel or at the least remind us that hey, others have survived the same thing we’re going through and we will too. We aren’t the only person who’s had to go through that! And we aren’t going through it alone.
For those of you who thought tackling humor writing was going to be all fun and games, guess again. Humorists have to confront the toughest of all human conditions to be effective. For comedy to work, one has to be brutally honest. The end result is to be funny and fun but getting there can be hard emotional work. The most important thing is to know when to stop so that you don’t go overboard, cross the line and offend the brunt of your humor. Set out to laugh with the brunt of your jokes not to laugh at them. Yes, by all means, make fun of people who are vulnerable, the more vulnerable your target the heartier the laughs will come. But there’s a fine line between teasing someone, ribbing someone in fun and humiliating someone. Make sure you don’t cross the line from telling jokes to being cruel.
No matter what genre of literature you specialize in, learning how to effectively introduce humor and utilize humor in your writing will eventually come in handy. Top writers know how to sprinkle humor into even their most serious pieces. Just like in characterization when experts advise young writers to remember to give their villains a few redeeming or likeable qualities in order to make them seem more real to the reader. The reasoning being that no one, even the most despicable villain is all bad. On the same token humor when added to a very dark, bleak tale will give the dramatic story more dimensions. Stories are generally about depicting life and life rarely stays one dimensional for very long. Adding a little humor to any story can be equated to sprinkling a few shakes of salt and pepper onto your whole plate. It’s meant to bring out the flavor of the food and enhance it but, not to change the flavor so use it sparingly. Humor is a writing device that helps round the whole story out while enhancing the experience for your reader.
So, what is funny? Surprise, embarrassment, failure, fear, love, ugliness as well as beauty…just about any strong emotional response and anything that creates a strong emotional response can be depicted in a funny way. It’s all in the telling and the sudden unexpected change of direction at the finale. But, how do we create humor?
Jokes come in all kinds of formats and new styles of humor are constantly being developed. For beginners it may be easier to first learn some of the basic structures of simple, tried and true, reliable methods of forming a joke. Once you have some experience under your belt you will naturally begin to develop more and more sophisticated jokes and eventually develop your own signature style of humor writing.
Most jokes are comprised of two parts. The beginning part of the joke, frequently referred to as the set-up, is usually the hardest to write. The set-up opens the door then leads your blindfolded reader to the punch line which is revealed by removing the blindfold, the same way one is recommended to removes a band aid, with one quick tug. The sudden confrontation with some totally unexpected twist creates an immediate emotional reaction that hopefully results in uncontainable fits of laughter. When writing the set-up you must be careful not to reveal or even hint that a gag is coming. The joke will be most effective if the reader is totally unaware that he’s even involved in reading a joke until the final words trigger the emotional response that open up the flood gates of laughs.
A good rule for beginners is to try to keep the set up as short as possible. Long winded set ups can get boring unless you have the experience necessary to hold your readers focused attention. Once the reader loses focus, the punch line won’t be as effective. Simply and quickly, introduce the brunt of you joke and introduce the situation he or she finds themselves in using as few words as possible. Immediately hit them with the punch line! The key is not to give them any time to figure out they are being set up.
Another good tip for beginner comedy writers is to stick to familiar subject matter. Joke about everyday stuff everyone can relate to. A relaxed reader who isn’t concentrating is easy to dupe. Using big words and discussing complicated subjects that your reader has to really think about does not help set them up for a punch line.
Remember, there are no formal rules to writing humor, only guides and tips to help a newbie get started. Finding creative ways to enlighten your audience to see the hidden irony in a situation is the gist of all humor. Once you’ve broken the ice by writing your first humorous piece the next step is to practice until you gain a little confidence. Study other established jokesters. Try out their styles. Find out the type of humor you are most comfortable writing. Use established formats but change up the subject matter. Soon the humor will flow more naturally and you’ll develop your own style. Then, all the tips, rules and structural advice of comedy will really sound silly to you. That’s when you know you’ve arrived. Welcome, you’re a master of writing funny.
Let’s face it, you’ve been procrastinating, putting off attempting what most of us writers feel is the hardest writing skill of all to teach or learn. Writing funny; Three parrots walk out of the jungle and into O’Sullivan’s Bar. Parrot number one says. “Polly wants a cold beer.” Parrot number two says “Polly wants a cold beer.” Parrot number three says. “Polly wants a cold beer.” Well, we know this is going to end up funny without even reading another word. We all loosen up immediately and naturally when we sense a joke is coming. We also all engage our brains at full capacity to try to predict what the author’s punch line will be. As much as we love a good joke, we all take pride in our ability to pre-figure out a new joke while it’s still being presented to us. This instinctual vainness we all have when it comes to listening to or reading humor is what sets us up to be totally duped and is also the secret to producing fits of uncontrollable laughter. The best jokes hint that a certain conclusion is coming then deliver us something totally from the opposite direction.
Utilizing absurdity is the key. Three parrots walking out of the jungle together is absurd. That the three birds all walked into O’Sullivan’s Bar then ordered a cold beer each, is even more absurd. The only thing that’s not absurd is that the three parrots used the same exact words to order their beers because we all know parrots repeat what they hear. Also, the most popular name for a parrot is Polly Thus, the line, “Polly wants a cold beer.” While being especially absurd, in this case actually cuts the absurdity down a little bringing the audience back towards reality, relaxing the listener or reader while setting up a slew of routes to potential punch lines.
Adding jokes to one’s prolific prose is difficult, challenging and definitely risky. But, writing humorously can be oh so rewarding if tackled properly. Humorists develop a readership quicker than any other writer. Readers quickly form a bond with a writer who makes them laugh. Humans value their sense of humor and anyone who can connect with our funny bone gains our respect and loyalty instantly and usually for life. The power of sarcastic, funny wit is immeasurable. A good joke spreads faster than a wildfire. Politicians and advertising gurus have known for years, a humorous quip is far better PR than any serious critique written by the most well respected political columnist or any credential wielding expert’s opinion.
To start writing funny stuff, you might as well first ask yourself what makes you laugh. If quick one liners have been your favorite type of comedy for a long time then it makes sense for you to begin trying to learn how to pen a joke style that you are already quite familiar with and know you enjoy. There are so many variations of humor that picking a form you like and have knowledge of, will speed up your learning and make it easier and more enjoyable for you to study while you practice and perfect the craft of being funny. Becoming a funny writer takes work and dedication, quite possibly a change in lifestyle and attitude if one intends to write consistently and produce a good amount of fresh, funny material. Being aware of everything that is going on around you is important. Finding creative ways to showcase the humor in otherwise everyday bland situations is what writing funny and creating humor is all about.
But do you have the guts to make fun of yourself, your friends, neighbors and workmates? All for what may seem like a cheap laugh? All successful comedy writers will tell you the real funniest humor is derived from true life experiences. Life is full of pain, broken dreams and despair. Being able to summons one’s sense of humor to evoke laughter while standing tall and staring diversity right in the face is where true humor is born. Tragedy, shame, embarrassment are all funny situations especially if you are not the brunt of the joke. Although some of the world’s funniest jokes poke fun at the teller. Who can forget Rodney Dangerfield’s facial expression when he stares questioningly at his audience, tugging on his tie and remarks. “I get no respect. I tell ya, I get no respect at all!” Any situation where yourself or someone else feels helpless, the more helpless the better is an opportunity to create a humorous take on the seemingly dire situation.
Sad situations are the perfect set up for jokes as is failure. The reason we accept these subjects as material for humor and don’t jump to label the joke tellers as barbaric is because we all have an inherent need for releasing the stress caused by these adverse conditions. Joking about things that have or will affect all of us at one time or another, helps us bond with one another and realize we are not alone in our pain and suffering. We recognize that we’ve been there or someone we know has been in that same situation. The more seemingly helpless and hopeless the conditions are and the more universally familiar the situation is to the reader, the funnier the statements are.
Sure, the statement “There is some truth behind every joke.” May be true. But man needs to be able to express his feelings on particularly difficult and painful subjects. We must be able to make light of these seemingly helpless circumstances we find ourselves immersed in more times than we’d like to admit. The fact that strife hits everyone eventually and that bad things happen to each of us or to someone we know during throughout the course of living our lives makes good jokes universally, appropriate and appealing to just about any audience. Everyone can relate to being ill or ending a love relationship painfully. Jokes about these subjects help us all move on, heel or at the least remind us that hey, others have survived the same thing we’re going through and we will too. We aren’t the only person who’s had to go through that! And we aren’t going through it alone.
For those of you who thought tackling humor writing was going to be all fun and games, guess again. Humorists have to confront the toughest of all human conditions to be effective. For comedy to work, one has to be brutally honest. The end result is to be funny and fun but getting there can be hard emotional work. The most important thing is to know when to stop so that you don’t go overboard, cross the line and offend the brunt of your humor. Set out to laugh with the brunt of your jokes not to laugh at them. Yes, by all means, make fun of people who are vulnerable, the more vulnerable your target the heartier the laughs will come. But there’s a fine line between teasing someone, ribbing someone in fun and humiliating someone. Make sure you don’t cross the line from telling jokes to being cruel.
No matter what genre of literature you specialize in, learning how to effectively introduce humor and utilize humor in your writing will eventually come in handy. Top writers know how to sprinkle humor into even their most serious pieces. Just like in characterization when experts advise young writers to remember to give their villains a few redeeming or likeable qualities in order to make them seem more real to the reader. The reasoning being that no one, even the most despicable villain is all bad. On the same token humor when added to a very dark, bleak tale will give the dramatic story more dimensions. Stories are generally about depicting life and life rarely stays one dimensional for very long. Adding a little humor to any story can be equated to sprinkling a few shakes of salt and pepper onto your whole plate. It’s meant to bring out the flavor of the food and enhance it but, not to change the flavor so use it sparingly. Humor is a writing device that helps round the whole story out while enhancing the experience for your reader.
So, what is funny? Surprise, embarrassment, failure, fear, love, ugliness as well as beauty…just about any strong emotional response and anything that creates a strong emotional response can be depicted in a funny way. It’s all in the telling and the sudden unexpected change of direction at the finale. But, how do we create humor?
Jokes come in all kinds of formats and new styles of humor are constantly being developed. For beginners it may be easier to first learn some of the basic structures of simple, tried and true, reliable methods of forming a joke. Once you have some experience under your belt you will naturally begin to develop more and more sophisticated jokes and eventually develop your own signature style of humor writing.
Most jokes are comprised of two parts. The beginning part of the joke, frequently referred to as the set-up, is usually the hardest to write. The set-up opens the door then leads your blindfolded reader to the punch line which is revealed by removing the blindfold, the same way one is recommended to removes a band aid, with one quick tug. The sudden confrontation with some totally unexpected twist creates an immediate emotional reaction that hopefully results in uncontainable fits of laughter. When writing the set-up you must be careful not to reveal or even hint that a gag is coming. The joke will be most effective if the reader is totally unaware that he’s even involved in reading a joke until the final words trigger the emotional response that open up the flood gates of laughs.
A good rule for beginners is to try to keep the set up as short as possible. Long winded set ups can get boring unless you have the experience necessary to hold your readers focused attention. Once the reader loses focus, the punch line won’t be as effective. Simply and quickly, introduce the brunt of you joke and introduce the situation he or she finds themselves in using as few words as possible. Immediately hit them with the punch line! The key is not to give them any time to figure out they are being set up.
Another good tip for beginner comedy writers is to stick to familiar subject matter. Joke about everyday stuff everyone can relate to. A relaxed reader who isn’t concentrating is easy to dupe. Using big words and discussing complicated subjects that your reader has to really think about does not help set them up for a punch line.
Remember, there are no formal rules to writing humor, only guides and tips to help a newbie get started. Finding creative ways to enlighten your audience to see the hidden irony in a situation is the gist of all humor. Once you’ve broken the ice by writing your first humorous piece the next step is to practice until you gain a little confidence. Study other established jokesters. Try out their styles. Find out the type of humor you are most comfortable writing. Use established formats but change up the subject matter. Soon the humor will flow more naturally and you’ll develop your own style. Then, all the tips, rules and structural advice of comedy will really sound silly to you. That’s when you know you’ve arrived. Welcome, you’re a master of writing funny.
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WRITING JOKES
by Stu Leventhal
Yes, there are formulas for writing jokes. 1 set up +1 punch line = Infinite laughs. This is the accepted, basic joke structure. The set-up is like the start to almost any story a creative writer pens. It introduces the reader to the characters, tells us their current situation then hints at their possible next moves or points us in the direction the plot is going next. The punch line is a sudden, surprise turn in direction the plot actually takes or an unforeseen move the characters decide on making. The surprise twist causes the laughter. The joke always ends right after the punch line, regardless of whether a complete story has been told or not. Jokes don’t have to tell a complete tale and most don’t. Jokes don’t even have to make logical sense, the more absurd the twist, the louder the laughter.
There are tricks of the trade of Joke writing. Word play is a popular technique used by comedians and humor writers. The writer substitutes a word that sounds almost like the proper word except it means something else entirely, thus producing laughter. The more bizarre the meaning of the wrong word is when applied to the jokester’s sentence, the harder the reader laughs. Another type of word play is when the joke writer uses one of the many words of the English language that has more than one meaning or has two totally different meanings when spelled differently but when spoken sound the same; night (Good night) and knight (Medieval days), or the word ‘fan’ which can be used as in ‘sports fan’ or as in ‘it’s hot, turn on the fan.' The word senior has two meanings that could easily be exploited for a laugh. The first meaning is an older person the second meaning is a student as in high school senior or college senior. The English language is full of words that have double and triple meanings. The most famous word play joke is Abbott and Costello’s ‘Who’s on First’ bit about a baseball player with the last name ‘Who’. Lou Costello keeps asking his friend Bud Abbott “Who’s playing on first?” Lou keeps answering. “Yes.”
Misdirection is a joke writing device where the writer gives his story a sudden twist, delivering a punch line that creating laughs. The misdirection or twist always comes at the very end of the delivery instantly changing an interesting story into a joke. Now, one would assume coming up with the perfect sudden twist would be the hardest part of writing a misdirection joke. But, actually, twist ideas are numerous and usually interchangeable. Writing a convincing lead in, that doesn’t give away, that a joke is coming, is the hard part. if your reader is a fan, who’s read your work before, he/she will be on the lookout for your antics expecting a joke somewhere on the horizon. The art to setting up the twist is to fill your lead up with thought inspiring stuff; silly, ridiculous, colorful tidbits, that distracts your reader, leaving them vulnerable to the twist/punch line because their mind is still trying to process what a green haired zebra looks like, sitting in a leaky canoe, fishing with a pointy bearded rabbi and why is the zebra’s hair green and the canoe leaking.
Exaggeration is another joke writing tool which allows a writer to take an ordinary situation or subject then transform it into a humorous situation or subject by over-inflating the themes, characters, story lines and story outcomes into ridiculous proportions that are funny. Exaggeration humor is used frequently and effectively when describing things. “My friend Poco is so fat when we visited the aquarium; the whales swam over to the window to stare at us.” Or “My fiancé Lidia’s all white, French Poodle, is so spoiled; She only drinks Perrier, wears a collar from Cartier and her doggie biscuits are shaped like Donald Trump.”
Reversal humor is when you make a statement or set up a scenario then in the very, next breath, you repeat almost the exact same statement but this time, totally reversing your point of view. Usually the sudden contradiction will be so absurd that it is funny. Russian Immigrant and comedian, Yakov Smirnoff made this genre of joke famous in the 1980’s with his stand-up comedy routine focused on comparing Russian life to life in America. “In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party always find you.” Or “In America, you break law. In Soviet Russia, law break you.”
There are rules of thumb for joke writing such as; Keep your jokes short. It should take under twenty seconds on average to tell the entire joke. Now of course we’ve all heard some fine longer jokes than twenty seconds but keep in mind the longer the joke the better the chance of your listener or reader losing interest and focus making the impact of your punch line less effective.
There are literally infinite ways to be funny and thus infinite ways to write funny stuff. As with any other type of writing the formulas, tricks and so called rules are meant as a guide to get the inexperienced jokester going in the correct direction. The great joke writers break the mold and are innovative. By all means, if you’re just starting out, start with some of the tried and true methods of being funny. Master some of the proven joke writing methods before attempting to pave new paths. Eventually, as your skills grow, your confidence will grow too and soon you’ll be creating your own variations and branding your own style of humor.
Comedy writing is always in high demand. People are always looking for a good laugh. There is virtually no recession for quality comedy writers. People need laughter to make them feel good, they need laughter more during bad times. Learning how to write funny is an investment that will pay a creative writer dividends through the rest of his/her career.
There are college courses on humor writing tips and how to create funny material. There are shelves and shelves of books about comedy writing that supply humor writing tips and explain the comedy writing process. There are blogs where veteran comedy writers answer new comedy writers questions. A new writer can submit their funny project for other members to review and supply ideas and tips on how to improve their comedy writing. Going to comedy shows, watching comedy on TV, renting comedy videos are all great ways to familiar yourself with funny trends and techniques. But remember, you have to watch the pros with an eye on studying and dissecting their every move if you wish to learn the craft. One way of practicing is to rent a few of the more popular stand up comedians’ videos and while watching the comedian’s perform their routine’s constantly hit the pause button just before they deliver their punch line. Now try to finish the joke yourself using your own unique imagination and creativity. Then turn the video back on and see how good your punch line stacks up to the pro’s.
Joining writing groups is a good idea for any new creative writer especially an up and coming comedy writer. Writers share their ideas with each other and get feedback on their current projects. Feedback is especially important when it comes to comedy writing. It is a good rule to always test your funny written work before you rush a new piece off to the presses. Asking at least a handful of people to judge your comedy work before you attempt to publish can save the new comedy writer a lot of unnecessary embarrassment. Getting opinions will give you a chance to make your writing even better.
There are tricks of the trade of Joke writing. Word play is a popular technique used by comedians and humor writers. The writer substitutes a word that sounds almost like the proper word except it means something else entirely, thus producing laughter. The more bizarre the meaning of the wrong word is when applied to the jokester’s sentence, the harder the reader laughs. Another type of word play is when the joke writer uses one of the many words of the English language that has more than one meaning or has two totally different meanings when spelled differently but when spoken sound the same; night (Good night) and knight (Medieval days), or the word ‘fan’ which can be used as in ‘sports fan’ or as in ‘it’s hot, turn on the fan.' The word senior has two meanings that could easily be exploited for a laugh. The first meaning is an older person the second meaning is a student as in high school senior or college senior. The English language is full of words that have double and triple meanings. The most famous word play joke is Abbott and Costello’s ‘Who’s on First’ bit about a baseball player with the last name ‘Who’. Lou Costello keeps asking his friend Bud Abbott “Who’s playing on first?” Lou keeps answering. “Yes.”
Misdirection is a joke writing device where the writer gives his story a sudden twist, delivering a punch line that creating laughs. The misdirection or twist always comes at the very end of the delivery instantly changing an interesting story into a joke. Now, one would assume coming up with the perfect sudden twist would be the hardest part of writing a misdirection joke. But, actually, twist ideas are numerous and usually interchangeable. Writing a convincing lead in, that doesn’t give away, that a joke is coming, is the hard part. if your reader is a fan, who’s read your work before, he/she will be on the lookout for your antics expecting a joke somewhere on the horizon. The art to setting up the twist is to fill your lead up with thought inspiring stuff; silly, ridiculous, colorful tidbits, that distracts your reader, leaving them vulnerable to the twist/punch line because their mind is still trying to process what a green haired zebra looks like, sitting in a leaky canoe, fishing with a pointy bearded rabbi and why is the zebra’s hair green and the canoe leaking.
Exaggeration is another joke writing tool which allows a writer to take an ordinary situation or subject then transform it into a humorous situation or subject by over-inflating the themes, characters, story lines and story outcomes into ridiculous proportions that are funny. Exaggeration humor is used frequently and effectively when describing things. “My friend Poco is so fat when we visited the aquarium; the whales swam over to the window to stare at us.” Or “My fiancé Lidia’s all white, French Poodle, is so spoiled; She only drinks Perrier, wears a collar from Cartier and her doggie biscuits are shaped like Donald Trump.”
Reversal humor is when you make a statement or set up a scenario then in the very, next breath, you repeat almost the exact same statement but this time, totally reversing your point of view. Usually the sudden contradiction will be so absurd that it is funny. Russian Immigrant and comedian, Yakov Smirnoff made this genre of joke famous in the 1980’s with his stand-up comedy routine focused on comparing Russian life to life in America. “In America, you can always find a party. In Soviet Russia, the Party always find you.” Or “In America, you break law. In Soviet Russia, law break you.”
There are rules of thumb for joke writing such as; Keep your jokes short. It should take under twenty seconds on average to tell the entire joke. Now of course we’ve all heard some fine longer jokes than twenty seconds but keep in mind the longer the joke the better the chance of your listener or reader losing interest and focus making the impact of your punch line less effective.
There are literally infinite ways to be funny and thus infinite ways to write funny stuff. As with any other type of writing the formulas, tricks and so called rules are meant as a guide to get the inexperienced jokester going in the correct direction. The great joke writers break the mold and are innovative. By all means, if you’re just starting out, start with some of the tried and true methods of being funny. Master some of the proven joke writing methods before attempting to pave new paths. Eventually, as your skills grow, your confidence will grow too and soon you’ll be creating your own variations and branding your own style of humor.
Comedy writing is always in high demand. People are always looking for a good laugh. There is virtually no recession for quality comedy writers. People need laughter to make them feel good, they need laughter more during bad times. Learning how to write funny is an investment that will pay a creative writer dividends through the rest of his/her career.
There are college courses on humor writing tips and how to create funny material. There are shelves and shelves of books about comedy writing that supply humor writing tips and explain the comedy writing process. There are blogs where veteran comedy writers answer new comedy writers questions. A new writer can submit their funny project for other members to review and supply ideas and tips on how to improve their comedy writing. Going to comedy shows, watching comedy on TV, renting comedy videos are all great ways to familiar yourself with funny trends and techniques. But remember, you have to watch the pros with an eye on studying and dissecting their every move if you wish to learn the craft. One way of practicing is to rent a few of the more popular stand up comedians’ videos and while watching the comedian’s perform their routine’s constantly hit the pause button just before they deliver their punch line. Now try to finish the joke yourself using your own unique imagination and creativity. Then turn the video back on and see how good your punch line stacks up to the pro’s.
Joining writing groups is a good idea for any new creative writer especially an up and coming comedy writer. Writers share their ideas with each other and get feedback on their current projects. Feedback is especially important when it comes to comedy writing. It is a good rule to always test your funny written work before you rush a new piece off to the presses. Asking at least a handful of people to judge your comedy work before you attempt to publish can save the new comedy writer a lot of unnecessary embarrassment. Getting opinions will give you a chance to make your writing even better.
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