Comedy: April 07, 2021 Issue [#10650] |
This week: Anecdotal Comedy Edited by: Warped Sanity More Newsletters By This Editor
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This newsletter introduces the concept of adding anecdotal comedy to dialogue in stories and how it can enhance the story. |
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An anecdote is a verbal short story that typically relates to a topic at hand. Besides adding to an existing story, anecdotes are meant to be interesting additions with intent to inform and/or make the audience laugh.
Imagine a mother, her adult daughter, and a few friends walking through a carnival that comes to their city around the same time every year. Each of them are telling an experience at the carnival, reminiscing. The daughter says, "I've got so many memories here. On that Ferris wheel is where I had my first kiss." Then the mother offers an anecdote by saying, "Oh, you mean that time you snuck out of your room at 16, stole my car to meet a boy at the carnival. What? You didn't think I'd notice that scratch on my car or the half a tank of gas gone?" With the mother's addition, we now have a fuller picture of the night the daughter had her first kiss.
Anecdotes don't have to be biographical. They can be fiction as well. My boyfriend loves to make up anecdotes. The other day I was talking about some of the frustrations at my work as a CNA in geriatrics, when my boyfriend cut in by saying "And sometimes, when they act up, she threatens to take their pudding away."
Speaking of anecdotes in relationships. Check out the example in the video below from the Modern Family sitcom.
You may have noticed, Phil's comedic anecdote not only added to the story, it showed his character and the dynamics in their relationship. I'm sure there were a lot of husbands watching and getting a giggle out of how men are expected to go to great lengths to please their wives with the correct gift.
Like the Modern Family example, as writers, using anecdote in our dialogue can enhance the characters and the story. Adding a splash of humor in the anecdotes gives characters a sense of humor, making them well rounded and more relatable. In addition it can be an opportunity to give some background information in a creative way or give subtle hints to the reader and other characters in the story,
Have you used comedic anecdotes in your dialogue? If so, I'd love to read your examples and how you used them to enhance your stories.
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