How to write comedy

Lead in

In groups look at the following everyday items. Think of some basic observations about them. What can be frustrating about them? What can be ridiculous or silly about them?

Keaton and hat

You Spin Me Right Round Baby

Chaplin and deck chair


Did you ever notice how many jokes start with “Did you ever notice?” And what’s the deal with “What’s the deal?” There’s a lot of funny to be found simply by noticing the ordinary, everyday things you don’t ordinarily notice every day. Emmy Award-winning comedy writer Cheri Steinkellner offers a few tips and tricks for finding the funny in your writing.

Lesson link:

How to make your writing funnier


1.

What is it important to notice?

Who
What
Where
When
Why
How

Why are these questions so useful in writing funny stories?

Who - archetypes or stock characters:

Examples?






Pause


2.

Teamwork:

Spend a minute or two coming up with some basic ingredients for a comic story. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece.




Who are the characters?
What are they doing?
Where are they?
When is this happening?
Why are they doing what they're doing?
How does the situation become comical?





Tell us what you came up with.




3.

Note-taking


The old rule for comic characters is "find the _____, then play it __."

Surprise is about the way we find in_________y funny.

Tip for writers: shift from "what is" to "_____ ___"

The more _____ the details the funnier the story.

A lot of comedy revolves around things that
Ir
fr
or hu

Tip: imagine that bad things that have happened to you happen to a ______ in a story.

The rule of three is sometimes called ___ ____ ____

The rule of K does / doesn't always work?


Summary:

Find the ____

Discover the _____

Insert ______

Incorporate ________

and have ____




Language focus

Listen in parts and put the phrases in the right order


1.

Ordinarily

Flaw

Doofus

Didn’t see that coming

Screenplay

Consist of

A handful

Archetypes

Neurotic

Demand

Comedic

Airhead

Renaissance

2.

Incongruity

Jot down

Irresistibly contagious

Treasured

Memorable moment

Rabbi

Turn out to be

Overdone

Crummy

Run up against expectations

Zing

To flip something

Trial and error

Subjective

Check

Ordinarily

Screenplay

Consist of

A handful

Demand

Comedic

Archetypes

Neurotic

Airhead

Renaissance

Flaw

Doofus

Didn’t see that coming

Run up against expectations

Incongruity

Jot down

Treasured

Memorable moment

Overdone

Turn out to be

Crummy

Zing

To flip something

Rabbi

Subjective

Trial and error

Irresistibly contagious

Vocab Review

How to Write Comedy

O1

S2

C3

T4

D

A5

O6

D7

I8

H

V

M9

10

11

D

I12

Y

F13

S14

Across

3. catching (9)

4. highly valued (9)

8. hard to refuse (11)

9. unforgettable (9)

10. learning through success and failure (5,3,5)

12. incompatibility (11)

13. weakness, negative characteristic (4)

14. script for a film (9)

Down

1. excessive (8)

2. personal (10)

5. dimwit (7)

6. normally (10)

7. need, require (6)

11. only a few (1, 7)







Check

How to Write Comedy

M1

E

D2

E

M

A

N

D

T3

O

S4

R

I5

R

C

I

A6

I

R

H

E

A

D

O7

R

A

R

B

C8

V

E

F9

L

A

W

E

L

O

E

E

A

S

E

N

R

I10

N

C

O

N

G

R

U

I

T

Y

T

D

P

D

T

A

O

L

E

I

G

N

A11

A

R

S12

U

B

J

E

C

T

I

V

E

H

Y

R

L

O

A

O

E

U

N

O13

R

D

I

N

A

R

I

L

Y

T14

R

E

A

S

U

R

E

D

F

U

L

Across

2. need (3)

6. dimwit (7)

9. weakness, negative characteristic (4)

10. incompatibility (11)

12. personal (10)

13. normally (10)

14. highly valued (9)

Down

1. unforgettable (9)

3. learning through success and failure (5,3,5)

4. script for a film (9)

5. hard to refuse (11)

7. excessive (8)

8. catching (9)

11. only a few (1, 7)

A List of Stock Characters

Some stock characters:

The Absent-minded Professor

The Black Knight

The Femme Fatale

The Boy Next Door

The Crone

The Idiot Savant

The Hag

Ingenue

The Girl Next Door

The Mad Scientist

The Nobel Savage

The Tom Boy

The Wise Old Man