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Comedy Writing Secrets: The Best-Selling Book on How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny, And Get Paid For It
The Only Handbook for Humor Writers!
What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.
-Steve Martin
Become the funniest person in the room! With Comedy Writing Secrets, 2nd edition, you can master the fundamentals of humor writing and turn your comedic talent into a well-paying pursuit.
For more than a decade, Comedy Writing Secrets has been giving aspiring comedians a leg up on the competition. In this expanded new edition, Mel Helitzer, named the "funniest professor in the country" by Rolling Stone magazine, and funnyman Mark Shatz pack in even more insight and instruction, including:
- Humor writing exercises to punch up your jokes
- Extra information on writing for sitcoms and stand-up
- Comedic brainstorming techniques using associations and listings
- Exclusive tips for writing humor for specific markets like editorials, columns, speeches, advertising, greeting cards, t-shirts, and more
Tap into your comedic genius with Comedy Writing Secrets, 2nd edition, and you'll always leave ?em laughing!
What is comedy? Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.
-Steve Martin
Become the funniest person in the room! With Comedy Writing Secrets, 2nd edition, you can master the fundamentals of humor writing and turn your comedic talent into a well-paying pursuit.
For more than a decade, Comedy Writing Secrets has been giving aspiring comedians a leg up on the competition. In this expanded new edition, Mel Helitzer, named the "funniest professor in the country" by Rolling Stone magazine, and funnyman Mark Shatz pack in even more insight and instruction, including:
- Humor writing exercises to punch up your jokes
- Extra information on writing for sitcoms and stand-up
- Comedic brainstorming techniques using associations and listings
- Exclusive tips for writing humor for specific markets like editorials, columns, speeches, advertising, greeting cards, t-shirts, and more
Tap into your comedic genius with Comedy Writing Secrets, 2nd edition, and you'll always leave ?em laughing!
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
363 people are currently reading
2,116 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 86 reviews
July 16, 2008
OK, but keep in mind that if you have to read a book, especially many books, you're probably not funny. I was asked by my students how I got into standup comedy(I performed for over five years in Boston and LA). They asked, "Did you take classes?" No. Never. I find that too much studying of technique for intuitive based skills is counter productive. You can certainly improve your comedy with some reading (especially seeing how those who came before you did it--I read a book about the early careers of people like Woody Allen and Steve Martin that gave me great comfort and encouragement to see that they sucked in the early goings just like me!), but if you have to read to learn how to "think funny," "write funny," and "act funny" (the "how tos" of Helitzer's book) then you're probably not funny.
Sure, if you're going to keep your day job, then by all means read this book or books like this one. HOWEVER (and a big however here--as you can see) if you're going to make a career out of it . . . most likely if you're reading books . . . Answer’s obvious.
If you don't believe me, call Dave Chappelle, Dane Cook (although he was funnier in Boston in the beginning when I was on the way up--ask him about Sunday nights at the 99 Restaurant in Saugus. Nightmaaaaaaare!) Ellen Degeneres, Jim Gaffigan (I looooooove this guy--now he's FUNNY!).
But remember that humor isn't merely punctuated with the "F" word or exists merely below the belt. Rise above and look to human failings that people can connect to without excessive vulgarity. Watch Kevin James (King of Queens), he'll make you laugh without throwing up from disgust. Look at Dice Clay (if you can find him) how NOT to do it. Or even Sam Kinnison, even though he WAS pretty funny. But it went downhill for a reason. The comics who stay around are likeable and don't make a habit of attacking people. Comics who do are gone or headline a fashion show with their daughter on the E! channel.
Sure, if you're going to keep your day job, then by all means read this book or books like this one. HOWEVER (and a big however here--as you can see) if you're going to make a career out of it . . . most likely if you're reading books . . . Answer’s obvious.
If you don't believe me, call Dave Chappelle, Dane Cook (although he was funnier in Boston in the beginning when I was on the way up--ask him about Sunday nights at the 99 Restaurant in Saugus. Nightmaaaaaaare!) Ellen Degeneres, Jim Gaffigan (I looooooove this guy--now he's FUNNY!).
But remember that humor isn't merely punctuated with the "F" word or exists merely below the belt. Rise above and look to human failings that people can connect to without excessive vulgarity. Watch Kevin James (King of Queens), he'll make you laugh without throwing up from disgust. Look at Dice Clay (if you can find him) how NOT to do it. Or even Sam Kinnison, even though he WAS pretty funny. But it went downhill for a reason. The comics who stay around are likeable and don't make a habit of attacking people. Comics who do are gone or headline a fashion show with their daughter on the E! channel.
August 10, 2019
This is not a good book. And not an easy and fluid read either.
Cons:
* The authors chose a questionable approach. In essence this book is just a compilation of jokes by other people and of boring lists by authors themselves. So it's assumed you're gonna learn from an unstructured flow of jokes (the jokes themselves are fine) and from 'captain obvious' takes on topics (like a speech has an opening, the body and the ending, meh). And it's not working. Cause I have access to comedic content and common sense w/o this book. Consuming doesn't mean learning.
* Also, the authors criminally overuse acronyms for their jokes frameworks. And they 3 of them. And all of them partially overlap. It sucks.
* Missing structure and weird choice of topics (like explaining that tweets are 140 long in more than page of text) make this a difficult read. It's very uneven. With the first third being ok, the second third being repetitive and the final third being simply awful.
Pros:
* The book still highlights the basic structure of jokes with setup & punchline. And gives some insight on why people laugh.
* It also has some helpful writing exercises to practice joke writing (70% of 'writing lab' here is garbage, but 30% are totally cool and very similar to any standup workshop).
Recap
Introduction to Humor Writing
Rule: Don’t be inhibited. When writing, write freely. If your internal critic limits your creativity by saying “This sucks!� then you will be left with nothing. Your goal is to tap the full potential of your comedic inventiveness by remembering this mantra: Nothing sucks. Nothing does suck!
Imagination drives comedy.
Train your mind to constantly ask What if? and brainstorm all the possibilities of what else these objects could be. Don’t worry if your ideas seem absurd.
As Steve Martin said, “Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.�
Factors of rubbing the audience wrong:
* Timing: Not Now
* Personal: I Don’t Think That’s Funny
* Cultural: We Don’t Think That’s Funny
* Gender: Men Are Funnier—Not!
Practice: list your ten favorite comedians and humorists, and search for jokes, tweets, or quotes by each of these individuals. After you amass twenty jokes, identify the subject or target of the joke, and explain why you think the joke is funny.
Practice: keep some type of personal humor journal.
Why we Laugh
Psychologist Patricia Keith-Spiegel identified two primary reasons why we laugh: �
* We laugh out of surprise.
* We laugh when we feel superior.
Six additional motivations:
* We laugh out of instinct.
* We laugh at incongruity.
* We laugh out of ambivalence.
* We laugh for release.
* We laugh when we solve a puzzle.
* We laugh to regress.
Setup -> Punchline: Surprise is one of the most universally accepted formulas for humor. A joke is a story, and a surprise ending is usually its finale.
To achieve the unexpected twist, it’s sometimes necessary to sacrifice grammar and even logic. Target: The joke is at someone else’s expense. Humor often ridicules the intelligence, social standing, and physical and mental infirmities of those we consider inferior to ourselves.
The Recipe for Humor
The two qualities shared by all successful humorists are consistency and targeted material.
MAPP: material, audience, performer, and purpose.
Whether the humor is a one-liner, a lengthy anecdote, or a three-act theatrical piece, these six elements are required (THREES): target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise.
Target:
Humor is criticism cloaked as entertainment and directed at a specific target.
Humor is an attempt to challenge the status quo, but targeting must reaffirm the audience’s hostilities and prejudices. This means that humor is always unfair. Like editorial cartoons, jokes take a biased point of view.
Practice: Make a list of the seven most embarrassing moments in your life. Review the events and look for patterns. Create a list of seven things you do not like about yourself. Then list all your personal faults, according to what others have told you.
Practice: Stand in front of a mirror and look for your three most noticeable physical features. Ask friends and family to identify celebrities who act and look like you.
Hostility
This need for hostility bred what is called nihilistic humor—humor based on the theory that there is no person or thing so sacred as to be beyond ridicule.
Group Differences: Us vs Them. As long as we’re in the majority, humor can criticize.
Humor might be viewed as anger turned into profit.
Practice: Make a list of people, things, and topics that you feel hostile about. Freely associate, don’t censor yourself, and write down why each target is frustrating.
Realism
“Most good jokes state a bitter truth,� said scriptwriter Larry Gelbart. Without some fundamental basis of truth, there’s little with which the audience can associate. But jokes also bend the truth, and the challenge is to learn how to tell the truth (be realistic) while lying (exaggerating).
The basic two-step in humor is to (a) state some common problem, frequently with a cliché, and (b) create an unexpected ending or surprise.
Humor Writing Techniques
POW: Play on Words
The Double Entendre. Double entendre is the French term for an ambiguous word or phrase that allows for a second—usually spicy—interpretation.
The Simple Truth and the Takeoff
The simple truth is a technique for creating humor by considering the implications of the literal meaning of such expressions—without their context of logical assumptions.
The idea behind the takeoff is to draw a humorous conclusion from the intended meaning of a standard cliché.
Reverses
The traditional one-liner structure—a setup followed by a punch line. The setup is usually a cliché, which allows for a literal interpretation or an unexpected twist.
Triples
Three parts to most comedic bits. SAP: S = Setup (preparation) A = Anticipation (triple) P = Punch line (story payoff)
Three criteria determine whether a premise properly sets up the punch line: truth, emotion, and explicitness.
The emotion is usually anger or hostility driven by the stupidity, absurdity, or weirdness of the premise.
The concept of a triple is simple. Whenever you have a sequence of actions, comments, or categories, the magical number is three.
Realism, Exaggeration, and Shock
Exaggeration is one of the easiest and most effective comedic tools, and it appears in all types of humor: Cartoonists magnify physical features, impressionists exaggerate speech mannerism, and comedians embellish language.
Exaggeration changes the perception of reality.
Outrageous doesn’t mean creative.
Brainstorming
Even when a writer’s imagination is going full steam, the rule of ten in, nine out applies: For every ten jokes written, only one might be acceptable.
A playful mentality is critical to writing humor. If you worry about the process or whether your writing is funny, then you will never fulfill your goal.
The professional writes three times what’s needed, rewrites, discards, rewrites some more, then finally settles on the ones that work best for that specific audience.
Practice: No humor writer will deny that generating associations can be laborious, time-consuming, and frustrating. However, when your creative juices are not flowing, listing is the best way to examine a topic from every possible angle.
Editing
Well-constructed joke does the following:
* uses as few words as possible
* does not reveal key words in the setup
* saves the funniest word for the end
When you write humor, your first draft can be as long as you wish. The second draft should cut every nonessential phrase. The final draft should cut every nonessential word.
Mantra: Make every word work.
Brent Forrester called this the “Humor and Duration Principle,� which, simply put, states that the less time you take to get to the joke, the funnier the joke will be.
Speeches
In the late nineteenth century, British politician John Morley wrote: “Three things matter in a speech. Who says it, how he says it, and what he says. And of the three, the last matters the least.�
A humorous introduction can humanize the speaker and put the audience at ease. Don’t let some inept MC start your speech off on the wrong footnotes. To give an introduction true character and spark, write it yourself.
A speech, including introductory material, should never take more than twenty minutes. The normal speaking rate is two and a half words per second, and that means a speech should be a maximum of 3,000 words long.
1. It must be funny.
2. It must be comfortable for the speaker.
3. It must be comfortable for the audience.
Personalize and localize the humor whenever possible, even though many in the audience will know it’s fabricated.
Never apologize. Saying “Here’s something I just dashed off� or “This may not be very funny, but …� sets an expectation that the humor is weak.
Also, don’t explain. “See, the guy was an atheist, and …�
Use self-deprecating humor. The audience appreciates it when—despite a speaker’s title, age, or reputation—the speaker is human.
Teach
Since students anticipate boredom, they will appreciate any attempt at humor and view the teacher as striving to make the course more interesting.
Students will quickly stereotype teachers. Opening with a joke or funny quote sends the message, “This will be fun, so pay attention.�
Final advice
1. Work With Others. Write with a partner whenever possible.
2. Test, Test, Test.
3. Write, Write, Write.
Cons:
* The authors chose a questionable approach. In essence this book is just a compilation of jokes by other people and of boring lists by authors themselves. So it's assumed you're gonna learn from an unstructured flow of jokes (the jokes themselves are fine) and from 'captain obvious' takes on topics (like a speech has an opening, the body and the ending, meh). And it's not working. Cause I have access to comedic content and common sense w/o this book. Consuming doesn't mean learning.
* Also, the authors criminally overuse acronyms for their jokes frameworks. And they 3 of them. And all of them partially overlap. It sucks.
* Missing structure and weird choice of topics (like explaining that tweets are 140 long in more than page of text) make this a difficult read. It's very uneven. With the first third being ok, the second third being repetitive and the final third being simply awful.
Pros:
* The book still highlights the basic structure of jokes with setup & punchline. And gives some insight on why people laugh.
* It also has some helpful writing exercises to practice joke writing (70% of 'writing lab' here is garbage, but 30% are totally cool and very similar to any standup workshop).
Recap
Introduction to Humor Writing
Rule: Don’t be inhibited. When writing, write freely. If your internal critic limits your creativity by saying “This sucks!� then you will be left with nothing. Your goal is to tap the full potential of your comedic inventiveness by remembering this mantra: Nothing sucks. Nothing does suck!
Imagination drives comedy.
Train your mind to constantly ask What if? and brainstorm all the possibilities of what else these objects could be. Don’t worry if your ideas seem absurd.
As Steve Martin said, “Comedy is the art of making people laugh without making them puke.�
Factors of rubbing the audience wrong:
* Timing: Not Now
* Personal: I Don’t Think That’s Funny
* Cultural: We Don’t Think That’s Funny
* Gender: Men Are Funnier—Not!
Practice: list your ten favorite comedians and humorists, and search for jokes, tweets, or quotes by each of these individuals. After you amass twenty jokes, identify the subject or target of the joke, and explain why you think the joke is funny.
Practice: keep some type of personal humor journal.
Why we Laugh
Psychologist Patricia Keith-Spiegel identified two primary reasons why we laugh: �
* We laugh out of surprise.
* We laugh when we feel superior.
Six additional motivations:
* We laugh out of instinct.
* We laugh at incongruity.
* We laugh out of ambivalence.
* We laugh for release.
* We laugh when we solve a puzzle.
* We laugh to regress.
Setup -> Punchline: Surprise is one of the most universally accepted formulas for humor. A joke is a story, and a surprise ending is usually its finale.
To achieve the unexpected twist, it’s sometimes necessary to sacrifice grammar and even logic. Target: The joke is at someone else’s expense. Humor often ridicules the intelligence, social standing, and physical and mental infirmities of those we consider inferior to ourselves.
The Recipe for Humor
The two qualities shared by all successful humorists are consistency and targeted material.
MAPP: material, audience, performer, and purpose.
Whether the humor is a one-liner, a lengthy anecdote, or a three-act theatrical piece, these six elements are required (THREES): target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise.
Target:
Humor is criticism cloaked as entertainment and directed at a specific target.
Humor is an attempt to challenge the status quo, but targeting must reaffirm the audience’s hostilities and prejudices. This means that humor is always unfair. Like editorial cartoons, jokes take a biased point of view.
Practice: Make a list of the seven most embarrassing moments in your life. Review the events and look for patterns. Create a list of seven things you do not like about yourself. Then list all your personal faults, according to what others have told you.
Practice: Stand in front of a mirror and look for your three most noticeable physical features. Ask friends and family to identify celebrities who act and look like you.
Hostility
This need for hostility bred what is called nihilistic humor—humor based on the theory that there is no person or thing so sacred as to be beyond ridicule.
Group Differences: Us vs Them. As long as we’re in the majority, humor can criticize.
Humor might be viewed as anger turned into profit.
Practice: Make a list of people, things, and topics that you feel hostile about. Freely associate, don’t censor yourself, and write down why each target is frustrating.
Realism
“Most good jokes state a bitter truth,� said scriptwriter Larry Gelbart. Without some fundamental basis of truth, there’s little with which the audience can associate. But jokes also bend the truth, and the challenge is to learn how to tell the truth (be realistic) while lying (exaggerating).
The basic two-step in humor is to (a) state some common problem, frequently with a cliché, and (b) create an unexpected ending or surprise.
Humor Writing Techniques
POW: Play on Words
The Double Entendre. Double entendre is the French term for an ambiguous word or phrase that allows for a second—usually spicy—interpretation.
The Simple Truth and the Takeoff
The simple truth is a technique for creating humor by considering the implications of the literal meaning of such expressions—without their context of logical assumptions.
I went to a bookstore and asked the saleswoman where the self-help section was. She said if she told me it would defeat the purpose.
—Dennis Miller
The idea behind the takeoff is to draw a humorous conclusion from the intended meaning of a standard cliché.
Reverses
The traditional one-liner structure—a setup followed by a punch line. The setup is usually a cliché, which allows for a literal interpretation or an unexpected twist.
After twelve years of therapy, my psychiatrist said something that brought tears to my eyes. He said, “No hablo ingles.�
—Ronnie Shakes
Triples
Reader, suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself.
—Mark Twain
Three parts to most comedic bits. SAP: S = Setup (preparation) A = Anticipation (triple) P = Punch line (story payoff)
Three criteria determine whether a premise properly sets up the punch line: truth, emotion, and explicitness.
The emotion is usually anger or hostility driven by the stupidity, absurdity, or weirdness of the premise.
The concept of a triple is simple. Whenever you have a sequence of actions, comments, or categories, the magical number is three.
Realism, Exaggeration, and Shock
I’ve had more women than most people have noses.
—Steve Martin
Exaggeration is one of the easiest and most effective comedic tools, and it appears in all types of humor: Cartoonists magnify physical features, impressionists exaggerate speech mannerism, and comedians embellish language.
Exaggeration changes the perception of reality.
Outrageous doesn’t mean creative.
“For me, it's a purity thing about the joke itself. It's a test of a joke whether or not you do it completely clean and it works. If it does, then that's a legitimate item you have there. For me, it's nothing to do with finding those words offensive. It's just not what I'm in search of. Do it clean, and you are really earning that laugh.�
—Jerry Seinfeld
Brainstorming
Even when a writer’s imagination is going full steam, the rule of ten in, nine out applies: For every ten jokes written, only one might be acceptable.
A playful mentality is critical to writing humor. If you worry about the process or whether your writing is funny, then you will never fulfill your goal.
The professional writes three times what’s needed, rewrites, discards, rewrites some more, then finally settles on the ones that work best for that specific audience.
Practice: No humor writer will deny that generating associations can be laborious, time-consuming, and frustrating. However, when your creative juices are not flowing, listing is the best way to examine a topic from every possible angle.
Editing
Well-constructed joke does the following:
* uses as few words as possible
* does not reveal key words in the setup
* saves the funniest word for the end
When you write humor, your first draft can be as long as you wish. The second draft should cut every nonessential phrase. The final draft should cut every nonessential word.
Mantra: Make every word work.
Brent Forrester called this the “Humor and Duration Principle,� which, simply put, states that the less time you take to get to the joke, the funnier the joke will be.
Speeches
In the late nineteenth century, British politician John Morley wrote: “Three things matter in a speech. Who says it, how he says it, and what he says. And of the three, the last matters the least.�
A humorous introduction can humanize the speaker and put the audience at ease. Don’t let some inept MC start your speech off on the wrong footnotes. To give an introduction true character and spark, write it yourself.
A speech, including introductory material, should never take more than twenty minutes. The normal speaking rate is two and a half words per second, and that means a speech should be a maximum of 3,000 words long.
“An immortal speech should not be eternal.�
1. It must be funny.
2. It must be comfortable for the speaker.
3. It must be comfortable for the audience.
Personalize and localize the humor whenever possible, even though many in the audience will know it’s fabricated.
Never apologize. Saying “Here’s something I just dashed off� or “This may not be very funny, but …� sets an expectation that the humor is weak.
Also, don’t explain. “See, the guy was an atheist, and …�
Use self-deprecating humor. The audience appreciates it when—despite a speaker’s title, age, or reputation—the speaker is human.
Teach
Since students anticipate boredom, they will appreciate any attempt at humor and view the teacher as striving to make the course more interesting.
Students will quickly stereotype teachers. Opening with a joke or funny quote sends the message, “This will be fun, so pay attention.�
Final advice
1. Work With Others. Write with a partner whenever possible.
2. Test, Test, Test.
3. Write, Write, Write.
January 11, 2016
كتاب من الحجم الكبير
حوالي 500 صفحة
يتناول العديد من الاساليب والطرق واسرار كتابة الكوميديا
كذلك الكتاب مشحون بالنكات والسخرية .. حوالي ألف نكتة كما يصرح الكاتب
من الواضح أن الكتاب ذو فائدة عظيمة واضافة للكتب التي تتناول الكوميديا باللغة العربية
إلا أن الترجمة قتلت كل الابداع وكل ما هو مفيد في الكتاب
أربعة أيام وأنا أعاني وأكافح لأفهم ماذا يريد الكاتب أن يقول
الترجمة أشبه بترجمة قوقل
أتمنا أن يعاد ترجمة الكتاب في يوم من الأيام
حوالي 500 صفحة
يتناول العديد من الاساليب والطرق واسرار كتابة الكوميديا
كذلك الكتاب مشحون بالنكات والسخرية .. حوالي ألف نكتة كما يصرح الكاتب
من الواضح أن الكتاب ذو فائدة عظيمة واضافة للكتب التي تتناول الكوميديا باللغة العربية
إلا أن الترجمة قتلت كل الابداع وكل ما هو مفيد في الكتاب
أربعة أيام وأنا أعاني وأكافح لأفهم ماذا يريد الكاتب أن يقول
الترجمة أشبه بترجمة قوقل
أتمنا أن يعاد ترجمة الكتاب في يوم من الأيام
Read
January 18, 2016Now I know all the secrets.
December 2, 2008
Excellent book on comedy theory and practice. I'd tell you more, but it's a secret.
October 27, 2020
رأى الكثيرين من كتاب الكوميديا ان فن كتابة الكوميديا لا يمكن مطلقاً تعليمه او اخضاعه لبنية بعينها . ويرى هؤلاء المحترفون ان الكوميديا إنما تورّث او تشكلها عوامل من قيبل الخصائص الإثنية، وتأثيرات الوالدين في اوائل الطفولة وعدم الاستقرار.
والكاتب الفكاهي المبتدىء لا يكتب سوى عشرين قطعة فقط ، اما الكاتب المحترف فيستطيع ان يكتب ثلاثة اضعاف ما هو مطلوب ، اي انه يستطيع ان يكتب حوالي ستين قطعة ويواصل تجربة واختيار هذه القطع بعرضها على مجموعات صغيرة من الناس . ولا يعرضها مطلقاً على افراد اسرته ، ويعيد كتابة هذه القطع ويتخلى عن البعض منها ، ثم يعيد كتابة المزيد من هذه القطع ثانيةً ، الى ان يستقر في النهاية على العشرين سطراً .
ان الاضحاك الذي يلقى امام جمهور صغير حوالي عشرة او عشرين شخصاً ، يصعب نجاحه والسبب في ذلك ان كل فرد من افراد الجمهور يخشى الضحك خشية ان يكون ذلك منافياً للذوق ويتعين على المتحدث ان يكتشف ذلك الشخص صاحب الضحكة المدوية ويتجه اليه وينظر اليه ويغمز له بعينه مرة او مرتين ، لأن ضحكة مثل هذا الشخص قد تكون بمثابة العامل المختزل الذي يُطلق ضحك الجمهور.
والكاتب الفكاهي المبتدىء لا يكتب سوى عشرين قطعة فقط ، اما الكاتب المحترف فيستطيع ان يكتب ثلاثة اضعاف ما هو مطلوب ، اي انه يستطيع ان يكتب حوالي ستين قطعة ويواصل تجربة واختيار هذه القطع بعرضها على مجموعات صغيرة من الناس . ولا يعرضها مطلقاً على افراد اسرته ، ويعيد كتابة هذه القطع ويتخلى عن البعض منها ، ثم يعيد كتابة المزيد من هذه القطع ثانيةً ، الى ان يستقر في النهاية على العشرين سطراً .
ان الاضحاك الذي يلقى امام جمهور صغير حوالي عشرة او عشرين شخصاً ، يصعب نجاحه والسبب في ذلك ان كل فرد من افراد الجمهور يخشى الضحك خشية ان يكون ذلك منافياً للذوق ويتعين على المتحدث ان يكتشف ذلك الشخص صاحب الضحكة المدوية ويتجه اليه وينظر اليه ويغمز له بعينه مرة او مرتين ، لأن ضحكة مثل هذا الشخص قد تكون بمثابة العامل المختزل الذي يُطلق ضحك الجمهور.
January 19, 2020
مفيد جدا لغاية شابتر ٤
من بعد كدة هيبدأ يهري و يجيب شبه وصفات و تدريبات لكتابة الإفيه فبضنت منه اوي .لكن قبل الحتة دي بيعرفك يعني ايه كوميديا اصلا و ليه بنضحك فده جزء مهم جدا و غالبا انت هتلاقي نفسك عارف الحاجات دي بديهيا لكن لما تيجي تكتب دائما بتنسي تستخدمها.
من بعد كدة هيبدأ يهري و يجيب شبه وصفات و تدريبات لكتابة الإفيه فبضنت منه اوي .لكن قبل الحتة دي بيعرفك يعني ايه كوميديا اصلا و ليه بنضحك فده جزء مهم جدا و غالبا انت هتلاقي نفسك عارف الحاجات دي بديهيا لكن لما تيجي تكتب دائما بتنسي تستخدمها.
January 14, 2023
كتاب مهم في بابه، أكثر الفصول التي أمتعتني وأفدتُ منها، تلك الخاصة بالإضحاك في الخُطب، وعالم الرسوم الهزلية.
أما الفصول المتعلقة باللغة والكلمات التي يستخدمها كتاب الإضحاك، ليست ذات جدوى لكاتبٍ عربي، نظرًا لكون الكتاب مترجمًا عن الإنجليزية.
أما الفصول المتعلقة باللغة والكلمات التي يستخدمها كتاب الإضحاك، ليست ذات جدوى لكاتبٍ عربي، نظرًا لكون الكتاب مترجمًا عن الإنجليزية.
January 8, 2013
Attention humor writers! You need to KNOW humor. One reviewer asked if you can teach funny? I don't know if you can or not -- but if you claim to be a funny writer, then you need to take humor seriously and read all you can on the matter. I LOVE this book because it breaks different types of jokes down into technical elements (sound dry? it's not, but I kinda geek out over joke structure and the law of threes).
I just may create a list of good resources for people who want to be known as funny writers. I'd put this book on the list, with the works of Ring Lardner, SJ Perelman, comic biographies (like Woody Allen) and humor theory, and then I'd beat with a rubber chicken any writer who thinks they're funny but doesn't want to bother with the craft of humor.
Seriously.
I just may create a list of good resources for people who want to be known as funny writers. I'd put this book on the list, with the works of Ring Lardner, SJ Perelman, comic biographies (like Woody Allen) and humor theory, and then I'd beat with a rubber chicken any writer who thinks they're funny but doesn't want to bother with the craft of humor.
Seriously.
May 16, 2008
Six words: don't let the cover fool you.
It's beyond corny, I know. Melvin wanted to emphazise that--if you ever consider being a humor writer--physical humor is underrated.
An overabundance of physical humor is annoying. No doubt about it. But see any Rowan Atkinson's sketch and try to rewrite it without using physical humor. It's like sending an NBA player to score a triple-double after amputating his left leg.
What we should do, as a writer, is learn what make us laugh. And then use it to our advantage in writing. That easy.
The rest is practice. (And a helluva lot of rewrites.)
It's beyond corny, I know. Melvin wanted to emphazise that--if you ever consider being a humor writer--physical humor is underrated.
An overabundance of physical humor is annoying. No doubt about it. But see any Rowan Atkinson's sketch and try to rewrite it without using physical humor. It's like sending an NBA player to score a triple-double after amputating his left leg.
What we should do, as a writer, is learn what make us laugh. And then use it to our advantage in writing. That easy.
The rest is practice. (And a helluva lot of rewrites.)
September 8, 2008
If you've already mastered looking funny.
August 31, 2011
A great reference book for this humor writer. Although I believe comedy is instinctual,
studying different masters/methods helped me create a variety of funny characters with different voices.
studying different masters/methods helped me create a variety of funny characters with different voices.
August 22, 2019
"When you do comedy to troops you stay on an army base, but in Bahrain you could actually leave the base and go to the downtown Bahrain. When you go out there they're like, 'Look, it's safe just don't draw attention to yourself. Don't wear American t-shirts and stuff.' And you're like, 'All right that's fine, no American t-shirts. So what are you going to do about the white on my skin?'"
� Nate Bargatze
This is THE definitive guide for comedians. I had a kid call me the other day asking what it would take to make it in the NYC comedy scene and the first thing I did was to recommend this book to him. I've used it, even though I don't do comedy per se, and it's helped punchlines even at dinner with family and in the midst of long con stories that build towards funny moments.
Every writer should peruse this volume.
Except for you, Louis C.K., it's not working. Go back to weeping into Cheetos bags.
� Nate Bargatze
This is THE definitive guide for comedians. I had a kid call me the other day asking what it would take to make it in the NYC comedy scene and the first thing I did was to recommend this book to him. I've used it, even though I don't do comedy per se, and it's helped punchlines even at dinner with family and in the midst of long con stories that build towards funny moments.
Every writer should peruse this volume.
Except for you, Louis C.K., it's not working. Go back to weeping into Cheetos bags.
August 2, 2021
Not the most practical book, despite what its title suggests. Very American-oriented. Content mainly regarded stand-up comedy jokes, so not very useful for using humour in writing.
February 5, 2025
This book along with the writing exercises really helped me grow as a writer and helped me over come writers block with regard to comedy.
Need to continue putting into practice
Need to continue putting into practice
February 5, 2025
"... if you have to read a book, especially many books, you're probably not funny." (someone on ŷ)
Pembacaan buku ini lambat dan sulit walau topiknya semestinya menyenangkan. Saya mesti membaca buku ini secara hati-hati untuk mencernanya. Banyak kata atau istilah yang saya tidak tahu artinya (dan malas sedikit-sedikit membuka kamus). Juga ada hal-hal yang konteksnya Amerika Serikat banget sehingga antara saya tidak memahaminya karena kekurangan referensi atau tidak menerimanya karena tidak bersesuaian dengan budaya saya (contohnya soal hostility).
"Humorists write funny while comedians perform funny." (pg. 17/203)
Saya mengail banyak ide dari buku ini.
- Mengimajinasikan suatu benda bisa difungsikan sebagai apa saja.
- Memulai dengan "what if" atau "bagaimana seandainya" ....
- Membuat daftar 10 komedian/humoris favorit, kumpulkan contoh joke/tweet/quote dari mereka, dan menganalisis kelucuannya (bisa menurut teori dalam buku ini: bab 2, 3, dan 4).
- Mengumpulkan yang lucu-lucu dari berita, informasi, media, dan sebagainya ... semacam kliping.
- Mengumpulkan materi humor dari kehidupan pribadi sehari-hari (personal humor journal).
- Mempraktikkan keenam elemen humor (THREES: Target, Hostility, Realism, Exaggeration, Emotion, Surprise dengan mengarang anekdot (contoh ada di "The Writing Lab" bab 3).
- Mengerjakan latihan-latihan di buku Pengajaran Gaya Bahasa Henry Guntur Tarigan dengan sentuhan humor. Contoh-contoh dalam bab 4 buku ini mengenai "POW: Play on Words" sangat bahasa-Inggris-sentris, meskipun--kalau mau bekerja keras--bisa saja sih mencari-cari, mengumpulkan, bahkan mengarang-ngarang sendiri contoh yang sejenis dalam bahasa Indonesia. Di komentar-komentar media sosial sepertinya ada banyak.
- Mengumpulkan ungkapan klise dan memelintirnya (bab 5, "More POW: The Simple Truth and the Takeoff"). Contoh dari yang ini sepertinya bisa dicari di media sosial juga.
- Menulis ulang frasa berikut dengan menguraikannya secara spesifik untuk menimbulkan imaji yang efektif (contoh di bab 6, "The Next Giant Step: Reverses"):
>> mengambil makanan
>> menonton TV
>> membaca buku
>> mengemudikan mobil
- Mengubah kata atau frasa yang umum dalam tulisanmu dengan deskripsi yang spesifik dan grafis.
- Mencatat kejadian sehari-hari di personal humor journal dengan menggunakan deskripsi yang grafis, berwarna-warni, hidup, jernih, lincah, jelas, dan sebagainya.
- Menerapkan Triples (bab 7, "Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered: Triples") atau "THE RULE OF THREE" seperti yang ada di bukunya Ramon Papana.
- Humor habits:
>> menonton sitcom
>> membaca komik humor
>> mendengarkan podcast lucu
>> berteman dengan orang-orang yang lucu
>> melakukan hal-hal yang lucu
>> mengisi jurnal harian dengan ide-ide lucu
- Mirip dengan ide kolom kata dari Ramon Papana dan mindmapping dari Ernest Prakasa,
>> membuat daftar kata yang dikembangkan dari suatu topik dan sub-subtopiknya
>> mengumpulkan ungkapan klise, permainan kata, double entendre (makna ganda), sinonim, antonim, homonim, dan sebagainya sehubungan dengan topik/subtopik tersebut
>> mencari humor possibilities dan mengarang joke
Selengkapnya di bab 9, "Brainstorming and Editing".
- Menerapkan ekonomi kata (pelajaran tentang kalimat efektif) dan meletakkan surprise word di akhir.
- Menulis kolom humor sebanyak 500-700 kata di blog pribadi (atau sepertinya tulisan-tulisan di mojok.co umumnya yang semacam ini) secara rutin (minimal seminggu sekali) dengan topik terkait diri sendiri (penjelasan di bab 11, "Print Humor: Columns, Articles, Greeting Cards, and Abbreviated Humor").
- Menulis anekdot tentang tokoh-tokoh rekaan.
- Menulis diary tentang kehidupan sehari-hari suatu benda (misal, "Sehari dalam kehidupan sebatang pensil").
- Menulis fan fiction (oh, ternyata ini juga bentuk pembelajaran creative writing!).
- Memparodikan cerita rakyat.
Jadi mual sendiri .... Sebenarnya ada beberapa dari ide di atas yang saya sudah pernah coba praktikkan tapi tidak diteruskan :V
"The wit makes fun of other persons; the satirist makes fun of the world; the humorist makes fun of himself." (James Thurber)
Kesimpulannya, walaupun cukup sulit dicerna dan memerlukan adaptasi agar dapat diterapkan dalam bahasa Indonesia, buku ini berguna dalam menerangkan teknik-teknik sekaligus ide-ide menulis kreatif dan (mudah-mudahan) lucu.
"The professional writes three times what's needed, rewrites, discards, rewrites some more, then finally settles on the ones that work best for that specific audience." (pg. 132/203)
October 19, 2016
I thought this book was decent until I got to the "Why We Laugh" chapter, and then it all unwound. The theory Helitzer presents is that we laugh either out of surprise or out of superiority. I tried hard to give his theory a fair chance, but I simply disagreed with almost everything he said on the topic.
Surprise, yes, is a big component of humor; but I don't think it's close to an adequate explanation, and I don't think superiority is related to humor at all. Perhaps it's just me personally, but when he says “We smile, frequently even laugh aloud, when we experience that sudden insight of having solved a mystery, finished a crossword puzzle...We are delighted by the solution to the puzzle (sur-prise), and we want the world to know we're very smart (superiority)," I utterly fail to relate. Who laughs out loud after solving a crossword puzzle to let the world know they're smart? Instead, I believe absurdity is much more key to understanding humor, and Helitzer doesn't even mention it.
However, I give the book two stars because it seems like if I agreed with the author the format would be effective--the writing is interspersed with quotes from comedians, and there are reasonable assignments at the end of each chapter.
Surprise, yes, is a big component of humor; but I don't think it's close to an adequate explanation, and I don't think superiority is related to humor at all. Perhaps it's just me personally, but when he says “We smile, frequently even laugh aloud, when we experience that sudden insight of having solved a mystery, finished a crossword puzzle...We are delighted by the solution to the puzzle (sur-prise), and we want the world to know we're very smart (superiority)," I utterly fail to relate. Who laughs out loud after solving a crossword puzzle to let the world know they're smart? Instead, I believe absurdity is much more key to understanding humor, and Helitzer doesn't even mention it.
However, I give the book two stars because it seems like if I agreed with the author the format would be effective--the writing is interspersed with quotes from comedians, and there are reasonable assignments at the end of each chapter.
July 9, 2013
Although intended for comedy writers, it rather gives off the impression of being a joke book with some thoughts as to how the jokes are constructed. Many popular stand-up comedians, such as George Carlin, Richard Pryor, Lenny Bruce, Chris Rock, Lewis Black, Dave Chapelle are quoted and often. Special attention is payed to the rule of threes (and of course the Christian trinity and other biblical examples are brought out as proof of it's efficiacy). The introduction warns the reader that reading this book may bring about a loss of "magic" in comedy, and indeed immediately afterward I did feel this effect.
Read
December 8, 2019I gave this book a try and couldn't get through more than the first half of it. The advice within was not practical to me. I was hoping to get through its entirety for completion's sake but for the past two years everything seemed more interesting than that. I'm not giving it a rating because I don't believe it's a book for me. I don't want to discourage or recommend it or anyone.
I'm grateful for this book helping me learn to let go ;)
I'm grateful for this book helping me learn to let go ;)
October 26, 2007
This is a great primer on the construction of humour. A little quote heavy, and yes it does read like a textbook at times, but it pays off with actual information (which is rarer than you would think in most books on comedy)on the process of using words to elicit laughs.
July 31, 2016
Eh.
Some of the exercises were okay. It's mostly common sense. The most annoying thing about the book is about every 5 lines there's a quote. It really makes it hard to get into a flow reading this thing. Would not recommend.
Some of the exercises were okay. It's mostly common sense. The most annoying thing about the book is about every 5 lines there's a quote. It really makes it hard to get into a flow reading this thing. Would not recommend.
January 8, 2009
in depth analysis of being funny. it helped me understand what I'm doing when I get those laughs...
July 5, 2011
Thus far I'm enjoying the process--purchased to assist in developing some key characters in my writing, this has given me a new perspective and understanding of how comedy works.
July 18, 2012
Quite specific to those writing and speaking in English, but a good overview nevertheless.
August 23, 2017
This was a great book, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's very helpful in understanding comedy, but I think you should have a funny bone to write funny.
April 18, 2018
==========
Humorists have one cardinal rule: Don't be inhibited.
It's better to take a nihilistic attitude toward sensitive subjects than to pussyfoot around taboos.
When writing, write freely. Make uninhibited assumptions. Editing and self-censorship are second and third steps—never the first!
==========
Imagination drives comedy, and just about everyone has an imagination� or no one would never get married.
==========
Humor is more than entertainment or joke telling—it's a powerful social lubricant that eases and enriches communication, interpersonal relations, and education.
==========
writers are only as good as their last joke,
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The two qualities shared by all successful humorists are (a) consistency and (b) targeted material.
==========
What if you tell a joke in the forest, and nobody laughs? Was it a joke?
==========
MAP stands for material, audience, and performer.
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Only after you know your audience and the characteristics about the performer's persona that need to be consistent, are you ready to start writing the material.
==========
A humorist tells himself every morning, "I hope it's going to be a rough day." When things are going well, it's much harder to make jokes.
==========
Humor writers therefore have to live with the fear that they won't be able to continue producing humor consistently.
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why we laugh. � We laugh out of surprise. � We laugh when we feel superior.
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Keith-Spiegel identified six additional motivations for laughter, each of which supports the two main reasons, surprise and superiority. � We laugh out of instinct. � We laugh at incongruity. � We laugh out of ambivalence. � We laugh for release. � We laugh when we solve a puzzle. � We laugh to regress.
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Surprise is one of the most universally accepted formulas for humor.
==========
The need for surprise is the one cardinal rule in comedy.
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"Humor is a reaction to tragedy. The joke is at someone else's expense,"
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There appears to be a strong and constant need for us to feel superior. In many ways, humor satisfies this most basic of needs.
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Nothing allows someone to feel superior more than mocking another person's mindless mistake, which is perhaps why typos are such a rich source for contemporary humor and witticisms.
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There are two ways to feel superior. The first is to accomplish exemplary work that receives public acclaim. That's difficult. The second (and easiest) way to feel superior is to publicly criticize the accomplishments of others.
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The professional humorist must always be aware that audience members are happiest when his subject matter and technique encourage them to feel superior.
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it's always popular because the audience knows all the facts, and therefore feels superior.
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In configuration humor, we laugh when a riddle encourages us to instantaneously discover some missing—and unexpected—piece of information.
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We're young only once, but with humor, we can be immature forever.
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And you can learn a great deal about your own psychological makeup by constantly asking yourself (and answering truthfully), Why did I laugh at this joke and not at others?
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Our regression into an infantile state of mind through humor, as suggested by psychoanalysts, is most often experienced in large settings.
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The value of humor in attack is incomparable, because humor is a socially acceptable form of criticism, a catharsis that combines memorability with respectability.
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But the only way you'll survive as a humorist is if the audience equally disfavors your target.
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You must maintain surprise and superiority.
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()
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these six elements are required. � Target � Hostility � Realism � Exaggeration � Emotion � Surprise
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Although the prescribed order may be challenged, in this configuration the first letter of each element forms a memorable acronym: THREES.
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The THREES formula focuses on the what and why of humor. The what is the target, and the why is the hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise contained in the humor.
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"Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be the fool, but you're the fool in charge."
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hostility can be nothing more than intellectual masturbation.
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Since everyone has personal money problems, focusing hostility on financial matters is one of the best (and least controversial) ways to show the audience you share their problems.
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Angst has pointed a devil's finger at anxieties so personal that, in the past, we carefully avoid¬ ed discussing them even in private: A long list of such topics includes fear of death; coping with deformity; deprivations; and neurotic symptoms such as paranoia, insecurity, narcissism, and kinky sexual urges.
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"Impropriety is the soul of wit." But the soul of wit may just be hostility. When we all think alike, there will be a lot less humor.
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Think of the combination of realism and exaggeration as an exercise in lateral thinking, a technique commonly used by business gurus to solve The Recipe for Humor 51 problems and generate new ideas.
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We permit humorists to utilize hyperbole, blatant distortion, and overstated figures that signal (since the absurd subject matter can't possibly be true): Hey, it's only a joke. Therefore, the audience laughs at The Recipe for Humor 53 exaggerated banana-peel acrobatics because the clown will certainly get up. That's comedy! If he doesn't get up, that's tragedy!
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The fifth element in the THREES formula is emotion.
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We've already begun discussing exaggeration, the fourth element in the THREES formula for humor.
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"stand-up is a funny man doing material, not a man doing funny material. The personality, the character—not the joke—is primary."
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HOW DO YOU BUILD EMOTION? 1. The first and most common technique for building emotion is also the simplest—pausing just before the payoff word. This pause is called a pregnant pause because it promises to deliver.
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The second technique for generating emotion is asking the audience members a question, thereby encouraging them to become involved.
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"How many here have ever...?" It's become its own cliché,
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Let's see how the entire THREES formula ( target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and a surprise ending)
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Brent Forrester defined this as the Humor and Duration Principle, which, simply put, states that the less time you take to get to the joke, the funnier the joke will be.
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The most common brainstorming methods are association and listing.
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Association is putting two activities that haven't been previously associated into a plausible but audacious scenario. Association is a more formal word for teaming, humor's variation on metaphor. You combine two simple elements that are logical alone but impossible together. The humor comes from the unexpected, offbeat relationship.
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Associations have several formats. One type of association begins with a cliché or expression that the audience is likely to interpret one way, but then the performer gives an illustrative example that reverses the anticipated meaning.
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Another type of association is the teaming of two clichés. This technique is the backbone of improvisation. Wife to friend: I call Herb's salary a phallic symbol even though it only rises once a year.
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A third type of association is the Tom Swifty, the teaming of a quota¬ tion with a verb or adverb of attribution that puns on the meaning of the quotation. "I want to renew my membership," Tom rejoined.
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Your mantra should be: Make every word work.
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Here are four more tools for busting through humor block. 1. WORK BACKWARDS. Create the last line—the punchline first. Then write the anecdote
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2. LOOK FOR OPPOSITES. One key method of creating surprise is associat- ing two dissimilar things. Choose a topic, then brainstorm for people, places, things, phrases, clichés, and words that are dissimilar to this topic.
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3. TALK INSTEAD OF WRITING. Put down the pen and start talking out loud. Use a voice recorder to capture ideas, which may come faster than you can write.
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4. IMAGINE INSTEAD OF WRITING. Albert Einstein recognized that the mind's visual powers greatly exceed its verbal abilities, and he used visu- alization to discover many of his famous theories. Whenever you need to kick-start your imagination, close your eyes and let your mind create a mental movie of you telling jokes to a receptive audience.
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Aggressive editing is important. Remember that a good joke: 1. uses as few words as possible 2. preserves the funniest part of the joke until the end 3. does not reveal key words in the setup, and does not contain words after the funniest part of the punchline
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The term reverse has many definitions in humor writing, but one of the best is "a device that adds a contradictory tag line to the opening line of a standard expression or cliché." I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.
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The most common definition of a reverse is "an unexpected switch in the audience's point of view." Surprise comes from a basic change in direction—a reversal of habitual thinking or activity. To maintain the element of surprise, the writer must drop at least one prominent clue to mislead the audience, to push the audience in a false direction.
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Let's imagine how you might go about creating such an aphorism. You can start with a built- in antonym pairing: optimist vs. pessimist. Your first effort might read something like this. A pessimist curses fate; an optimist looks for benefits from every decision.
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For example, the term candy bar is less likely to conjure up a visual cue than a specific reference, such as a Snickers bar. The challenge for comedy writers is to avoid general, abstract phrases and use concrete descriptions that stimulate the senses.
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SHOWTIME The following exercises will punch up the imagery in your writing. 1. Rewrite each of the following phrases using specificity. grab some food watch TV read a book drive a car 2. Replace general words or phrases in your previous jokes with specific, graphic descriptions. 3. When you record everyday events in your humor diary, use the most vivid, colorful, and graphic descriptions.
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Humor only appears to be free-form. To the trained ear, it's predictable because it's structured. Nowhere is this structure more evident than in the interaction of realism and exaggeration, two of the six ingredients in the THREES formula (target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, surprise).
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The key is remembering that a premise must be true and interesting to we, the audience, not you, the writer.
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In a triple, as discussed in chapter nine, the first two lines are frequently straight lines; this is the realistic element. The third line is the surprise twist—logically related to the first two lines, but unexpected and exaggerated. Realism is the setup, while exaggeration is the joke.
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Three criteria determine whether a premise properly sets up the punch- line: truth, emotion, and explicitness. The three factors form a memorable acronym, TEE. A solid premise will TEE-up a joke by containing the following elements. T = TRUTH: The most effective humor is reality-based, genuine, and true. If a setup is exaggerated, insincere, or untrue, then you lose the ability to bend reality to produce the surprise punchline. E = EMOTION: A solid setup includes a factual statement, opinion, or observation with a stated or implied emotion. The emotion is usually anger or hostility driven by the stupidity, absurdity, or weirdness of the premise. E = EXPLICITNESS: An effective premise is specific and readily understood by others.
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Since comedy encourages the audience to suspend disbelief, humorists can take advantage of every opportunity to stretch the truth. In other circumstances, unmitigated exaggeration would be castigated as lying. In humor, clever exaggeration guarantees laughter.
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Why is the k sound funny? Research indicates that babies associate the sound with comfort and joy.
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Just a few are cutie, cookie, kitten, cuddle, car, come, count, kiddie, clean, and cupcake.
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To be categorized as funny, a word has to have at least one of the following three characteristics: a funny sound, a double entendre, or an association with a famous person.
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Once you get people laughing, they're listening and you can sell them almost anything.
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Use self-deprecating humor.
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Tell funny anecdotes in addition to one-liners.
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While you're doing all that, the client should be shaking hands with as many members of the audience as possible, reading their name tags and calling them by their first names as soon as they're introduced. The speaker should circulate quickly and not stay in any one place for too long. The object is to make friends, since we laugh more easily with friends.
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Try to jam-pack the hall. Better fifty standers than fifty empty seats. Also, the smaller the room, the better laughter sounds.
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If your material is the what, then your delivery is the how, your timing is the when, and your character is the who.
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A character needs a trademark, a predictable point of view that does not change.
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The biggest purchaser of humor material today is not the entertainment industry but the business community. Humor is a powerful means of communication in advertising, speeches, newsletters, sales meetings, fund-raising efforts, business publications, Web sites, and even voice mail. And corporations are hungry to find people who have the ability to use humor as a persuasive tool.
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The seven most effective subjects and formats for humor commercials are, logically, also the most popular. 1. cartoons 2. anthropomorphic animals 3. physical slapstick 4. the underdog 5. celebrity comedians as spokespersons 6. plays on words (POWs) 7. children
==========
Because radio is a medium that is used as a background compan- ion, attention-getting words or sound effects must be used in the first five seconds.
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He who laughs most, learns best.
==========
Humorists have one cardinal rule: Don't be inhibited.
It's better to take a nihilistic attitude toward sensitive subjects than to pussyfoot around taboos.
When writing, write freely. Make uninhibited assumptions. Editing and self-censorship are second and third steps—never the first!
==========
Imagination drives comedy, and just about everyone has an imagination� or no one would never get married.
==========
Humor is more than entertainment or joke telling—it's a powerful social lubricant that eases and enriches communication, interpersonal relations, and education.
==========
writers are only as good as their last joke,
==========
The two qualities shared by all successful humorists are (a) consistency and (b) targeted material.
==========
What if you tell a joke in the forest, and nobody laughs? Was it a joke?
==========
MAP stands for material, audience, and performer.
==========
Only after you know your audience and the characteristics about the performer's persona that need to be consistent, are you ready to start writing the material.
==========
A humorist tells himself every morning, "I hope it's going to be a rough day." When things are going well, it's much harder to make jokes.
==========
Humor writers therefore have to live with the fear that they won't be able to continue producing humor consistently.
==========
why we laugh. � We laugh out of surprise. � We laugh when we feel superior.
==========
Keith-Spiegel identified six additional motivations for laughter, each of which supports the two main reasons, surprise and superiority. � We laugh out of instinct. � We laugh at incongruity. � We laugh out of ambivalence. � We laugh for release. � We laugh when we solve a puzzle. � We laugh to regress.
==========
Surprise is one of the most universally accepted formulas for humor.
==========
The need for surprise is the one cardinal rule in comedy.
==========
"Humor is a reaction to tragedy. The joke is at someone else's expense,"
==========
There appears to be a strong and constant need for us to feel superior. In many ways, humor satisfies this most basic of needs.
==========
Nothing allows someone to feel superior more than mocking another person's mindless mistake, which is perhaps why typos are such a rich source for contemporary humor and witticisms.
==========
There are two ways to feel superior. The first is to accomplish exemplary work that receives public acclaim. That's difficult. The second (and easiest) way to feel superior is to publicly criticize the accomplishments of others.
==========
The professional humorist must always be aware that audience members are happiest when his subject matter and technique encourage them to feel superior.
==========
it's always popular because the audience knows all the facts, and therefore feels superior.
==========
In configuration humor, we laugh when a riddle encourages us to instantaneously discover some missing—and unexpected—piece of information.
==========
We're young only once, but with humor, we can be immature forever.
==========
And you can learn a great deal about your own psychological makeup by constantly asking yourself (and answering truthfully), Why did I laugh at this joke and not at others?
==========
Our regression into an infantile state of mind through humor, as suggested by psychoanalysts, is most often experienced in large settings.
==========
The value of humor in attack is incomparable, because humor is a socially acceptable form of criticism, a catharsis that combines memorability with respectability.
==========
But the only way you'll survive as a humorist is if the audience equally disfavors your target.
==========
You must maintain surprise and superiority.
==========
()
==========
these six elements are required. � Target � Hostility � Realism � Exaggeration � Emotion � Surprise
==========
Although the prescribed order may be challenged, in this configuration the first letter of each element forms a memorable acronym: THREES.
==========
The THREES formula focuses on the what and why of humor. The what is the target, and the why is the hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise contained in the humor.
==========
"Inviting people to laugh with you while you are laughing at yourself is a good thing to do. You may be the fool, but you're the fool in charge."
==========
hostility can be nothing more than intellectual masturbation.
==========
Since everyone has personal money problems, focusing hostility on financial matters is one of the best (and least controversial) ways to show the audience you share their problems.
==========
Angst has pointed a devil's finger at anxieties so personal that, in the past, we carefully avoid¬ ed discussing them even in private: A long list of such topics includes fear of death; coping with deformity; deprivations; and neurotic symptoms such as paranoia, insecurity, narcissism, and kinky sexual urges.
==========
"Impropriety is the soul of wit." But the soul of wit may just be hostility. When we all think alike, there will be a lot less humor.
==========
Think of the combination of realism and exaggeration as an exercise in lateral thinking, a technique commonly used by business gurus to solve The Recipe for Humor 51 problems and generate new ideas.
==========
We permit humorists to utilize hyperbole, blatant distortion, and overstated figures that signal (since the absurd subject matter can't possibly be true): Hey, it's only a joke. Therefore, the audience laughs at The Recipe for Humor 53 exaggerated banana-peel acrobatics because the clown will certainly get up. That's comedy! If he doesn't get up, that's tragedy!
==========
The fifth element in the THREES formula is emotion.
==========
We've already begun discussing exaggeration, the fourth element in the THREES formula for humor.
==========
"stand-up is a funny man doing material, not a man doing funny material. The personality, the character—not the joke—is primary."
==========
HOW DO YOU BUILD EMOTION? 1. The first and most common technique for building emotion is also the simplest—pausing just before the payoff word. This pause is called a pregnant pause because it promises to deliver.
==========
The second technique for generating emotion is asking the audience members a question, thereby encouraging them to become involved.
==========
"How many here have ever...?" It's become its own cliché,
==========
Let's see how the entire THREES formula ( target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and a surprise ending)
==========
Brent Forrester defined this as the Humor and Duration Principle, which, simply put, states that the less time you take to get to the joke, the funnier the joke will be.
==========
The most common brainstorming methods are association and listing.
==========
Association is putting two activities that haven't been previously associated into a plausible but audacious scenario. Association is a more formal word for teaming, humor's variation on metaphor. You combine two simple elements that are logical alone but impossible together. The humor comes from the unexpected, offbeat relationship.
==========
Associations have several formats. One type of association begins with a cliché or expression that the audience is likely to interpret one way, but then the performer gives an illustrative example that reverses the anticipated meaning.
==========
Another type of association is the teaming of two clichés. This technique is the backbone of improvisation. Wife to friend: I call Herb's salary a phallic symbol even though it only rises once a year.
==========
A third type of association is the Tom Swifty, the teaming of a quota¬ tion with a verb or adverb of attribution that puns on the meaning of the quotation. "I want to renew my membership," Tom rejoined.
==========
Your mantra should be: Make every word work.
==========
Here are four more tools for busting through humor block. 1. WORK BACKWARDS. Create the last line—the punchline first. Then write the anecdote
==========
2. LOOK FOR OPPOSITES. One key method of creating surprise is associat- ing two dissimilar things. Choose a topic, then brainstorm for people, places, things, phrases, clichés, and words that are dissimilar to this topic.
==========
3. TALK INSTEAD OF WRITING. Put down the pen and start talking out loud. Use a voice recorder to capture ideas, which may come faster than you can write.
==========
4. IMAGINE INSTEAD OF WRITING. Albert Einstein recognized that the mind's visual powers greatly exceed its verbal abilities, and he used visu- alization to discover many of his famous theories. Whenever you need to kick-start your imagination, close your eyes and let your mind create a mental movie of you telling jokes to a receptive audience.
==========
Aggressive editing is important. Remember that a good joke: 1. uses as few words as possible 2. preserves the funniest part of the joke until the end 3. does not reveal key words in the setup, and does not contain words after the funniest part of the punchline
==========
The term reverse has many definitions in humor writing, but one of the best is "a device that adds a contradictory tag line to the opening line of a standard expression or cliché." I couldn't wait for success, so I went ahead without it.
==========
The most common definition of a reverse is "an unexpected switch in the audience's point of view." Surprise comes from a basic change in direction—a reversal of habitual thinking or activity. To maintain the element of surprise, the writer must drop at least one prominent clue to mislead the audience, to push the audience in a false direction.
==========
Let's imagine how you might go about creating such an aphorism. You can start with a built- in antonym pairing: optimist vs. pessimist. Your first effort might read something like this. A pessimist curses fate; an optimist looks for benefits from every decision.
==========
For example, the term candy bar is less likely to conjure up a visual cue than a specific reference, such as a Snickers bar. The challenge for comedy writers is to avoid general, abstract phrases and use concrete descriptions that stimulate the senses.
==========
SHOWTIME The following exercises will punch up the imagery in your writing. 1. Rewrite each of the following phrases using specificity. grab some food watch TV read a book drive a car 2. Replace general words or phrases in your previous jokes with specific, graphic descriptions. 3. When you record everyday events in your humor diary, use the most vivid, colorful, and graphic descriptions.
==========
Humor only appears to be free-form. To the trained ear, it's predictable because it's structured. Nowhere is this structure more evident than in the interaction of realism and exaggeration, two of the six ingredients in the THREES formula (target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, surprise).
==========
The key is remembering that a premise must be true and interesting to we, the audience, not you, the writer.
==========
In a triple, as discussed in chapter nine, the first two lines are frequently straight lines; this is the realistic element. The third line is the surprise twist—logically related to the first two lines, but unexpected and exaggerated. Realism is the setup, while exaggeration is the joke.
==========
Three criteria determine whether a premise properly sets up the punch- line: truth, emotion, and explicitness. The three factors form a memorable acronym, TEE. A solid premise will TEE-up a joke by containing the following elements. T = TRUTH: The most effective humor is reality-based, genuine, and true. If a setup is exaggerated, insincere, or untrue, then you lose the ability to bend reality to produce the surprise punchline. E = EMOTION: A solid setup includes a factual statement, opinion, or observation with a stated or implied emotion. The emotion is usually anger or hostility driven by the stupidity, absurdity, or weirdness of the premise. E = EXPLICITNESS: An effective premise is specific and readily understood by others.
==========
Since comedy encourages the audience to suspend disbelief, humorists can take advantage of every opportunity to stretch the truth. In other circumstances, unmitigated exaggeration would be castigated as lying. In humor, clever exaggeration guarantees laughter.
==========
Why is the k sound funny? Research indicates that babies associate the sound with comfort and joy.
==========
Just a few are cutie, cookie, kitten, cuddle, car, come, count, kiddie, clean, and cupcake.
==========
To be categorized as funny, a word has to have at least one of the following three characteristics: a funny sound, a double entendre, or an association with a famous person.
==========
Once you get people laughing, they're listening and you can sell them almost anything.
==========
Use self-deprecating humor.
==========
Tell funny anecdotes in addition to one-liners.
==========
While you're doing all that, the client should be shaking hands with as many members of the audience as possible, reading their name tags and calling them by their first names as soon as they're introduced. The speaker should circulate quickly and not stay in any one place for too long. The object is to make friends, since we laugh more easily with friends.
==========
Try to jam-pack the hall. Better fifty standers than fifty empty seats. Also, the smaller the room, the better laughter sounds.
==========
If your material is the what, then your delivery is the how, your timing is the when, and your character is the who.
==========
A character needs a trademark, a predictable point of view that does not change.
==========
The biggest purchaser of humor material today is not the entertainment industry but the business community. Humor is a powerful means of communication in advertising, speeches, newsletters, sales meetings, fund-raising efforts, business publications, Web sites, and even voice mail. And corporations are hungry to find people who have the ability to use humor as a persuasive tool.
==========
The seven most effective subjects and formats for humor commercials are, logically, also the most popular. 1. cartoons 2. anthropomorphic animals 3. physical slapstick 4. the underdog 5. celebrity comedians as spokespersons 6. plays on words (POWs) 7. children
==========
Because radio is a medium that is used as a background compan- ion, attention-getting words or sound effects must be used in the first five seconds.
==========
He who laughs most, learns best.
==========
December 29, 2022
Reco by RL Stine Masterclass
My fav quotes (not a review):
"The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."
"Never laugh at your significant other when they're having an orgasm. That is their time to shine."
"A joke is a curve ball—a pitch that bends at the last instant and fools the batter. “You throw a perfectly straight line at the audience and then, right at the end, you curve it."
"He may not be able to sing, but he sure can’t dance."
"My wife and I have many arguments, but she only wins half of them. My mother-in-law wins the other half."
"For release humor to work, the audience must be clued to every plot from the beginning. If the audience and the actor don’t know what’s behind the door, that’s mystery. If the audience knows, but someone else doesn’t, that’s release comedy."
"If we are the first to laugh, we will stifle a hearty ha-ha in mid-ha if no one joins us. Even when acting childish, our desire is to maintain social approval."
"Pay particular attention to the two most important principles, surprise and superiority."
"Examine the funny personal stories and anecdotes that you share with your friends to confirm how surprise and superiority play a role in the humor."
"Whether the humor is a one-liner, a lengthy anecdote, or a three-act theatrical piece, these six elements are required: target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise. Although the prescribed order may be challenged, the first letter of each element in this configuration forms a memorable acronym: THREES."
"There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."
"Housework can kill you if done right."
"Men, stop lying about your size. Just tell your ladies: “I’ll do as best as I can. Then I’ll take you shopping.�"
"reality show Sarah Palin's Alaska. If you haven't seen it, the entire show takes place in Palin's rearview mirror."
"in humor, ridicule is spelled ridicruel. Comedy is cruel."
"I looked up the word politics in the dictionary, and it’s actually a combination of two words: poli, which means “many,� and tics, which means “bloodsuckers.� —Jay Leno"
"Believing in God is a lot like wearing clean underwear. You never know when you going to be in an accident, but you'd better be prepared just in case."
"They asked John Glenn what he thought about just before his first capsule was shot into space, and he said: “I looked around me and suddenly realized that everything had been built by the lowest bidder.�"
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility."
"There must be a buildup of anticipation in the reader or audience. This is really nothing more than the writer’s skill in using emotion to produce tension and anxiety. It’s a trick. Think of hostility as an inflated balloon. When you create tension in your audience, you are effectively adding more and more air to that balloon, building the audience’s anticipation over when the balloon will burst. They can hardly keep their eyes off the stunt. The writer’s goal is to see that the balloon bursts with laughter, not hot air."
"“Comedy is mentally pulling the rug out from under each person in your audience,� wrote Gene Perret. “But first, you have to get them to stand on it. You have to fool them, because if they see you preparing to tug on the rug, they’ll move.�"
"I told a chemistry joke but there was no reaction."
"You say “Alka-Seltzer� you get a laugh � Words with “K� in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that’s a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny. Car keys. Cleveland � Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny."
"Think of many of the words we coo to babies, and you’ll notice they have a k sound, even though most of them begin with the letter c. Just a few are cutie, cookie, kitten, cuddle, car, come, count, kiddie, clean, and cupcake. No other sound has such a universal humor kick. As you say, “kiss,� for example, your mouth smiles, it doesn’t pucker up."
"no city is the butt of more jokes than Cleveland (either because of the k sound or because Cleveland is proof that God had a quality control problem!)."
"many comedians use the Yiddish word schmuck to describe a loser and do not realize that the word’s literal meaning is penis."
"Stephen Colbert introduced a new, reformed word, truthiness. Colbert defined it as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.�"
"What does the word meteorologist mean in English? It means liar."
"readers select any word from a standard dictionary; change, add, or delete only one letter; and then provide a new definition. (This type of construction, popularized in books by Rich Hall, is often called a “sniglet.�)"
"Sign over urinal: Look before you leak."
"Art supplies advertisement: Honest, I Was Framed!"
"Practice the art of double entendres with the word it."
"Comedians do it standing up. Dancers do it to music. Bankers do it with interest. Math teachers do it with unknowns. Publishers do it by the book. Carpet layers do it on their knees. Bowlers do it with balls. Chemists do it periodically on the table. Historians do it repeatedly. Flutists do it sideways."
"Include me out."
"Fahrenheit: A moderately tall person."
"I'm constipated and I couldn't give a shit."
"My career advisor told me that I'd never get anywhere staring into space all the time. I had the last laugh when I got a job as an astronomer."
"I have a paper cut from writing my suicide note. It's a start � Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."
"I can read minds but, it's pointless cause I'm illiterate."
"The takeoff is the most traditional of all humor techniques. Like the simple truth, the takeoff begins with a standard expression or cliché, but it continues with an outrageous commentary, sometimes containing a double entendre. Beauty comes from within—like gas."
"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again."
"Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation."
"Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense."
"A pun is the lowest form of humor—unless you think of it first."
"If at first you don't succeed � so much for skydiving."
"If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you."
"Based on what you know about him, what do you think Abraham Lincoln would be doing if he were alive today? One: Writing his memoirs of the Civil War. Two: Advising the President. Or three: Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin. —David Letterman The joke works only because of the imagery in the final line, “Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin.� If a general phrase were used, such as “Trying to get out of his coffin,� the joke would be less effective. The colorful language encourages the audience to visualize the joke."
"I got my first bikini. It's a three piece: It's a top, a bottom, and a blindfold for you."
"Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins. Facebook is ego. Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed. —Reid Hoffman"
"Here's my marriage quiz: Your wife comes in and says, “Hey, do I look fat?� Do you say a) “Yeah, you could lose a few,� b) “No honey, you've never looked better,� or c) “Wait, let me get my protective head gear?�"
"My mama had a backhand that would cure most diseases."
"When doctors tell us that our teens were our peak sexual period, we feel bad that we let so many good years slip between our fingers."
"Write drunk; edit sober. —Ernest Hemingway"
"Write a funny � letter to the IRS defending an outrageous deduction set of directions for using a common personal hygiene product (soap, toothpaste) application letter for an unusual job (mortician, proctologist) “I’m out of the office� e-mail message top ten list of your pet peeves list of new cable TV networks or shows weather forecast obit for roadkill travel guide for your local neighborhood insurance policy, will, or tax return scene for a silent film movie, play, or music review set of fake news headlines list of new car models short story of your worst dating experience roast for yourself, family members, or pet short story about how turkeys feel on Thanksgiving fairy tale about animals with mental disorders song or poem guide for parenting dress code for the office or home Facebook profile set of captions for old family photos"
"Golfer: I hit two beautiful balls today. Caddy: The only way you could do that, sir, would be to step on a rake."
"After the flattering introduction, you can take the stage and charm the audience with acknowledgments like this wordplay. I’m sorry my father and mother aren’t here. My father would have loved it, and my mother would have believed it."
"The best length for a sentence in a speech is about fourteen words."
"According to author Fred Ebel, humor in front of a small audience—ten or twenty people—is very hard to bring off because each individual is afraid to laugh for fear of being conspicuous. The speaker should try to find the one person who’s got a booming laugh, look at him, and even wink at him once or twice. His laughter may be the catalyst that starts the audience laughing. Also, the speaker should get as friendly as possible with the senior officials of the group. People follow the leader. If the boss laughs heartily, it gives them permission to break out."
"A guest at [name of a posh local hotel] called room service. “I want three overdone fried eggs, hard as a rock, some burnt toast that crumbles at first touch, and a cup of black coffee that tastes like mud.� “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t serve a breakfast like that.� “No? Well, you did yesterday!�"
"It has been my responsibility to speak and yours to listen. I am delighted that we’ve fulfilled our responsibilities at the same time. Always thank the audience. There is no better exit line."
"If I’ve held your interest, this is a good place to stop. And if it’s been a bad speech, then this is a very good place to stop. Thank you."
"In conclusion, say “In conclusion.� Next to “I’ll take the check,� this is a dinner audience’s favorite phrase."
"“If you haven’t struck oil in the first three minutes—stop boring!�"
"PowerPoint doesn’t kill meetings. People kill meetings. But, using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table: You can do very bad things with it."
"Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain."
"Today is Valentine’s Day—or, as men like to call it, Extortion Day!"
"Blink if you want me. Skilled in every position. Orgasm donor."
"A closed mouth gathers no feet. A book tightly shut is but a block of paper."
"He who throws dirt is losing ground."
"I think the love-hate is fundamental. Everyone hates reality television, and everyone's watching it. Everyone hates Facebook, and everyone is on it."
"It's an interesting new feature. Soon you'll be able to find anything you want on Facebook, except for the thousands of hours of your life you lost going on Facebook. (166)"
"Why don't you go into that corner and finish evolving?"
"Did your mother ever tell you not to drink on an empty head?"
"Sorry, I can't understand what you're saying. I'm wearing a moron filter."
"Women value a sense of humor because it predicts happiness and life balance."
"It’s not what’s taught, but what’s caught. And if we can get our students� mouths open for laughter, we can slip in a little food for thought."
"Arithmetic is the art of counting up to twenty without taking off your shoes."
"Today’s lecture will be an experiment—half of you will get real information, while the other half will get a placebo."
"A plane flies overhead: Here’s my ride.
AV equipment fails: That’s what happens when you buy from eBay.
Cell phone goes off: For me?"
"Here are more group activities with a humorous spin:"
"holding mock trials for notorious historical figures"
"acting out the functions of different body parts"
"“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.�"
"Independent variable: doesn’t need other variables to feel good about itself"
"Medications Anti-flunkotic: a major relaxant for forgetting a really bad test score Cramonol: a stimulate for pulling all-nighters Examadril: a memory enhancer for studying"
"How does the metric system affect the self-esteem of inchworms?"
"The exam is over and you a. hope this was a bad dream b. should have read the book c. probably should have at least bought the book d. wonder if it’s too late to drop the course"
"This is the last exam question for the course. Let’s finish the class as a winner. What comes after “c�? a. Nope. b. Still wrong. c. Getting closer. d. Bingo: You’re a winner."
"What if: animals could talk? movie characters sold items on e-Bay (for sale, ruby slippers, contact Dorothy)? maps were relabeled with funny names for geographic locations and landmarks? the periodical table was revised to include snack foods? cartoon characters applied for jobs (SpongeBob seeking fast-food employment)?"
My fav quotes (not a review):
"The only difference between a tax man and a taxidermist is that the taxidermist leaves the skin."
"Never laugh at your significant other when they're having an orgasm. That is their time to shine."
"A joke is a curve ball—a pitch that bends at the last instant and fools the batter. “You throw a perfectly straight line at the audience and then, right at the end, you curve it."
"He may not be able to sing, but he sure can’t dance."
"My wife and I have many arguments, but she only wins half of them. My mother-in-law wins the other half."
"For release humor to work, the audience must be clued to every plot from the beginning. If the audience and the actor don’t know what’s behind the door, that’s mystery. If the audience knows, but someone else doesn’t, that’s release comedy."
"If we are the first to laugh, we will stifle a hearty ha-ha in mid-ha if no one joins us. Even when acting childish, our desire is to maintain social approval."
"Pay particular attention to the two most important principles, surprise and superiority."
"Examine the funny personal stories and anecdotes that you share with your friends to confirm how surprise and superiority play a role in the humor."
"Whether the humor is a one-liner, a lengthy anecdote, or a three-act theatrical piece, these six elements are required: target, hostility, realism, exaggeration, emotion, and surprise. Although the prescribed order may be challenged, the first letter of each element in this configuration forms a memorable acronym: THREES."
"There’s no trick to being a humorist when you have the whole government working for you."
"Housework can kill you if done right."
"Men, stop lying about your size. Just tell your ladies: “I’ll do as best as I can. Then I’ll take you shopping.�"
"reality show Sarah Palin's Alaska. If you haven't seen it, the entire show takes place in Palin's rearview mirror."
"in humor, ridicule is spelled ridicruel. Comedy is cruel."
"I looked up the word politics in the dictionary, and it’s actually a combination of two words: poli, which means “many,� and tics, which means “bloodsuckers.� —Jay Leno"
"Believing in God is a lot like wearing clean underwear. You never know when you going to be in an accident, but you'd better be prepared just in case."
"They asked John Glenn what he thought about just before his first capsule was shot into space, and he said: “I looked around me and suddenly realized that everything had been built by the lowest bidder.�"
"Humor is emotional chaos remembered in tranquility."
"There must be a buildup of anticipation in the reader or audience. This is really nothing more than the writer’s skill in using emotion to produce tension and anxiety. It’s a trick. Think of hostility as an inflated balloon. When you create tension in your audience, you are effectively adding more and more air to that balloon, building the audience’s anticipation over when the balloon will burst. They can hardly keep their eyes off the stunt. The writer’s goal is to see that the balloon bursts with laughter, not hot air."
"“Comedy is mentally pulling the rug out from under each person in your audience,� wrote Gene Perret. “But first, you have to get them to stand on it. You have to fool them, because if they see you preparing to tug on the rug, they’ll move.�"
"I told a chemistry joke but there was no reaction."
"You say “Alka-Seltzer� you get a laugh � Words with “K� in them are funny. Casey Stengel, that’s a funny name. Robert Taylor is not funny. Cupcake is funny. Tomato is not funny. Cookie is funny. Cucumber is funny. Car keys. Cleveland � Cleveland is funny. Maryland is not funny."
"Think of many of the words we coo to babies, and you’ll notice they have a k sound, even though most of them begin with the letter c. Just a few are cutie, cookie, kitten, cuddle, car, come, count, kiddie, clean, and cupcake. No other sound has such a universal humor kick. As you say, “kiss,� for example, your mouth smiles, it doesn’t pucker up."
"no city is the butt of more jokes than Cleveland (either because of the k sound or because Cleveland is proof that God had a quality control problem!)."
"many comedians use the Yiddish word schmuck to describe a loser and do not realize that the word’s literal meaning is penis."
"Stephen Colbert introduced a new, reformed word, truthiness. Colbert defined it as “truth that comes from the gut, not books.�"
"What does the word meteorologist mean in English? It means liar."
"readers select any word from a standard dictionary; change, add, or delete only one letter; and then provide a new definition. (This type of construction, popularized in books by Rich Hall, is often called a “sniglet.�)"
"Sign over urinal: Look before you leak."
"Art supplies advertisement: Honest, I Was Framed!"
"Practice the art of double entendres with the word it."
"Comedians do it standing up. Dancers do it to music. Bankers do it with interest. Math teachers do it with unknowns. Publishers do it by the book. Carpet layers do it on their knees. Bowlers do it with balls. Chemists do it periodically on the table. Historians do it repeatedly. Flutists do it sideways."
"Include me out."
"Fahrenheit: A moderately tall person."
"I'm constipated and I couldn't give a shit."
"My career advisor told me that I'd never get anywhere staring into space all the time. I had the last laugh when I got a job as an astronomer."
"I have a paper cut from writing my suicide note. It's a start � Curiosity killed the cat, but for a while I was a suspect."
"I can read minds but, it's pointless cause I'm illiterate."
"The takeoff is the most traditional of all humor techniques. Like the simple truth, the takeoff begins with a standard expression or cliché, but it continues with an outrageous commentary, sometimes containing a double entendre. Beauty comes from within—like gas."
"If you've heard this story before, don't stop me, because I'd like to hear it again."
"Cats have nine lives. Which makes them ideal for experimentation."
"Honesty is the best policy, but insanity is a better defense."
"A pun is the lowest form of humor—unless you think of it first."
"If at first you don't succeed � so much for skydiving."
"If at first you don't succeed, do it the way your wife told you."
"Based on what you know about him, what do you think Abraham Lincoln would be doing if he were alive today? One: Writing his memoirs of the Civil War. Two: Advising the President. Or three: Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin. —David Letterman The joke works only because of the imagery in the final line, “Desperately clawing at the inside of his coffin.� If a general phrase were used, such as “Trying to get out of his coffin,� the joke would be less effective. The colorful language encourages the audience to visualize the joke."
"I got my first bikini. It's a three piece: It's a top, a bottom, and a blindfold for you."
"Social networks do best when they tap into one of the seven deadly sins. Facebook is ego. Zynga is sloth. LinkedIn is greed. —Reid Hoffman"
"Here's my marriage quiz: Your wife comes in and says, “Hey, do I look fat?� Do you say a) “Yeah, you could lose a few,� b) “No honey, you've never looked better,� or c) “Wait, let me get my protective head gear?�"
"My mama had a backhand that would cure most diseases."
"When doctors tell us that our teens were our peak sexual period, we feel bad that we let so many good years slip between our fingers."
"Write drunk; edit sober. —Ernest Hemingway"
"Write a funny � letter to the IRS defending an outrageous deduction set of directions for using a common personal hygiene product (soap, toothpaste) application letter for an unusual job (mortician, proctologist) “I’m out of the office� e-mail message top ten list of your pet peeves list of new cable TV networks or shows weather forecast obit for roadkill travel guide for your local neighborhood insurance policy, will, or tax return scene for a silent film movie, play, or music review set of fake news headlines list of new car models short story of your worst dating experience roast for yourself, family members, or pet short story about how turkeys feel on Thanksgiving fairy tale about animals with mental disorders song or poem guide for parenting dress code for the office or home Facebook profile set of captions for old family photos"
"Golfer: I hit two beautiful balls today. Caddy: The only way you could do that, sir, would be to step on a rake."
"After the flattering introduction, you can take the stage and charm the audience with acknowledgments like this wordplay. I’m sorry my father and mother aren’t here. My father would have loved it, and my mother would have believed it."
"The best length for a sentence in a speech is about fourteen words."
"According to author Fred Ebel, humor in front of a small audience—ten or twenty people—is very hard to bring off because each individual is afraid to laugh for fear of being conspicuous. The speaker should try to find the one person who’s got a booming laugh, look at him, and even wink at him once or twice. His laughter may be the catalyst that starts the audience laughing. Also, the speaker should get as friendly as possible with the senior officials of the group. People follow the leader. If the boss laughs heartily, it gives them permission to break out."
"A guest at [name of a posh local hotel] called room service. “I want three overdone fried eggs, hard as a rock, some burnt toast that crumbles at first touch, and a cup of black coffee that tastes like mud.� “I’m sorry, sir, but we don’t serve a breakfast like that.� “No? Well, you did yesterday!�"
"It has been my responsibility to speak and yours to listen. I am delighted that we’ve fulfilled our responsibilities at the same time. Always thank the audience. There is no better exit line."
"If I’ve held your interest, this is a good place to stop. And if it’s been a bad speech, then this is a very good place to stop. Thank you."
"In conclusion, say “In conclusion.� Next to “I’ll take the check,� this is a dinner audience’s favorite phrase."
"“If you haven’t struck oil in the first three minutes—stop boring!�"
"PowerPoint doesn’t kill meetings. People kill meetings. But, using PowerPoint is like having a loaded AK-47 on the table: You can do very bad things with it."
"Your hand and your mouth agreed many years ago that, as far as chocolate is concerned, there is no need to involve your brain."
"Today is Valentine’s Day—or, as men like to call it, Extortion Day!"
"Blink if you want me. Skilled in every position. Orgasm donor."
"A closed mouth gathers no feet. A book tightly shut is but a block of paper."
"He who throws dirt is losing ground."
"I think the love-hate is fundamental. Everyone hates reality television, and everyone's watching it. Everyone hates Facebook, and everyone is on it."
"It's an interesting new feature. Soon you'll be able to find anything you want on Facebook, except for the thousands of hours of your life you lost going on Facebook. (166)"
"Why don't you go into that corner and finish evolving?"
"Did your mother ever tell you not to drink on an empty head?"
"Sorry, I can't understand what you're saying. I'm wearing a moron filter."
"Women value a sense of humor because it predicts happiness and life balance."
"It’s not what’s taught, but what’s caught. And if we can get our students� mouths open for laughter, we can slip in a little food for thought."
"Arithmetic is the art of counting up to twenty without taking off your shoes."
"Today’s lecture will be an experiment—half of you will get real information, while the other half will get a placebo."
"A plane flies overhead: Here’s my ride.
AV equipment fails: That’s what happens when you buy from eBay.
Cell phone goes off: For me?"
"Here are more group activities with a humorous spin:"
"holding mock trials for notorious historical figures"
"acting out the functions of different body parts"
"“Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.�"
"Independent variable: doesn’t need other variables to feel good about itself"
"Medications Anti-flunkotic: a major relaxant for forgetting a really bad test score Cramonol: a stimulate for pulling all-nighters Examadril: a memory enhancer for studying"
"How does the metric system affect the self-esteem of inchworms?"
"The exam is over and you a. hope this was a bad dream b. should have read the book c. probably should have at least bought the book d. wonder if it’s too late to drop the course"
"This is the last exam question for the course. Let’s finish the class as a winner. What comes after “c�? a. Nope. b. Still wrong. c. Getting closer. d. Bingo: You’re a winner."
"What if: animals could talk? movie characters sold items on e-Bay (for sale, ruby slippers, contact Dorothy)? maps were relabeled with funny names for geographic locations and landmarks? the periodical table was revised to include snack foods? cartoon characters applied for jobs (SpongeBob seeking fast-food employment)?"
April 20, 2025
Comedy Writing Secrets by Melvin Helitzer is a comprehensive guide to writing humor, widely used by aspiring comedians, writers, and performers. Below are the five main takeaways from the book, based on its core principles:
1. Humor is Built on Surprise and Misdirection: The foundation of comedy lies in subverting expectations. Helitzer emphasizes techniques like the "setup-punchline" structure, where the audience is led to expect one outcome, only to be surprised by an unexpected twist. This misdirection is key to creating laughs.
2. The Importance of Relatable Material: Effective comedy connects with the audience through shared experiences, emotions, or observations. Helitzer stresses that humor should stem from universal truths or relatable situations, making the audience feel like the joke is about them or their world.
3. Mastering the Rule of Three: One of the most powerful comedic tools is the "rule of three," where a pattern is established with two similar items, and the third breaks the pattern for comedic effect. This structure is simple, memorable, and highly effective in delivering punchlines.
4. Wordplay and Linguistic Precision Matter: Helitzer highlights the role of clever word choice, puns, double entendres, and other forms of wordplay in humor. Crafting jokes requires precision in language to maximize clarity and impact while maintaining the element of surprise.
5. Practice and Refinement Are Essential: Writing comedy is a craft that improves with practice and revision. Helitzer encourages writers to test their material, analyze what works or flops, and refine their jokes through iteration. Understanding the audience’s response is critical to honing comedic timing and delivery.
These takeaways encapsulate the book’s focus on structure, audience connection, and the iterative process of crafting humor.
1. Humor is Built on Surprise and Misdirection: The foundation of comedy lies in subverting expectations. Helitzer emphasizes techniques like the "setup-punchline" structure, where the audience is led to expect one outcome, only to be surprised by an unexpected twist. This misdirection is key to creating laughs.
2. The Importance of Relatable Material: Effective comedy connects with the audience through shared experiences, emotions, or observations. Helitzer stresses that humor should stem from universal truths or relatable situations, making the audience feel like the joke is about them or their world.
3. Mastering the Rule of Three: One of the most powerful comedic tools is the "rule of three," where a pattern is established with two similar items, and the third breaks the pattern for comedic effect. This structure is simple, memorable, and highly effective in delivering punchlines.
4. Wordplay and Linguistic Precision Matter: Helitzer highlights the role of clever word choice, puns, double entendres, and other forms of wordplay in humor. Crafting jokes requires precision in language to maximize clarity and impact while maintaining the element of surprise.
5. Practice and Refinement Are Essential: Writing comedy is a craft that improves with practice and revision. Helitzer encourages writers to test their material, analyze what works or flops, and refine their jokes through iteration. Understanding the audience’s response is critical to honing comedic timing and delivery.
These takeaways encapsulate the book’s focus on structure, audience connection, and the iterative process of crafting humor.
May 6, 2022
Laughter is the most powerful emotive force that humans innately possess. Most people, excepting autocrats, hard-core trumpers, and the last cop who pulled me over for speeding, have a sense of humor. Humor can grease the wheels for a hard-to-seal deal, help connect with all sorts of people and smooth over those continuous, pointed barbs from your mother-in-law. Well, most of them anyway.
Although this edition, being 2005, is a bit outdated, there is newer edition available. And despite the many attempts to squash it in this day and age, humor remains viable, providing us healthy connective tissue. Hell, it might be more necessary than ever now. If you're curious about how to be funny or want to get funnier, this is a must book is for you. Mel Helitzer knew his humor. He knew how to break it down into simple bites, categorize it, analyze it and write it.
Chock full of examples of one-liners, anecdotes, plays on words, and quips from famous comedians and humorists, this book offers budding writers and performers hope, wisdom and a far-reaching education. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, laughing out loud so many times that my gf became suspicious she was no longer the center of my attentions. Even if you think you're not funny or have never told a joke, you will get laugher lesson from this book. It's gift that will keep on giving ... in a good way.
Although this edition, being 2005, is a bit outdated, there is newer edition available. And despite the many attempts to squash it in this day and age, humor remains viable, providing us healthy connective tissue. Hell, it might be more necessary than ever now. If you're curious about how to be funny or want to get funnier, this is a must book is for you. Mel Helitzer knew his humor. He knew how to break it down into simple bites, categorize it, analyze it and write it.
Chock full of examples of one-liners, anecdotes, plays on words, and quips from famous comedians and humorists, this book offers budding writers and performers hope, wisdom and a far-reaching education. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, laughing out loud so many times that my gf became suspicious she was no longer the center of my attentions. Even if you think you're not funny or have never told a joke, you will get laugher lesson from this book. It's gift that will keep on giving ... in a good way.
November 12, 2022
This is a super useful resource but very serious in tone. There are some parts that come off more sociopathic albeit accurate. The author is not wrong by any stretch in there assertions and understandings of the art of comedy. They are, however, willing to sacrifice everything for the craft in these instructions. This book is not to be scorned by any stretch for this as any serious sociology professor would be blamed for teaching about riot studies. An important and accurate explanation of the nature of comedy. Minus a star for not including much about writing format and submission advise. This will tell you how to write in a way that will SELL your work well and warm against common pitfalls and inevitable setbacks for comedians. This will not, however, tell you in any way, how to format your writing in order to approach venues or list what those venues are and when or how to approach them. This doesn't mean you shouldn't read this. For a comedian of any sort, or even any writer or actor who wants to improve their work over all, this ought to be curriculum in any class of writing or acting. Learn the rules so you can break them as always.
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