Comedy Writing Secrets: The Best-Selling Guide to Writing Funny and Getting Paid for It

by Mark Shatz, Mel Helitzer

Overview

The Must-Have Guide to Humor Writing

Bring on the funny! With Comedy Writing Secrets 3rd Edition, you can discover the secrets of humor writing that will keep your readers rolling in their seats. Learn the basics of joke construction, as well as in-depth comedy-writing techniques that you can apply to a variety of print and online markets. If your aim is to make 'em laugh—and make a career in comedy writing—then look no further.

In this completely revised and refreshed edition, you'll discover:

 • Hundreds of updated one-liners, anecdotes, and bits from top comedians like Louis C.K., Conan O’Brien, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Rodney Dangerfield, Jon Stewart, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, George Carlin, Zach Galifianakis, Stephen Colbert, Erma Bombeck, and more.
 • Exclusive tips for injecting humor into articles, speeches, advertisements, greeting cards, and more.
 • New instruction on writing for online markets and social media.
 • Advice on brainstorming and editing to beat writer's block and generate new material.
 • Exercises and expanded instructions for exaggeration, reverses, word play and more to practice and refine your writing skills.
For more than twenty years, Comedy Writing Secrets has helped humor writers of all skill levels  write and sell their work. With Comedy Writing Secrets 3rd Edition, you'll be laugh-out-loud funny and leave readers wanting more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781599639611
Publisher:	Penguin Publishing Group
Publication date:	03/18/2016
Edition description:	Third Edition
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	664,367
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.30(h) x 0.90(d)

Table of Contents

Foreword 1

Introduction 4

Part 1 Comedy Writing 101

Chapter 1 Introduction to Humor Writing 7

Chapter 2 Why We Laugh 24

Chapter 3 The Recipe for Humor 40

Part 2 Humor Writing Techniques

Chapter 4 Pow: Play on Words 62

Chapter 5 More Pow: The Simple Truth and the Takeoff 82

Chapter 6 The Next Giant Step: Reverses 99

Chapter 7 Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered: Triples 112

Chapter 8 Realism, Exaggeration, and Shock 125

Chapter 9 Brainstorming and Editing 141

Part 3 Writing Humor for Specific Markets

Chapter 10 Testing, Testing, One, Two, Three: Writing Humor for Speeches 156

Chapter 11 Print Humor: Columns, Articles, Greeting Cards, and Abbreviated Humor 172

Chapter 12 Writing Humor for the Cloud: Social Media, Blogging, and More 190

Chapter 13 Teach, Learn, and Laugh 208

Chapter 14 That's a Wrap 228

Index 233