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Comedy Writing
Writing
published by http://www.FreelanceWriting.com
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Table of Contents
Performer or Writer - What Do You Want to Be? ......................................... 4
Benefits of Testing Jokes with a Friend ......................................................... 5
Learn the Basic Structure of Jokes ................................................................. 6
How to Turn Your Ideas Into Comedy ........................................................... 8
How to Find Material in Everyday Life ......................................................... 9
Are You Cut Out for the Life of a Comedian? ............................................. 11
What is Your Comedic Style? ...................................................................... 12
Are You Funny Enough? .............................................................................. 14
Where to Start Your Trip to Becoming a Comedian .................................... 15
How to Get Your Sitcom Script Read .......................................................... 17
Tips for Writing Sitcoms .............................................................................. 18
Benefits of Reviewing and Editing Your Work ........................................... 20
How to Land a Gig........................................................................................ 21
How to Get Discovered................................................................................. 23
Tips for Structuring Your Routine ................................................................ 24
Comedy Teams - How to Work with a Partner ............................................ 26
Top Comedians You Can Learn From.......................................................... 27
Popular Clubs for Comedians to Join ........................................................... 29
Do You Need a Comedian's Agent? ............................................................. 30
How to Turn Real Life into Sitcom Scenarios ............................................. 32
Why Comedians Need a Contract................................................................. 33
How to Pick the Right Audience for Your Comedy ..................................... 35
Tips for Using Humor in Motivational Speeches ......................................... 36
Tips for Writing Comedic Articles and Essays ............................................ 38
How to Perform Improv Comedy ................................................................. 39
Chapter 1:
Performer or Writer - What Do You Want to Be?
The performer gets a thrill out of being on stage and delivering his lines so that
everyone laughs. The writer may prefer to take time to get those funny lines just
right. He may even perform them in his head, but he prefers to stay out of the
limelight and watch someone else deliver the lines. So which would you rather do?
The performer may not have a single humorous thought - ever. But he may be
absolutely brilliant at performing someone else's humorous writing. He has an
expressive face or expression that makes people laugh even if he only says one word.
Or he may be the master of the straight face. He may be able to deliver his routine
without any expression on his face at all and have people rolling in the aisles with
laughter. He has that gift that when he walks onstage people start to laugh. He could
read out a menu and make it seem funny.
So which one do you want to be? Or perhaps, more to the point, which one are you?
The skills for each are sometimes inherent - either you have them or you don't.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 5
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That's not to say you couldn't learn to be a comedian or a writer, but if you find it
hard to see humor in everyday situations, then you might find being a comic writer
rather difficult.
Chapter 2:
Benefits of Testing Jokes with a Friend
So you thought up this hilarious joke that was ideal to include in your stand up
routine at the open mic night - but it didn't raise a laugh and you were so
embarrassed. What could you have done differently?
There could also be something else that makes you think the joke is funny, that
cannot be included for some reason. It could be something to do with the
environment, lighting or timing, that for some reason, just doesn't come out properly
in telling the joke. Perhaps you can rewrite the joke to include this information, or it
may be you can't describe it adequately. In either case, you need to take a long, hard
look to find out exactly what is the missing ingredient.
Friends will tell you if the joke you have written is truly funny or not. They may be
able to point out an error that you can fix and save you from throwing the joke away.
Friends are usually not going to try and save your feelings from being hurt. They will
be honest and tell you if your joke doesn't work. Anyway, you'll be able to tell
yourself, because they won't laugh if it's not funny.
On the other hand, your joke may be funny, but your friend might be in a bad mood,
so pick your time for testing out jokes. If something makes you laugh when you write
it, chances are that someone else will find it funny too. If your first friend doesn't
laugh, try it out on a couple of others. People sometimes have different types of
humor and what tickles one won't affect another.
To test a joke out with your friend may save you from a great deal of embarrassment
- from bombing out in your routine - and thus help you on your way to becoming a
comedian.
Chapter 2:
Learn the Basic Structure of Jokes
These jokes work because they deliberately change the meaning of the set-up to be
something quite different than what was expected. The set-up should take something
like 20 or 30 seconds to deliver, while the punch line should be even less. Often the
punch line can have one major word in it upon which the whole sentence hangs, so
in this case it should come last.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 7
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The elements of the joke must be told in their proper order for it to be funny. In
longer jokes, there can be an introduction to set the scene, thus: - Three men walked
into a bar A man goes to the doctor. etc.
The set-up then follows this, with all the facts done in logical order, e.g.: -
The introduction is important in its role of creating trust with the audience. It usually
starts off by saying something that is quite normal. It could happen. Three men often
do walk into a bar; a man goes to the doctor - normal stuff. It should be fairly short
because you don't want the audience to forget what you were saying by the time you
get to the punch line.
The set up should expand the introduction and tell what happened next. This can be
a bit longer, but not too long. Being brief is good; don't waffle on about unrelated
things. So if we have the man going to the doctor we want to know why right away.
The color of his shirt doesn't matter.
The punch line is, of course, the most important part of the joke, but on its own it
wouldn't be much. It's only when you work the two together that the audience will
laugh - and actually they are laughing at themselves in a way because it was what
they believed in the set-up stage that tricked them into laughing at the punch line.
A good joke can be told, but comedians often act jokes out, so watch for this in funny
shows. Often they are simply setting the stage for a joke. Once you know what to
watch for, you'll recognize the intro, set-up and punch line - all acted out.
Chapter 3:
How to Turn Your Ideas Into Comedy
Once you have an idea, how can you turn it into comedy? One way is by the use of
exaggeration. Once you start making the end results more than they would
normally be, the result is frequently humorous. Or it could be that the effort
expended by your character is out of proportion to
the end result - or perhaps the end result is not
what he expected.
Your ideas really need to be funny to start with and then using the above devices can
strengthen the humor in them. If your ideas are not funny - if they don't make you
laugh when you write them - then you must ask if they will make anyone else laugh.
If not, revise.
Some writers start at the ending and work backwards. If you have a funny ending in
your mind, you can write the second last line, then the last line, then go backwards
from there in creating how this funny situation came about. You should never have
too many characters in your comedic writing. You are not writing a novel. Two or
three for each scene should be sufficient.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 9
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When you are writing comedy, don't forget to make use of silence. It is often the
silent pause that makes something funny, or even funnier. And if you want a pause,
you have to write it into the script. Not everyone will realize there should be a pause
there.
If you are a complete beginner, it would help you tremendously to take a course or
study in writing comedy. Getting one-on-one tuition can hone your skills dramatically;
with an expert to guide you, your career could take off a great deal more quickly.
Chapter 4:
How to Find Material in Everyday Life
For instance, take one of those little packs of silica gel that come in your shoes, in
your new stereo, or in any number of other goods. Read the label; it says DO NOT
EAT! Did you ever think that the company had sent you a nice little snack? Would
anyone? That can be used to create a humorous sketch of some kind.
Writers and comedians may take an ordinary event and exaggerate it out of all
proportion. They may take the ending of an ordinary scene and twist it into
something surprising - and of course, humorous.
Country life can be used to create any amount of humor. How ordinary is it to take a
wheelbarrow of weeds from the garden down to the chicken run. While you are there
it is natural to gather the eggs. All this is quite normal - so far. But take it a step
further and find only one egg. Then try and carry the egg back and push the
wheelbarrow as well. It can't be done, so you put the egg in the wheelbarrow. Then
someone comes along and sees you pushing a wheelbarrow with one egg in it. The
punch line could be any number of weird and wonderful comments.
It helps if you have a sense of the absurd and/or hang out with others who do. Some
people find something to laugh at in every situation. If you have little children, your
life should abound in humorous situations and comments. Children get the names of
things wrong, or they get the pronunciations wrong, and it can all add up to great
hilarity in the family. With a bit of exaggeration, or a twist here and there, you can
write it into a comedy script.
Humor can spring out at you while just sitting in the mall, watching the crowds stroll
by. You might see a young man waiting for his love (or his mum) in front of the
jeweler's window. Nothing funny in that, unless the store is also advertising earrings -
as hot studs.
There are countless situations that you can make funny once you start to look out for
them. At least when you write your own material you can't be accused of stealing
someone else's work.
Chapter 5:
Are You Cut Out for the Life of a Comedian?
And there will be rejection, especially when you first start out. Very often audiences
get drunk as the night wears on and then they may start to heckle you. Be prepared
for a few rotten eggs or tomatoes. It may not come to that these days; more likely it
will be boos, jeers and catcalls. The only thing to do is treat the hecklers with even
more humor. If nothing works, then retire gracefully rather than getting angry which
will do no good at all.
Traveling is another thing that most comedians must do to both further their careers
and get gigs. If you don't have a lot of different routines, you can hardly expect to
play at the same pub every night. So you'll be traveling all over your home city and
then maybe to other cities. This will mean uprooting the family - if you have one. Or -
more often - leaving them behind
Many comedians tour the country doing gigs booked by their agent, if they have one.
They are apart from their families, and they have to pay for accommodations and
food whether they are successful or not. Even if the club they play at puts them up,
there is still the cost of travel and food.
Another problem may be the times of the week that entertainment usually occurs.
That is, on the weekends. That's when most workers have the time off, but you'll
have to work. This could be hard for your family and if you have children, you'll miss
being with them over the weekend, when they are free from school pressures.
And when the school puts on presentation nights or concerts in the night, you won't
be able to attend them - a great disappointment to your children. So being a
comedian is not all roses; you work very hard, travel a lot and get not much sleep.
You'll surely be doing it all for the love of it, rather than any other reason.
Chapter 6:
What is Your Comedic Style?
Comedy comes in several basic styles and each comedian usually concentrates on the
particular style that suits them. That is not to say they can't or don't dabble in the
other styles, but sometimes a particular style is so suited to a comedian - and they
get so used to it, that they prefer not to change. Also, their audience expects a
certain style of humor and would be disappointed if they changed.
Parody works well with many writers and comedians. This is when they mimic
another person, usually exaggerating them or their manner to the point of ridicule.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 13
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The only trouble with this style of comedy is that the audience must know what the
original was like before they can see the joke. Therefore, it's not likely to work.
Many sitcoms are based on irony, where an unplanned situation results from a
carefully planned scene. Many of the older types of comedy styles are still popular
today, as we see with the Laurel and Hardy and Charlie Chaplin movies or short
routines that were based on slapstick humor. They mainly rely on the use of funny
antics and misunderstandings for their humor.
There are also the personal styles such as stand-up or improv (short for
improvisation). These are more personality styles, because a comedian who is good
at one rarely enjoys doing the other. The script for a stand-up comedian is well
structured and he rarely departs from it. To do so would jeopardize the punch line or
the humor of the routine. He usually works alone - or at least he takes care of all the
funny parts, though others may be props in the scene.
Improv is largely unstructured with the comedian not relying on prepared material.
With improv you must share the limelight and each one depends on the other a great
deal. A comedian who has a disorganized personality will probably enjoy improv as
they don't need to be organized with their routine. The downside is that one can say
or do something that is not in the script and so the other is caught at a disadvantage.
While the audience might enjoy his discomfiture, he rarely does.
Just how funny are you? There are plenty of people out there who think they are
funny, but they suck. Then there are people who really are funny - apart from their
work as a comedian. They are constantly joking around and playing gags on others.
Laughing and making others laugh is their normal,
everyday life.
But all successful comedians have one thing in common. On the stage, they can
make people laugh. Some only have to walk onto the stage and people start to laugh
before they even speak. So do you have what it takes?
Many comedians start out writing their own material, but if they just can't see the
funny side of things this may not be a good idea. A comedian might be able to
present material in a way that makes people laugh, but if the material he or she
presents is not all that funny, then success will be elusive - or non-existent. Many
successful comedians depend on good writers for their material.
The best reason for being a comedian is because you love doing it. If you get into the
business to make money or become famous, you're likely to be seriously
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 15
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disappointed. Those things may come to you if you are good - and persevere, but
don't count on it. If you are fulfilling an ambition and doing what you love to do, then
it won't matter if they don't come, you'll still be happy.
Chapter 9:
Where to Start Your Trip to Becoming a Comedian
The only trouble with friends are that they don't like
to be unkind, so unless you know they are honest, take what they say with a grain of
salt. Performing in front of family and friends is good in that it gives you confidence
in yourself. You'll know that you can stand up on stage and go through your spiel
without missing any lines. This knowledge is invaluable for when you do your first
performance in front of strangers.
Although you might be eager to jump in there and show people what you can do, it
doesn't hurt to do some training. Watching other comedians perform either live or on
DVD will help you hone your skills, but an acting or drama school will also give you
skills that you may not pick up from watching others perform.
Besides, not everyone you watch will be a good comedian and you don't want to pick
up any bad habits. Becoming successful at anything takes a lot of hard work and
practice; being a comedian is no different. But if it is something you love doing, all
that hard work and practice will seem like fun.
Chapter 10:
How to Get Your Sitcom Script Read
Since many agents never read unsolicited manuscripts, you need to get the agencies
permission to send it. Do this by phoning and asking if you can pitch your logline for
a certain sitcom. Be succinct and to the point; no one has time to waste. Have two
loglines ready in case they don't want to hear the first one.
Rehearse what you want to say, but be sure to keep it in written form close by in
case you get nervous and forget. Never tell an agent how good you are, let your
script do that for you. But you should aim to be funny or clever in your phone pitch -
if you can do it well. If not, forget it. Agents are usually looking for ways to screen
you out.
Once an agent agrees to read your script, send if off pronto and make sure you use
his name in your cover letter. Keep a record of each agency you queried and what
their response was. If they suggest a query by mail, be sure to do that - then you
can call in another week to see if they got your letter. This is another chance to talk
the agent into reading the whole script.
Mostly, success means contacts and you'll only get those if you hang out amongst
comedians and writers and all those people in that industry. You might even consider
moving to New York or Los Angeles and going for a job as a writer's assistant. That
way you can become one of the family and eventually it will be right for you to ask
someone to read your script.
Taking a TV writing class is another good way to make contacts. You can even do
one online to get your foot in the door. However you do it, never claim that someone
has recommended you if they have not. This lie will be found out and it will mean the
end of any chance you may have had.
Chapter 11:
Tips for Writing Sitcoms
Now do the same for those you don't like, and take note of what it is about them that
turns you off. Is it the concept or the language? Or do you just hate the characters?
When you write your own sitcom, be sure to avoid these things.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 19
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Sitcoms are really character comedies. That is the 'funny' comes from the characters
reactions to each other or certain situations. While they are extremely funny, their
material is not a series of jokes strung together. Since the characters are what makes
a sitcom funny, they must be strong characters; interesting and believable as well as
funny. When you are creating characters like this, you must be able to sustain them -
keep them going.
You, the writer, are responsible for the characterization in your writing. It is not the
actor who does this, but the writer. Remember too that this type of writing is not real
life, though it may be based on it. That is, your characters may be based on real life
characters, but yours have to be funny where real life characters are mostly not.
The characters have to be in sufficient contrast to each other for it to show up and
create the funny situations. If they both like the same things, there won't be much
contrast, will there? It's this contrast that causes a great deal of the humor. So you
must have contrast, but it still has to be believable.
When writing sitcom, have no more than four central characters. You can have a few
supporting characters but not too many. While you should know what your characters
are like and what made them like it, this is their back-story and should not be part of
the sitcom. Their dialogue and the story should be what describe your characters.
In short, it is the characters that make the sitcom even more than the story. If you
can invent new characters, then a story line that's been done before might still work.
Every writer must review and edit their work and it is no different for a comedian
who writes his own material. Reviewing your work will take out flaws, tighten it up
and prevent your audience falling asleep from boredom. Editing will catch any
mistakes before you go to air, as it were.
Sometimes when you write your funny stuff, the best way is to just write it as it
comes and pay no attention to quality. Forget spelling, grammar and everything else
but just getting that stuff onto the page. Let it sit for a week without looking at it,
then go back and reread it; if it still makes you laugh (or grin) then start editing it for
the quality. Tighten it up, rearrange the sequence if you need to and generally make
it more readable. Work on the punch lines to see if you can shorten them or make
them stronger.
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There are many things you can do to improve your writing. Take out adjectives and
adverbs. Replace works ending 'ly' with something stronger. Go through it all with a
fine-tooth comb until it shines.
For reviewing, you could get others to listen or read it and see if they think it's
funny. If they don't, ask them why not and get specific reasons. It could be a wrong
use of language; wording, concept or length - or maybe they just never see the
funny side of life. Ask someone else. If they say the same thing, throw it out and
start again. Some things are just not funny.
Chapter 13:
How to Land a Gig
If you've never done a gig, then you'll have to fake it till you make it. That is, set up
a false stage somewhere and go through your routine with someone there to do the
videotaping. Anyone with a digital camera can record a small segment of your
routine, then you can burn it to CD and there you have it! Make plenty of copies and
send them out to various comedy clubs.
Also make posters, brochures and flyers about yourself and your act and send them
to everyone you can think of who might need someone to entertain them. Put them
up on billboards, community notice boards or shop windows.
Look through the paper until you see something is on that you could perform at.
Colleges are often ripe playing fields for comedians. There they have the money and
the need for entertainment and there are heaps of them to choose from, so sending
out your ads is sure to bring in some gigs, especially if you are prepared to travel. If
you are just starting out, try for an open mic night somewhere.
You could start at any small gathering such as your local pub, youth night, or high
school presentation. If you are confident of your abilities and not nervous, you could
opt for a bigger gig. Send that video out to a cruise ship to see if you can get a gig
with them for a night or a few weeks. The Manager of Entertainment is the person
you should contact. Basically, if they like your routine, they'll hire you for a gig or
three.
Another way to get a gig is to simply advertise in the newspaper. An inch column is
not too expensive and you may be surprised at the offers you get. Be sure to have a
CD ready to send out in reply to those queries. A CD will give the person who is
looking for an entertainer an idea of what you are like much better than any
advertising brochure would do. You need not give away all of your act, of course, but
do enough so that they can have a fair idea what you are like. Then make sure they
know how long your act goes for.
Chapter 14:
How to Get Discovered
The hardest of your goals to achieve may be to get discovered. You have to work
hard to that end and set specific small goals along the way to help. For instance, your
first goal could be to succeed at an open mic night or several. Then you would go on
to doing gigs at clubs. You could even enter a talent quest either locally or on
national television - or preferably, both. Leave no stone unturned.
A good agent will help you get gigs, and should be looking to help you fast-forward
your career as much as possible. Try and get gigs at comedy clubs rather than other
places that don't usually do comedy. The audiences at these places - if there are any
- just don't usually appreciate a comic act and are likely to heckle you out of the
place. You'd need a really thick skin to stick with it.
If a talent scout is out looking for comedy talent, it makes sense for him to go to a
comedy club, not some place that is not known for showing comedy. Therefore, you
should do the same thing and be where you know they are likely to come. Once you
get a regular spot at a comedy club, you will begin to make contacts with other
comedians and who knows what may result from that?
Once you begin to know who's who in the world of comedy, you'll begin to make
contacts with important casting people. You must work on these relationships. Once
they know you, they will think of you whenever a role comes up that they cannot fill
with another regular comedian.
Meantime, continue to study and develop your abilities by taking courses and getting
tuition in acting or writing or whatever areas you think may be your weak points. By
the time discovery comes to you, you will be well prepared.
Chapter 15:
Tips for Structuring Your Routine
What this means is that once you have attention and laughter, then let the audience
calm down a bit while you start to spin the next joke. This gives them a bit of
breathing space - not too long mind, or you might lose them. Make sure that once
you've delivered the punch line and everybody laughing that you give them time to
get over that before you begin the next one. Otherwise they are going to miss the set
up and miss the next punch line.
But you can't just stand there grinning like an idiot until they finish laughing. Instead,
watch how some of the pros do it. Some give a little grin and cough discreetly.
Others begin the next introduction and then stop, pause and repeat it. Yet other
comedians might pull a face, or walk around the stage a bit, or pat their face with a
handkerchief. It only takes a few moments to pull the attention back, but that time is
vital to the success of the ensuing routine.
Create balance in your routine by doing jokes of different lengths alternately, such as
short, long, short or long, short, long, etc. This also helps the audience. If you have
all short jokes, it tends to wear the audience out more quickly. To go from a short to
a long and back to a short evens it out and helps the audience to concentrate.
It's a bit like asking a person to read one long length of manuscript with no breaks in
it. They'll get bored easily and skip half. You don't want your audience to start getting
bored if you do three or four long jokes one after the other.
Once you've come to the end of your routine you should go out with a bang, That is,
keep the best joke till last. It has to be the strongest line and the funniest-of-all joke.
Never try out something for the end that you are not sure is funny.
While many comedians work alone, many others find that a partnership is an
excellent way of producing their show. Stand-up is essentially a one-man show, but
other forms of comedy such as improv are suited to a duo. When there are two, the
horizons are expanded and things can be done or said that would be impossible with
just one.
If both focus on their work and each one feels they can trust the other to be as
career minded and fair with their choice of material as they are themselves, then a
good business basis is established and will likely last for years. Of course it does help
if the duo have common tastes and outlooks, because they will then respect each
other more. And if they share personal tastes, and values, then the business
decisions will most likely be taken with regard to that and there will be little conflict.
It's important to work out guidelines to cover future possibilities that you can both
agree to. These might cover what will happen if one wants to leave the partnership,
if you go broke, or want to bring in another partner and other possibilities. Discussing
and settling such issues is a necessary part of the business. Mutual support and
honoring commitments are two good ways to make sure a partnership is successful.
Go ahead, make me laugh! COMEDY WRITING 27
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While the above is what makes a partnership successful off the stage, you still need
to be able to work together on stage. It will help the flow if you are in tune with each
other's thought processes and it will help the comedy if you look and act quite
differently. One usually plays straight to the other's comic. Very often a comedy duo
will seem to be completely different to each other in every way - which is where the
humor comes from, of course.
Chapter 17:
Top Comedians You Can Learn From
It's the same with comedy. There are many great comedians
out there from whom we can learn something. But it's not only their manner and
styles that we can learn by watching. It's their life lessons. Jim Carrey teaches us that
we can choose the source of our comedy.
He admits to being bitter and cynical as a stand-up - and everyone could see that he
was like that. But he chose to make people laugh with his amazing face rather than
his cynicism. Some comedians use their pessimism to make people laugh. Carrey
could have done the same but he chose not to. So we know that we can also choose
our comedy source - and the most obvious source is not always the best.
Woody Allen's' approach was to be himself - slightly unpolished and nave. He taught
us that if you are yourself, that is better than trying to fake it as someone else. He
showed that naturalness has a better chance of succeeding than covering ourselves
in a thin veneer of fake sophistication. Of course, some sophisticates are genuine and
that's okay too.
Bill Cosby can teach the new comedian many things, but perhaps the most important
is that cruelty is not necessary for humor and that clean jokes can make you famous
and popular; you don't have to tell dirty jokes for success. You don't necessarily need
props, but you do need flow and cohesion.
If you can't relate to any of the above, try Chris Rock. At least you'll learn that rocks
most likely come back to hit the person who throws them. It you like to make
taunting comments, remember that it is easier to make people cry than to make
them laugh, and comedians do the latter.
Matt McDonald can teach us that to be a successful comedian we need to use a part
of our own personality and crank it up - exaggerate it. If we try and be who we are
not, then the fakeness will show through to the audience. But that parts of our stage
persona can conflict with each other and that will be okay. It may even be good.
Chapter 18:
Popular Clubs for Comedians to Join
The Gotham Club in New York is considered by many to be one of the best. Many
great comedians have worked at the Gothams; so if you'd like to join the ranks of the
best - like Roseanne, Dave Chapelle and others, see if you can get a gig on their free
mic night. As an amateur, you'll get the chance to hone your talent and when you
start to rise to the top you'll get better gigs.
While the Gotham is in New York, there is also the Comedy Connection in Boston that
many consider to be even better than Gotham's. At least it offers its customers
reserved seating, but of more interest to a comedian is their star line-up of such
comedian greats as Chris Rock, Rosie O'Donnell, Margaret Cho and many others.
The House of Comedy at Niagara Falls hosts open mic nights all the time and any
aspiring comedian needs to get his act on one of them to be recognized. If you want
to try it out, you can email Tony at info@thehouseofcomedy.com. House of Comedy
also shows at Hamilton.
Comedy Clubs abound and you only have to go online or look in the phone book to
find them. Once you become affiliated with a club, there are many benefits and just
being around where the pros are will make you feel like a pro and start to act more
like one. After all, being funny is serious business. There are also online clubs that
you can join to ask questions and find information about the comedy business.
Chapter 19:
Do You Need a Comedian's Agent?
Many new comedians wonder if they should really have an agent. It all depends on
how far you want to go with the comedian business. Do you want to make a proper
career out of it, or is it only a hobby? Also, how far along the road are you? If you
have just started doing gigs, have three minutes of material and only tried one open
mic night, then maybe you don't need an agent yet.
You might be better off with a manager. A manager will 'manage' your career in
comedy by getting the best gigs for you. He or she will see to it that you go where
your skills are most appreciated, that the venue and the audience are suited to your
act and generally make sure everything is a good match and that everyone is
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satisfied. A manager will be more likely to get you a better deal - in other words more
pay.
An agent will probably just grab the first gig that comes along and shove it in your
direction, whether it's a place that would suit you or not. Hey, you're getting a gig so
don't complain. Stage time is important in the life of a comedian.
Many comedians get by without an agent or a manager, but when you start to rise to
the top, it may be the time to get an agent, a manager - or both. It may be that an
agent will seek you out, rather than you having to go and find one. If you have an
agent, it is easier for them to sing your praises than for you to do it yourself, which
often sounds conceited.
Most employers will go to an agent when they want to hire a comedian because that
saves them time. The agent will know of several comedians that they can sift
through. This saves them from making several phone calls and watching several CDs
to see which would be suitable. So to answer the question - getting an agent will
probably help your career more than hinder it, even if you do have to pay them.
Add a specific time to it that may not have been in the original happening. In the
above example it could be Christmas Eve. Or you could be trying to get to your kid's
school presentation. In this case the scenes would include all the funny, bizarre and
even dangerous ways in which this was achieved. Then you could find that you'd
mistaken the date.
The above demonstrates a twist to the end that people love. So in taking real life
situations, you have to exaggerate them, add to the action, and change the ending.
This applies equally to the characters. You can base a sitcom on humorous characters
by exaggerating one aspect of their personality or character to the point of absurdity.
Then you put them with another person who is their opposite and make them both
want different goals, e.g. "George and Mildred." Where Mildred tried to be part of the
wealthy set, while George didn't care about it. Of course there are many more
modern sitcoms, but they run in similar vein.
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A sitcom is an art form that imitates life. This is easily seen with the sitcom "In-
Laws", where Elon Gold plays a Jewish student living with his in-laws. Gold really did
have to move in with his in-laws and a lot of the comedy is based on true things that
happened - with exaggeration, of course.
So to recap, you take real life, exaggerate the problem and add to it, then use over-
the-top characters who are opposites of each other in their personality, their goals
and desires and also in their looks, if possible.
Chapter 21:
Why Comedians Need a Contract
Comedians need a contract to be sure of getting paid; it's that simple. If you have an
agreement by word of mouth, how are you going to prove what was said, if the guy
refuses to pay you? Of if he decides you should only have half the amount agreed
upon? If someone employs you to do a one-
night gig, then it is fatally easy for him to offer
to pay you a percentage of the takings, and
then decided there was not enough taken on
the night to pay both of you. How will you be
able to know what was taken on the night?
Asking for a deposit is considered a fair way of doing business, especially if this is
your first gig for this employer. Later on, when trust has been established, you may
not require a deposit. If rehearsals are required, you can ask for one third deposit,
another third in the middle of the project and the final third at the completion. This
could be important if the show is to go on for a week or more.
You should never pay anyone up front to help you get work. If you have an agent, he
will take a percentage of your pay, but to ask for a fee upfront is extremely
unprofessional. You should always have a contract with your agent and can negotiate
fees to the satisfaction of both.
If the gig is a big one with many talents showing, the employer may wish to restrict
or limit what you can do for his competitors. A contract will serve this purpose by
stating that you are not to perform at the opposition's gig.
Chapter 22:
How to Pick the Right Audience for Your Comedy
For instance, you may do satire; the kind of comedy that makes a
humorous/sarcastic comment on the political situation and the politicians of the day.
You could easily have beer type jokes to fit in with this type of comment and comedy.
So what type of audience would like to hear that kind of comedy? Probably not
families, especially if they have children or teens with them. On the other hand,
college students would be most receptive.
But what if you liked doing romantic comedy? Think who is most into romance?
Romance novels are aimed at them all the time. That's right, you would need a
young female audience - in short, chicks.
When you have decided what sort of audience your comedy is suited for, then you
have to find them. Here is where a good agent will come in handy, but you can also
use your own common sense. If you are doing a stand-up routine at the local
shopping mall on Saturday morning, there will be plenty of kids and teens around.
With kids often come Mum and Pop, but not so many seniors or college students.
If you choose a gig at a tavern, you'll often have mainly male 30's something
audience. That's not to say there won't be females, or younger and older age groups,
but generally speaking the main percentage of audience will be otherwise.
If your jokes were take-offs of old-time shows, i.e., parodies, your most responsive
audience would probably be senior citizens. They will know all those shows and so
appreciate your humor much more than those who have never seen them.
Chapter 23:
Tips for Using Humor in Motivational Speeches
It is poking fun at yourself that makes a connection with the audience. They laugh,
but at the same time they sympathize because they know just how you felt at the
time. Chances are they experienced the same thing, and so you are helping them to
cope with it in their own lives when you can laugh at it in yours.
Be sure your humor is appropriate to your audience. Some people may be offended
rather than amused by jokes that are racist or otherwise in bad taste. Choosing clean
humor will ensure that it is not offensive to a mixed audience.
Humor and jokes should be kept short and to the point. While you know the back-
story, it should not come out in your joke. If you waffle on, your audience will fall
asleep and you won't be asked to speak again. For instance the story may take place
in a train. There's no need to explain where the train was going or why you were on
it. Just tell what happened when you were in that situation.
Jokes and humor can be incorporated into visual aids such as the leaflets you hand
out or the overheads you use. It can be a comic strip or video, but whatever it is,
using the right amount of humor will certainly enhance your speech and make sure
your audience remains interested.
Humor can also help you to feel at ease with the rest of your speech. If you can
appear human - even when you bomb out - and poke a little fun at yourself, you can
often save the situation. Don't use jokes that are so old that everyone knows them.
To create something new can be as simple as a wry observation about the building. If
it's really hot you could say something like, "It's so cold in here, can someone turn up
the heaters?"
If you just love writing comedic articles and essays, go ahead. People
love reading comedy. You might find your life full of humor and even
make money out of writing about it. This often happens when a person
is put into a different environment, for instance many humorous
articles have been written from the point of view of a city person going
to live in the Wild West - or vice versa. This is actually situational
comedy as it arises from being in a different situation.
Make your type of comedy appropriate to your proposed audience. If you were
writing something humorous for children, satire or black humor would not be
appropriate. If your audience were rocket scientists or inventors, family or toilet
humor would not be appreciated. Writing for radio will not need lots of humorous
activity, but for TV it will.
Choosing what makes you laugh will ensure that you enjoy what you are doing and
this will show in your writing. Conflict is needed for most good writing and it is
needed for comedy as well. Conflict can come from a person against the
environment, a person who cannot achieve his goals, i.e. against himself, or a person
against another person. The humor comes as the person tries his best to achieve his
goal, or maybe he decides to ignore it - whatever it is.
Exaggeration is another means of including comedy into your article. While it may not
always be possible to exaggerate the environment, it is your perception of the
problem that can be exaggerated for comic effect. However, just be careful not to go
overboard and become silly.
Remember the rule of three. For some reason things that happen in threes seem
funnier than if they happen just once. If you can work this into your humorous article
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it is a form of exaggeration that will make things seem even funnier. Watch funny
movies for the rule of three and you'll see a person getting bumped three times,
doing something three times - and failing on the third, and so on.
Know when to draw things out and when to quit. A sense of timing is crucial to most
comedy. When something is said is often just as important as what is said.
Chapter 25:
How to Perform Improv Comedy
The scene evolves by each actor defining an element as they go along. These are
called offers and must be accepted and built on by the other actors. They are also
referred to as endowments. They can encompass anything from naming a character,
to the addition (through mime) of furniture to the scene. If they are not accepted -
called blocking - then the scene suffers as it is prevented from developing.
When an offer is 'accepted' (referred to often as "Yes, and") it is usually built on by
that actor with another offer or endowment, thus the scene and/or the story is
always advanced in some way. This is actually the cornerstone of improv acting. If
an actor breaks out of character or deliberately blocks for a comic effect, it is called
gagging. While this might be successful as far as the humor is concerned, it usually
has the effect of locking the progress of the scene and so is frowned upon by many.
The mime that is used instead of props is called space object work, and the objects
thus created, space objects. Actors are expected to respect this imaginary
environment and must limit their actions to include it. For instance, if shot by an
imaginary gun, they can't somehow survive, but must obligingly die or at least remain
injured.
THE END