To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

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  • #31
    Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

    Originally posted by etwake
    Wow, I'm surprised I was able to reply to this thread I thought it was locked. Anyway, comedy writing, specifically cinematic comedy writing is an art which I feel relies on a combination of ingredients aka colonel's 11 herbs and spices. I agree that there is natural ability involved but also environment has something to do with a good comedy writer. I find that pain and hardship helps to define a good comedian. Take some of the one's we consider funny or great (i.e. Jim Carrey), this is an excellent example of a comedian who faced hardships and is extremely funny, well in my opinion at least. I think pain and hardship makes a better comedian because comedy for that person becomes their own personal therapeutic tool, a tool we all have but don't use all that frequently. For these guys that tool is used very frequently, use it enough times and guess what you're funny or you've successfully become "that goofy guy" among everyone you know. The idea that only a select few have this natural ability which determines their comedy ability alone is obsurd. I can't remember exactly which book but I remember seeing a book by an author who suggested that we all have a natural ability for comedy. I agree with this statement, comedy is like drama, we all are exposed to different levels of drama or comedy in our lives everyday. A good excercise that I would suggest, that someone else had mentioned in this thread, is to write everything that you found funny whether it be something that someone said or a funny event. I would advise that for the purpose of film comedy writing that one take these events and exxagerate their qualities, but it's wise not to exxagerate too much or it just becomes silly, good for slapstick bad for everything else. Anyway that's all I have to say on the subject. If you guys have made this far and haven't thrown your... you know what enough with the punchlines. To those who have read this far I apologize for the long drawn out reply but I just had to make a comment.

    As a writer, you'll want to make friends with spellcheck and the return button.

    As far as comedy goes, you can make your posts read funnier by adding a laugh track.

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    • #32
      Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

      I agree with much of what etwake wrote. A lot of brilliant comedy stems from tragedy. Most of the great funny moments in my romcom are things that happened to me or people I know that at the time really weren't funny (or the humor could not be seen at the time), but add some time and it's all freakin' hilarious mostly for the absurdity of the situations.

      And it's true about how some people deal with hardships by using comedy. I spent all afternoon at the emergency room today. When the doctor came in to do a rather unpleasant procedure on me, he turned to my sister and said, "You might want to step out of the room for a few minutes." I promptly said, "I might want to step out of the room, too." Everyone laughed.

      Life can be really funny, especially when it s*cks. Just give it some time.

      "We're all immigrants now, man."
      - Zia (Patrick Fugit), "Wristcutters: A Love Story"

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      • #33
        Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

        I like this old joke cuz it also comments on the Human Condition:

        Explorer A stumbles upon explorer B in the jungle. B is skewered to a tree by a spear.

        A: "My God, man! Does it hurt?"

        B: " Only when I laugh"
        " Life is high school with money. " Frank Zappa

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        • #34
          Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

          This thread is funny, if that helps. So is the following that my sis forwarded to me today, and I died (literally) from laughing.

          --------------------
          "Here's a prime example of "Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus" school of thought, offered by an English professor from the University of Phoenix:

          The professor told his class one day: "Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each student will pair off with the person to his or her immediate right. As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send another copy to me. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back, also sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back-and-forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to say must be written in the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached."

          The following was actually turned in by Rebecca and Gary, two of his English students:

          THE STORY:
          (first paragraph by Rebecca)
          At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The chamomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked chamomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So chamomile was out of the question.

          (second paragraph by Gary)
          Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A.S. Harris to Geostation 17," he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..." But before he could sign off a bluish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ship's cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit.

          (Rebecca)
          He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Skylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel," Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth, when the days had passed unhurriedly and are free, with no newspaper to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beautiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.

          (Gary )
          Little did she know, but she had less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithium fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace disarmament Treaty through the congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithium fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top-secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosion, which vaporized poor, stupid Laurie.

          (Rebecca)
          This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic semi-literate adolescent.

          (Gary)
          Yeah? Well, my writing partner is a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium. "Oh, shall I have chamomile tea? Or shall I have some other sort of F--KING TEA??? Oh no, what am I to do? I'm such an air headed bimbo who reads too many Danielle Steele novels!"

          (Rebecca)
          *******

          (Gary)
          Bitch

          (Rebecca)
          F***K YOU - YOU NEANDERTHAL!

          (TEACHER)
          A+ for both of you; I really liked this one."

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          • #35
            Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

            That's too funny.

            Steph
            "Only those who risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go." --T.S. Eliot

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            • #36
              Re: To Any Comedy Writers in Here...or those

              ...


              The Aristocrats!

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