Dying is Easy, Young Man, Comedy is Harder
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Rainforest Writers Village 2017, Session One Why is it so difficult to make people laugh? How can you make something funny without writing satire or flat-out farce? Brace yourself for a deep dive into jokes vs. humor, cultural diversity, and the science of phonology. Sorry not sorry.
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Dying is Easy, Young Man, Comedy is Harder
- 1. “Dying is Easy, Young Man, Comedy is Harder” Curtis C. Chen February 17, 2017 Rainforest Writers Village (Session One)
- 2. “Yo, who the F is this?”
- 3. “leaven[s] the suspense with Kangaroo’s droll quips” – Publishers Weekly “our hero never loses his sense of humor” – Kirkus Reviews “laugh-out-loud humor” – Jason M. Hough, New York Times bestselling author
- 5. What is Funny? To crush your enemies—no, wait, that’s something else.
- 6. I can’t tell you how to be funny.
- 7. Mmm… PIE… TYPES OF COMEDY
- 8. PHYSICAL INTELLECTUAL TYPES OF COMEDY EMOTIONAL
- 9. TYPES OF COMEDY PHYSICAL INTELLECTUAL EMOTIONAL The Three Stooges Road Runner cartoons Buster Keaton Hamilton references New Yorker cartoons puns & wordplay EVERYTHING ELSE…
- 11. Comedy vs. Humor Save the Laugh Track, Save the World
- 12. You can be funny without telling jokes.
- 17. How I Met Your Mother House, M.D.
- 18. John Rogers Jane Espenson Keegan-Michael Key & Jordan Peele
- 21. Not everyone shares your sense of humor.
- 23. Can you tell that joke? Should you tell that joke?
- 24. Humor has a price.
- 25. “punching down”
- 31. Phonology Will Scarsdale Like Josh’s Shayna Punim?
- 36. Curtis C. Chen Twitter: @CurtisCChen facebook.com/curtis.c.chen www.curtiscchen.com JUNE 20, 2017 ON SALE NOW
Notas del editor
- (who recognizes the reference?) I’m going to talk a lot about TV, because that is the 500-lb gorilla of American pop culture. I can only cover a few very specific topics in this allotted time, but I’ll try to power through this in like half an hour, and then we can discuss whatever you all want. Please save your questions for the end—write them down, I have scratch paper.
- So. Who am I and why am I qualified to talk about writing comedy?
- My first novel came out last June, and some people think it’s pretty funny.
- This also happened in 2011 (~5 years before WK pub date)
- So here’s the $64,000 question:
- There is no “secret handshake.” It’s just like writing: it takes years to develop craft and instinct. But there are plenty of resources out there. Take an improv class. Watch TV! More on that later. I’m just going to throw some ideas out there, and maybe they’ll help guide you toward finding your own comedic voice. And it is very personal. But let’s talk general principles first:
- I’m going to argue that there are, broadly, THREE basic categories of comedy. And also that pie is delicious.
- This is how I’m breaking it down.
- Here are some examples of each category. The top two are very specific. “Emotional” includes a lot of other stuff—everything else, in fact. So this pie chart is not to scale. It should really look like this…
- YOU’RE WELCOME. Seriously, though: the act of laughing is a physiological response to emotional stimulus. There are many different KINDS of laughing, which can be provoked by many different things. So when we’re talking about something being “funny ha-ha” (as opposed to “funny strange”), we’re talking about PROVOKING AN EMOTIONAL RESPONSE IN YOUR AUDIENCE. And that can be accomplished in different ways. Your way will be unique. Develop good instincts, and trust them. THIS WILL TAKE TIME AND PRACTICE. (just like writing)
- Okay, let’s dig into some particulars. Comedy (jokes) are NOT the same as humor (mood, atmosphere, style, voice, etc.). Dialogue is an obvious place to be funny, as Diana Pharaoh Francis told us yesterday, but it’s not the only place, and it can’t give you the full range of effect.
- In fact, being unable to tell a joke can be funny as meta-comedy: as Jenn Brozek mentioned yesterday, the child who can’t remember a joke to tell it properly can be played for laughs on that premise.
- Now here’s the thing about books: without reading the words, can you tell which of these pages is supposed to be funny?
- (these are the books, FYI)
- This is the Benny Hill theory of comedy. It’s really a fundamental principle of live theater; in particular, AMERICAN MUSICAL THEATER, which is a distinct tradition from other forms of stage performance (opera, etc.). The presence of an audience gives immediate feedback. You can tell what’s working and what’s not in the moment. (Unlike books, where you can’t adjust a performance on the fly.)
- Theater is arguably, directly to blame for the use of laugh tracks in sitcoms. I’m not generally a fan, but it’s important understand WHY they do this. Characters in dramas can laugh at jokes. Characters in comedies NEVER do. Sitcom jokes are for the audience, not the players.
- (w/o looking too closely at faces: can you tell which of these shows is a comedy?)
- TV and film can use visual cues to tell you how to feel about the story. It’s tougher with prose. But I highly recommend looking at TV to study comedy writing. TV is a writer’s medium. You can learn tons about comedy just from watching good, funny TV made by smart people.
- (Who can identify all four of these writers?) (BTW, John Rogers is showrunning the TV adaptation of Patrick Rothfuss’ Kingkiller Chronicle, which is being produced by Lin-Manuel Miranda) Rogers is on Twitter; Jane Espenson has a comedy blog archive; Key & Peele are just brilliant. If you have HBO, go to the “comedy” category and look for half-hour stand-up specials; Rogers is in there doing a set, years ago. Netflix has tons of comedy specials. Check out Aziz Ansari, Margaret Cho, Amy Schumer.
- Speaking of comedians who are not straight white men: Yeah, let’s talk about this.
- Witness the renaissance of family comedy on TV. (You’re welcome. IMMIGRANTS: WE GET THE JOB DONE.) There are universal themes in all stories, but remember:
- This is important. YOUR BOOK IS NOT FOR EVERYONE. Own that, but be aware of the boundaries of good taste.
- John Callahan, quadriplegic cartoonist, 1951-2010.
- I’m not saying you should never go for the rough joke. But be aware that you’re crossing a line, and know why you’re doing it. Just like cursing, sex, and violence. C’mon, you know what will offend people. Don’t be a jerk. (And if you’re not sure, ASK FOR HELP from a “test audience.” Like theater previews!)
- Is the juice worth the squeeze?
- “Punching down” is bad. (define term: getting a laugh at the expense of someone who has lower status than you)
- SO DON’T DO IT. JUST DON’T FUCKING DO IT.
- One specific example. You may have seen this meme on reddit or imgur recently. Here’s the original, as far as I can tell, from Tumblr. (don’t worry if you don’t know what any of those words mean, you can look them up on the internet later)
- Here’s a zoomed in version. I’ll give you a moment to read it.
- SO WHY ISN’T THIS “RACIST”? Here’s my take:
- This was COLLABORATIVE. That’s HUGE. Also, the basic joke is about a culture’s relationship to food. Yes, there are some easy stereotypes (like English food)—the joke could be better—but the joke is more about culture and perception than about making fun of people. Everybody’s food is weird to someone else. This is, in a very real sense, more about SHARING culture than asserting supremacy.
- Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, season 2, episode 10. “shayna punim” is a sonic contrast. Most reader will “hear” words in their head as they read. You can’t guarantee they’ll “perform” dialogue or narration the same way you intended, but you can help them toward the desired effect.
- THE BEST DAMN SHOW ON TELEVISION. Seasons 1 and 2 streaming on Netflix now!
- Some sounds are just funny. Everyone knows what the “sad trombone” sounds like. And everyone has the same emotional response to it. (we can debate how much of that now is trained response, but I would argue that it became a standard sound effect BECAUSE it is universal) What’s another universally funny sound, across all world cultures?
- DEAL WITH IT