The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing

by James Mendrinos

Overview

Comedy is serious business—and serious money. In this guide, comedian, writer, and teacher James Mendrinos explains the principles of comedy and how to apply them to forms from stand-up to sitcoms- including fiction, film, speeches, articles, essays, and more. He also includes exercises designed to hone the craft, break through writer’s block, and tailor a piece to its intended audience.

In this Complete Idiot’s Guide®, you get:
•  Foolproof advice for writing scripts, feature films, plays, cartoons, stand-up jokes—even working humor into your presentation at work.
•  Terrific techniques for brainstorming, free associating, and drafting lists to make your writing better—and funnier.
•  Stand-up tips on identifying with and writing for your audience and genre.
•  Navigation tools for the inroads to marketing and selling your comedy.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781440696206
Publisher:	DK
Publication date:	07/06/2004
Series:	COMPLETE IDIOT'S GUIDE Series
Sold by:	Penguin Group
Format:	eBook
Pages:	352
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

James Mendrinos is a New York-based writer and comedian and long time comedy writing teacher for the Gotham Writer’s Workshops. He is a former touring stand-up comic, working with Chris Rock, Colin Quinn, and Sam Kinison, and has appeared on Comedy Central. He was the sole writer for USA Network Presents: The Problem Child, starring Gilbert Gottfried, and has written and contributed to numerous other network projects for MTV, NBC, and more. He is also an active writer for film and stage, including many film options and over 60 stage productions in New York City.

Table of Contents

Part 1	Finding the Funny	1
1	What's Funny?	3
	The Many Faces of Comedy	4
	Comedy for the Page	5
	Comedy for Ensemble Performers	8
	Comedy for One	12
	Common Threads in All Comedy	13
2	You Are Funny	15
	Why People Laugh	15
	Growing a Funny Bone	19
	Keeping Track of It All	21
	What Makes You Laugh?	23
3	Looking for the Funny	25
	Inspiration vs. Perspiration	25
	The Best Places to Find Comedy Ideas	28
	Examine Each Situation for Comedy Potential	30
4	Types of Comedy	33
	Humor Has Categories	34
	Stand-Alone Jokes	35
	Story Jokes	37
	Physical Jokes	39
	Character Jokes	40
Part 2	Basic Comedy Construction	43
5	Building a Laugh	45
	The Universal Joke Formula	45
	Premise: The Subject	47
	Point of View: How You See It	49
	The Twist: Getting to the Humor	51
	Keeping the Comedy Visual	56
6	Comedy Writing Rules	59
	Clarity Is Everything	59
	End on a Trigger	62
	Go All the Way	62
	Soul-Searching Comedy	63
	It's All About Emotions	64
	Stay on Topic	64
	Make It Matter	65
7	Know What You're Talking About	67
	The Premise	68
	Research Everything	71
	The Subject Isn't the Subject	72
	Funny Focus	72
	Organizing All This Information	74
	Be Sure You're Sure About the Joke	75
8	Exploring Your Point of View	77
	POV Defines Comedic Voice	77
	Basic Emotions	79
	Don't Suck, Part Two	82
	Try Something New	85
9	Let's Twist Again	87
	Choosing the Right Twist	87
	Surprise!	90
	Mix It Up	92
	Clear Twists	92
	Twists on Top of Twists	93
10	Congratulations! It's Funny	95
	Putting Together the Elements	95
	Matching Your Joke to Your Comedy Style	97
	Fine-Tuning Your Presentation	98
	Keep Going: Write Every Day	100
Part 3	The Art of Comedy Writing	103
11	Long-Form Comedy	105
	Turning One-Liners into Bits	105
	Writing with Speed	109
	Stories	111
	Story Revision	116
	Stories for Jokers	116
	Exercise: Make It Longer	116
12	Comedy Is Life	119
	Finding Common Ground with Your Audience	119
	Changing Attitudes	122
	Nothing Is Too Obscure	123
	Stay Involved	123
	Don't Lie ... Well ... Only Lie a Little	126
13	It's All About the Words	129
	Keep the Language Simple	130
	Use Language as Art	130
	Use Your Words to Create a Rhythm	131
	Write In Silence and Physical Movement	132
	Keep It Clean	133
14	Going All the Way	137
	Don't Hold Back Anything	137
	Accentuate the Positive	139
	Eliminate the Negative	140
	Don't Mess with Mr. In-Between	141
	This Sucks	141
Part 4	The Craft of Comedy Writing	143
15	Learning to Let Go	145
	Ready to Edit?	145
	Give It a Little Tweak	146
	Addition by Subtraction	146
	Long-Form Editing	147
	Apply for Your Artistic License	152
16	Everything Old Is New Again	155
	Comedy Is a Work in Progress	155
	This Old Joke	159
	The Changing Order of Things	160
	"This Bit Just Might Work If I Change ..."	161
	Exercise: Long-Lost Laughter	162
17	Who's Going to Laugh at This?	163
	Relating to Your Audience	163
	Cater, Don't Pander	164
	Edgy Humor	166
	Topical Joke or Cheap Shot?	168
	Staying Unique	169
18	Not All Jokes Work Everywhere	171
	Does It Have a Pulse?	172
	Styles Define Markets	172
	There's Room for Every Joke	173
	The Square Peg Meets the Round Hole	174
	The A to Z of Saleable Comedy	174
19	Preparing to Be Professional	181
	Keeping Your Ideas Current	181
	Knowing What Ideas to Develop Next	182
	Money for Funny	184
	Buyers and Bloodsuckers	187
20	If It's Funny, It's Money	193
	Action!	193
	Selling Your Screenplay	194
	Selling Sitcoms	199
	The Allure of Greasepaint	199
	Chapter One	201
	More Funny Books	202
	The Real Story	203
	Comedy Delivered to Your Door	205
	Psst, Hey Buddy, Wanna Buy a Joke?	206
	Comics and DJs and Hosts--Oh My!	207
	Speakers Say the Funniest Things	207
	Odds and Ends	208
	First Contact	208
Part 5	Different Jokes for Different Folks	211
21	Comedy on the Page	213
	Did You Hear the One About	214
	Stop the Presses!	217
	A Fictional Accounting	219
	The Sunday Funnies	224
	The Caption Reads	227
22	Sitcoms	229
	How Sitcoms Work	229
	Structuring Your Spec-Script	236
	Formatting Your Spec-Script	238
	Spec-Scripts vs. Pilots	241
	Outlines and Treatments	243
	The Show Bible	244
	Using Your Spec-Script	246
23	Ensemble Comedy	249
	Sketch This	250
	Funny in Film	254
	Curtain Up	259
	Funny for Two	266
24	Solo Comedy Professionals	269
	"Hey, It's Great to Be Here Tonight ..."	269
	Hey Mr. DJ!	274
	Hereeeeee's Johnny!	274
	Specialty Acts	275
25	Adding a Dash of Funny	277
	Speech! Speech!	277
	From the Dais	280
	Cheers!	282
	Corporate Comedy Writing	282
	Final Thoughts	283
	Appendixes
A	Glossary	285
B	Something to Do Every Day	291
C	Where to Go for Help	307
D	Annotated Taina Script	311
	Index	319