Writing Blog Number 2

20240424 Writing Comedy

Writing Comedy

This came up recently in the Newsfeed, when someone asked how I come up with the jokes I do and some of the weird little asides I put into things.

I wish I had an easy answer. Comedy is something I write occasionally. My first ever book was a comedy about archaeologists, a riff on H.Rider Haggard (Relick); the only novelette I’ve had published (which I consider a short story) was a parody of Godzilla (Rex The Rotten: Beast From A Very Long Time Ago). Around two thirds of my published poetry is comedy, and 3 of the 5 creative essays I’ve had published were comedic.

However, as I have seen with some of my Newsfeed posts, what is funny for some people is not funny for others. So many of my jokes people do not “get” or think are funny. More than any other genre, comedy is so subjective. And comedy is very cultural. I think Adam Sandler is as funny as turd on my bed; apparently United Estatians think he is a comedy genius. I find word-play, puns and clever double meanings the funniest; I really enjoy skewering of sacred cows. I find toilet humour and cringe humour or the humour of embarrassment to be painful and not at all humorous.

What do I like?

My favourite stand-up comedians are George Carlin, Paul Hogan (pre-Crocodile Dundee), Ricky Gervais and Bob Newhart; my favourite comic musician is ‘Weird Al’ Yankovic; my favourite comedy troupe is Monty Python and Life Of Brian is my favourite comedy film (though the films of ZAZ where all are involved are right up there as well); comedy duos I like include Roy & HG, Abbott & Costello and Sacred Weird Little Guys; my favourite comedy TV shows are Monty Python’s Flying Circus, Fast Forward, Blackadder, Fawlty Towers and Yes Minister/ Prime Minister; and my favourite comedy books are the Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, a lot of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series, too much Robert Rankin, and Road To Mars by Eric Idle, while my favourite comedy short story is ‘Mr Big’ by Woody Allen.

And I’ll bet 95% of the people reading this will not have heard of or seen half (or more) of those.

So, this is not going to be about what makes things funny. No-one can tell you what is funny and what is not; that is your opinion… no matter how wrong I think you are. This is also not about the various types of comedy; they all have their nuances, but that’s for the writer to investigate. And this is not about stand-up; this is about stories – the written word.

So… how to write comedy.

First, you need a story. Comedy writing is not just a series of jokes. There needs to be a story to latch onto. And one thing I was told was that the story should remain compelling with the jokes stripped out. e.g. Pratchett’s The Wyrd Sisters would work well as fantasy story about witches without the funny bits.

Second, you need characters. Not stereotypes, not people just to be funny, but actual characters that the reader can identify with on some level. And all characters need to be different; this was where I think the all-female remake of Ghostbusters didn’t work – all of them were trying to be the Bill Murray character, when the original had 4 distinct characters. While having characters is true of every story, many comedy writers think in clichés. You need people. e.g. Arthur Dent in Adams’ H2GT2G is an everyman character, and he is different from the universe-weary Ford Prefect.

Third, the jokes need to be merged seamlessly into the narrative. You don’t stop just to tell a joke; the joke must occur organically within the story being told. An aside should come at the right time, a joke should fit where things are occurring that makes it seem right. The good story writers do this well and it is hard to say how they do it – they just do. e.g. The bits from The Guide in Adams’ H2GT2G series.

Fourth, the story should not be joke after joke after joke. There needs to be room to breathe and room for the story to happen. If you hit too much then the jokes start to lose their impact. Even if you have pages of funny (like Adams), you need a page every now and then when the funny slows down.

Fifth, the ending is the hardest thing to get right, not being a let-down after so much funniness. Too many humour novels (and films) peter out to some sappy ending that leaves the reader feeling meh. A great example of a good ending is Spike Milligan’s Puckoon, where the main character has been arguing with the writer for the whole book (from page 2!) about the way his legs were written, and the book closes with this character abusing the writer for not fixing his legs yet.

Sixth, a funny situation or idea may not necessarily make a funny story in the written form. A classic example is Mike Harding’s Killer Budgies, which sounds like a hilarious concept… and ended up being as funny as an ingrown toenail. You need to have meat on the bones.

Seventh, and this is something a lot of writers get wrong (and I learnt in the editing process of Relick) – do not belabour a joke. This is not stand-up comedy where you can draw a joke out to heighten anticipation for a cathartic release; this is the written word where you need to get to the point. Less is more is something that I say when it comes to horror, and it works just as effectively in comedy. Don’t draw individual jokes or funny situations out too long.

Eighth, and finally, not everyone can write comedy effectively. That’s not to say you can’t be funny, but writing comedy is something that is difficult and is probably the hardest genre to get “right” (if such a term can be used for something so subjective). Not to big-note myself, I like to think I can. Adherennium - Maybe Writing? gave me this review for a private item: “ Well it has taken me far too long, but I have now read it all. What can I say, I loved it. I know zombies are horror, but you inject a lot of brilliant humour into the story.” This is not to brag, but to show that I do have some experience in this topic.

Anyway, I hope this was of help to someone.