 Comedy: May 01, 2013 Issue [#5647] |
  Comedy
This week: The Trouble With Writing Comedy... Edited by: Kit  
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Writing genuinely funny Comedy is not easy; humor is subjective. How, then, do you make people laugh?
I am your guest editor, and this week's Newsletter is all about the problems an author faces when writing Comedy.
kittiara |
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A couple of weeks or so ago, I signed up for "Invalid Item" . During the sign-up stage, the genre in which we would be writing our eight stories was, as yet, unknown. There were several genres I dreaded, Western coming out on top of the oh-please-not-that-one pile. The most feared genre of all, though, amongst the other contestants, was Comedy.
I can't blame them. I hadn't even thought of comedy as one that would be difficult to succeed in, but what makes something funny is so difficult to pin down, and varies so much from person to person, that making people laugh can be a nightmare.
What is considered funny? Poo, pee, and bodily functions in general seem to get a laugh from young and old alike. I guess it's because we've been socially conditioned to feel awkward about them. They're not exactly topics I tend to write about, though, and it would have been difficult to sneak them into stories for eight weeks on end.
When I look around the Internet, it's full of kittens and puppies doing silly things, and those appear to be popular and make people giggle and go “aw”. Sadly, much as I like the fluffy bundles, readers and judges might be allergic to thousands of words about their antics. I think they'd prefer a two-minute YouTube video.
When I think about authors whose work makes me laugh, the first one who comes to mind is Terry Pratchett. His Discworld novels never fail to make me smile, giggle, and even laugh out loud. His humor rests in his phrasing. It can be quite subtle, and sometimes I only pick up on a joke on the second read.
I don't have his skill. I'm as subtle as one of those television shows where a character makes a joke, and just in case you didn't get it, there's the canned laughter to reassure you that, yes, this is the appropriate time to be amused. At least I am not alone in this. A lot of comedy movies all but shout at you to “Laugh! Laugh now! This is a joke! You geddit? Yes, that's right! Ha ha!”. Which, hypocritically, I can't stand.
The problem is that after considering people's fear of writing comedy, I now want to write a comedy story. When I tried this in the past, I fell flat on my face. I don't know how to do funny. Oh, people find me entertaining enough in real life, but that is because I am the kind of person who can trip over her own two feet on a flat surface. I'm awkward, I say the wrong things at the wrong time, and I am great at publicly humiliating myself. That always goes down well.
It reminds me of when Bridget Jones, in Bridget Jones: The Edge of Reason gets to write a piece on Colin Firth. She is so obsessed with his portrayal of Mr. Darcy in Pride and Prejudice, and particularly the wet shirt scene, that she hardly touches on his latest project and in the end, the newspaper publishes the actual interview, which is hugely cringe-worthy and a great read.
I can't translate my Bridget Jonesness onto paper, which is a shame. I can't even write an effective Limerick, and that poetry form is designed to be amusing. I'm terrible at puns, and my jokes are cheesy.
To be fair, it takes a lot for me to laugh at a joke. Who cares why the chicken crossed the road? A man walks into a bar (ouch), and does not even make me smile.
I have come to the conclusion that to write effective comedy, you have to be a talented writer. You have to be a master of the written word, and have to have honed your craft.
You also have to know what makes people tick. You have to get into their minds and know what strings to pull, and that isn't easy.
I'll still try to write my story, on the basis that practice may, one day, turn the corners of a reader's lips upwards instead of down. It is likely that I will hide it in the dark depths of my portfolio.
I salute you, Masters of Comedy.
kittiara
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Here are some of the latest offerings in the Comedy genre. I hope you will enjoy them  .
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The Comedy Newsletter Team welcomes any and all questions, suggestions, thoughts and feedback, so please don't hesitate to write in! .
As I am your guest editor this week, though, I don't have any questions to answer, or comments to respond to. Still, please don't let that stop you from sending in your thoughts, as they will be read.
Wishing you a week filled with inspiration,
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