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Printed from https://shop.writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/723-.html
Comedy: November 23, 2005 Issue [#723]

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Comedy


 This week:
  Edited by: Mavis Moog Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

I introduce myself as a new Comedy Newsletter Editor and hope that you will join me in an exploration of what makes readers laugh.


Word from our sponsor



Letter from the editor

This is my first Comedy Newsletter. So all of you who are not too busy preparing for the weekend and have time to read this, are witnessing history in the making here. Oh dear, that doesn't sound good does it? I hope I won't be history too soon.

Here's a little contest for you.
WIN 1,000 gps.


How many jokes (excluding the taboo-breaker) are there on this newsletter (search every section)? I mean actual jokes, not my writing! Send your joke-count in, using the comments submission panel below. Feel free to include a polite message too.

The winner, selected randomly from the correct entries, will be announced in next month's issue.


Up until very recently I ran a monthly Comedy Club in Derbyshire and was privileged to meet many funny men and women from all over the world. I even gave stage time to some who have since become far too expensive for my little club..

The world of comedy is a warm and surprisingly sane place. When the stage personas are sloughed, most comedians are sensitive and intelligent people. It takes a crystal clear mind to find hilarity in the mundane.

The British writer, director, former Cambridge Foot-lighter and generally very clever man, Sir Jonathan Miller, once said that comedy is in the surprise. While trying to analyse the nature of humour he concluded that we laugh at ideas that take us unawares. It is the comic's job therefore, to lead us down a familiar lane and then startle us with the destination. This makes for a very difficult task, because once the surprise is revealed it is spent. Comedy has to be fresh if it is to work.

Word-play, misdirection, satire and absurdity all have their parts to play but the most important skill for a comedian is probably lateral thinking.

I once wrote a book on hedgehogs - but found paper was easier.

Breaking taboos is another quick way to startle ones audience. Some comics take this to the extreme and their work becomes nothing more than comedy porn. I'm blushing as I recall one woman's act at my club. She horrified the audience with explicit vulgarity which was shocking because no one could believe that anyone would have the nerve to stand on a stage and say such things. Her sense of humour consisted of embarrassing her audience. I did not allow her to finish her act, and was applauded for stepping onto the stage to stop her.

Click on this link to read a non-E joke which illustrates my next point. "Invalid ItemOpen in new Window.

Death, bodily functions and sex are the common targets for taboo-breakers. Many of us wince and declare such humour is sick, but many have a discreet chuckle too.

I wrote a book on tigers - but kept falling off.

Comedy in literature has a rich tradition. My favourites include;

*Bullet* Terry Pratchett,
*Bullet* Charles Dickens,
*Bullet* Mark Twain,
*Bullet* James Thurber,
*Bullet* Saki,
*Bullet* Flann O'Brien
*Bullet* Tom Sharpe.

Literature provides the ideal stage for slow-burning humour as well as wordy tricks and complicated intellectual acrobatics. The writer has time to set-up outrageous puns, bizarre situations and eccentric characterisation. So surely comedy in writing should be easy. Not a bit of it. Like all good writing, comedy needs insight and sensitivity. Bawdy slap-stick and vicious prejudice dressed up as satire do not cut it with today's discerning readership. I hope to explore the world of literary comedy with you in these newsletters, and hope to make you laugh a little on the way.

I wrote a book on television - it sold quite well actually.

Oh, and happy Thanksgiving everyone.


Editor's Picks

There is some top-class humour on this site - enjoy.

Golfetery Open in new Window. (13+)
You can take it with you.
#572304 by JonBBell Author IconMail Icon


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This item number is not valid.
#1026782 by Not Available.


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This item number is not valid.
#663493 by Not Available.


A Funny Way To Die Open in new Window. (GC)
This is the life and death of Celia who got both wrong.
#1026505 by Lee L Strauss Author IconMail Icon


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This item number is not valid.
#1026951 by Not Available.


And then there's some of my humour.

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#862037 by Not Available.

 
Submit an item for consideration in this newsletter!
https://www.Writing.Com/go/nl_form

Word from Writing.Com

Have an opinion on what you've read here today? Then send the Editor feedback! Find an item that you think would be perfect for showcasing here? Submit it for consideration in the newsletter!
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Don't forget to support our sponsor!

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Ask & Answer

Please nominate funny poetry for next month's Editor's Picks.


This is a joke that is notoriously difficult to understand:

Two parrots are sitting on a perch and one says to the other, "Can you smell fish?"

Have you got a joke that you know is funny but it took you a moment to understand why? If so, please submit it, and the best will feature on next month's newsletter.




*Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet* Don't Be Shy! Write Into This Newsletter! *Bullet* *Bullet* *Bullet*

This form allows you to submit an item on Writing.Com and feedback, comments or questions to the Writing.Com Newsletter Editors. In some cases, due to the volume of submissions we receive, please understand that all feedback and submissions may not be responded to or listed in a newsletter. Thank you, in advance, for any feedback you can provide!
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