Can anyone recommend a good book that will help me write comedy? I've started a new blog but I'm struggling to make it funny - which was the whole point of the blog! :/ Thank you!
Can anyone recommend a good book that will help me write comedy? I've started a new blog but I'm struggling to make it funny - which was the whole point of the blog! :/ Thank you!
Hello Heather.
Gee, you sure know how to ask a difficult question (only kidding).
Firstly, are you funny? Or do you know anyone who is funny? If so, you are half way there.
Secondly, there are many forms of comic situations! Decide which type you prefer.
Thirdly, different people like different types of comedy. Know your audience.
Fourthly, there is a very fine line between serious and funny. Be aware of this.
I can only talk about the types of comedy that I like, and it usually involves an off the cuff remark, about something serious, that someone thinks is funny, and it is usually said very seriously.
Such as when I said to a couple of people I know who were talking about funerals. "The last funeral I went to was when I buried my cat."
For the life of me, I don't know why they laughed so much. But, the thing is, they did.
Most comedy is what I call "a 360". Someone says, or does something, and the other person says, or does something totally opposite.
i.e. When people are walking, most people laugh at the bloke who trips (remember "Norman Wisdom"?).
If I was to say, "I have more hair up my nose and in my ears than I have on my head." Some people would find this funny. But it sure wouldn't be for me.
I remember seeing someone sat on a bench. I walked passed the bench and saw a sign, which read, "wet paint." I don't know why, but I found that amusing. Then there was the time I witnessed a nun coming out of MacDonalds carrying a coke drink, and a hamburger, and her gown blew up over her head when she stepped on an air curtain. That might offend some people. But it sure brought a smile to my face.
Good Luck Heather.
Hey, Heather!
Re-reading my earlier comment, it occurs to me that I may have seemed to be saying that you don't stand a chance, and that was far from my intention. What I meant is that I doubt that another writer can TEACH you to be funny. Lorraine - as always - says it better than I do.
All the best!
Heather, write it the way you hear it.
Do you smile when you write it? Then it's probably okay.
Comedy is hard work; for one thing, it doesn't travel well, so what sounds funny to one person may be an 'oh, ha-di-ha' moment for another.
You can't force humour, and you can't be taught it. I think you're funny or you're not, but there are degrees and types: irony, sarcasm, farce, laugh-out-loud fun - they're all different. Why are you struggling with it? If you have a good subject, and it makes you laugh, maybe you're trying too hard to make it sound clever.
Relax, and write it as it comes to you.
Lorraine