How To Be A Comedy Writer

How To Be A Comedy Writer
Author: Marc Blake
Publisher: Andrews UK Limited
Total Pages: 112
Release: 2021-06-29
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1849892318

Think you're funny? Writing successful comedy isn't just about having a gift for gags; you need to hone your talent and polish your humour to earn a living from making people laugh. If you want to write stand-up comedy, sketches, sitcoms or even a comic novel or film, How to be a Comedy Writer tells you all you need to know and more about the business, the structure of jokes and the nuts and bolts of a craft that can be learnt. This new ebook edition has been specially formatted for today's e-readers.

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing

The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing
Author: James Mendrinos
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 356
Release: 2004
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 9781592572311

You've always known writing comedy was about more than just being funny. But how do you create a joke and work it into a script or a stand-up routine? Comedian, writer, and teacher Jim Mendrinos has the answers. In The Complete Idiot s Guide to Comedy Writing, Mendrinos gives readers the principles he teaches in his popular courses, from understanding what funny is and how to find it, to how to actually construct comedy. Working through the basic constructions and forms including premises, points of view, and twists, he shows the variations of written, verbal, and physical comedy. With useful exercises, Mendrinos helps writers refine their writing, appeal to their audience, and even break writer's block by learning techniques for brainstorming, free association, lists, and finding infinite points of view.

The Everything Guide to Comedy Writing

The Everything Guide to Comedy Writing
Author: Mike Bent
Publisher: Everything
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2009-08-18
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1605501689

A guy walks into a bar... With this guide, aspiring comics will learn to navigate the complex world of comedy writing. Discover how to tap into your natural sense of humor through real-life examples and hands-on skill-building exercises. Learn the best ways to come up with ideas and write comedy that gets laughs--every time! Mike Bent, an accomplished stand-up comedian and teacher, provides the inside scoop on techniques to jump-start your comedy writing career, including how to: Develop comic characters for sketches and scenes Create and polish a standup routine Write for TV and movies Use the web to advance your comedy career Everyone loves a comedian. But breaking into this tough field is no laughing matter. After sharpening your comedy-writing skills with this practical (and funny!) guide, you'll feel comfortable adding humor to everyday situations and may even take a chance on your dream job in show business!

The New Comedy Writing Step by Step

The New Comedy Writing Step by Step
Author: Gene Perret
Publisher: Linden Publishing
Total Pages: 289
Release: 2007-07-01
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1610351088

Three-time Emmy Award-winner Gene Perret's ""Comedy Writing Step by Step"" has been the manual for humor writers for 25 years. In this new book, his first update, Perret offers readers a treasure trove of guidelines and suggestions covering a broad range of comedy writing situations, along with many all-important insights into the selling of one's work. Perret covers all aspects of comedy writing in his uniquely knowledgeable and anecdotal fashion.

Bits: A Comedy Writer's Screams of Consciousness

Bits: A Comedy Writer's Screams of Consciousness
Author: Kenny Solms
Publisher: Easton Studio Press, LLC
Total Pages: 200
Release: 2015-02-24
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1632260174

Anne Frank wrote her diary. A yawn. Alex Haley wrote about his roots. A snooze. The Bible. What a bore! But what do all these have in common? That’s obvious. They’re not funny and the people they wrote about aren’t current. Where’s Bieber? Jolie? Beyonce? That’s who people want to read about and laugh about. Celebrities! And not written by the celebrities themselves. What do they know? If they were smart, they wouldn’t have become celebrities in the first place. Who really knows their stories? It’s the writer! The guy who was there in the trenches, the guy who made them famous in the first place. Actors and actresses didn’t write their lines. It was the writer! Who knew these stars before they became egomaniacs? Before they even knew the difference between Calistoga or Evian? The difference between dark chocolate or milk? Who told them what to say and how to say it? Writers, writers, writers! Kenny Solms has seen them all. He wrote and schmoozed with the best of them. Co-creating The Carol Burnett Show in the late 60s, he’s written for practically all of them. (However, he has yet to meet Leonardo DiCaprio). Solms wrote their movies, their TV shows….even their “spontaneous” quotes. From the greats like Jack Benny and George Burns to Willard Scott and downwards. But then back up again. And that’s quite a leap. He’s the one whose bits Lucille Ball uttered. He got Bill Cosby his laughs. Sure, he made millions doing it and garnered a few Emmys as well, but is he cocky? Not remotely. In this Hollywood “tell-all” book, he documents his rise from the Emmy award-winning “Carol Burnett Show” to his doldrums writing for Hugh Hefner’s “Roller Disco-Rama Plus a Preview of the Playmate of the 80s.” From the booms to the boobs. From the genius of Michael Jackson to the hilarity of Joan Rivers, Solms seems to know everybody. Streisand, Sammy Davis Jr., Neil Diamond. He’s written for them all. Even the Muppet, Miss Piggy, who he claims was a bitch. Bits is not a vicious tell-all, but tell all, Kenny does. A funny romp that takes you from Philadelphia to Hollywood. A cruise behind the Hollywood scenes, down the freeways, up the canyons and then some. From variety shows to sitcoms, from big star specials to Broadway, he shares his roller coaster ride from writing tacky one-liners to creating TV classics. And what a ride! Jump in the passenger seat and share it with him.

Comedy Writing Secrets

Comedy Writing Secrets
Author: Mark Shatz
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 242
Release: 2016-02-18
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1599639637

The Must-Have Guide to Humor Writing Bring on the funny! With Comedy Writing Secrets 3rd Edition, you can discover the secrets of humor writing that will keep your readers rolling in their seats. Learn the basics of joke construction, as well as in-depth comedy-writing techniques that you can apply to a variety of print and online markets. If your aim is to make 'em laugh--and make a career in comedy writing--then look no further. In this completely revised and refreshed edition, you'll discover: • Hundreds of updated one-liners, anecdotes, and bits from top comedians like Louis C.K., Conan O’Brien, Tina Fey, Amy Schumer, Rodney Dangerfield, Jon Stewart, Steve Martin, Ellen DeGeneres, Jimmy Fallon, George Carlin, Zach Galifianakis, Stephen Colbert, Erma Bombeck, and more. • Exclusive tips for injecting humor into articles, speeches, advertisements, greeting cards, and more. • New instruction on writing for online markets and social media. • Advice on brainstorming and editing to beat writer's block and generate new material. • Exercises and expanded instructions for exaggeration, reverses, word play and more to practice and refine your writing skills. For more than twenty years, Comedy Writing Secrets has helped humor writers of all skill levels write and sell their work. With Comedy Writing Secrets 3rd Edition, you'll be laugh-out-loud funny and leave readers wanting more.

Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962

Radio Drama and Comedy Writers, 1928-1962
Author: Ryan Ellett
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 238
Release: 2017-11-02
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1476629803

More than 700 uncredited scriptwriters who created the memorable characters and thrilling stories of radio's Golden Age receive due recognition in this reference work. For some, radio was a stepping stone on the way to greater achievements in film or television, on the stage or in literature. For others, it was the culmination of a life spent writing newspaper copy. Established authors dabbled in radio as a new medium, while working writers saw it as another opportunity to earn a paycheck. When these men and women came to broadcasting, they crafted a body of work still appreciated by modern listeners.

Comedy Writing Secrets

Comedy Writing Secrets
Author: Mel Helitzer
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 282
Release: 2005-09-15
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 1582976856

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!

The Art of Comedy Writing

The Art of Comedy Writing
Author: Arthur Asa Berger
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 84
Release: 2017-09-29
Genre: Reference
ISBN: 1351305700

Just as a distinctive literary voice or style is marked by the ease with which it can be parodied, so too can specific aspects of humor be unique. Playwrights, television writers, novelists, cartoonists, and film scriptwriters use many special technical devices to create humor. Just as dramatic writers and novelists use specific devices to craft their work, creators of humorous materials?from the ancient Greeks to today's stand-up comics?have continued to use certain techniques in order to generate humor. In The Art of Comedy Writing, Arthur Asa Berger argues that there are a relatively limited number of techniques?forty-five in all?that humorists employ. Elaborating upon his prior, in-depth study of humor, An Anatomy of Humor, in which Berger provides a content analysis of humor in all forms?joke books, plays, comic books, novels, short stories, comic verse, and essays?The Art of Comedy Writing goes further. Berger groups each technique into four basic categories: humor involving identity such as burlesque, caricature, mimicry, and stereotype; humor involving logic such as analogy, comparison, and reversal; humor involving language such as puns, wordplay, sarcasm, and satire; and finally, chase, slapstick, and speed, or humor involving action. Berger claims that if you want to know how writers or comedians create humor study and analysis of their humorous works can be immensely insightful. This book is a unique analytical offering for those interested in humor. It provides writers and critics with a sizable repertoire of techniques for use in their own future comic creations. As such, this book will be of interest to people inspired by humor and the creative process?professionals in the comedy field and students of creative writing, comedy, literary humor, communications, broadcast/media, and the humanities.

Writing Comedy

Writing Comedy
Author: John Byrne
Publisher: A&C Black
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2012-02-16
Genre: Performing Arts
ISBN: 1408151758

Comedy has always been one of the most high-profile, glamorous and potentially lucrative markets for scriptwriters, but it is also perceived as one of the hardest. In the fourth edition of this highly regarded handbook, John Byrne breaks down the basics of writing comedy into simple steps and shows you how to make the most of your own comedy writing talent and - just as importantly - your ability to market that talent. Here is a wealth of practical advice both on how to get your career off the ground and how to keep developing it. Whether you are writing comedy routines, sketches or sitcoms, and aiming your work at the page, the stage or the ever-expanding world of broadcasting, you will find something in this book to encourage, inform and inspire you. As with any art form, the basics of good comedy never go out of fashion. While the easy steps in this book are illustrated with examples of work by classic comedians old and new, you will also find useful advice on developing and adapting your work for the twenty-first century market, whether your aim is to promote your work online or simply to keep your gags fresh and topical in a world where the news changes by the minute and gets flashed around the world in seconds.