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Comedy: April 10, 2019 Issue [#9482]




 This week: That Pesky Cliche
  Edited by: Kate - Writing & Reading 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

”The most protean aspect of comedy is its potentiality
for transcending itself, for responding to the conditions
of tragedy by laughing in the darkness.”

Harry Tuchman Levin (American Literary Critic and Scholar)


         I am honored to be your guest host for this week’s edition of the Comedy Newsletter. If we look, we can find humor in most anything. As writers, we strive to expose and adroitly express that humor in prose and/or poetry. Humor is healing, rejuvenating, and provides a welcome respite from tension.

         The writer who can impart a few moments of humor, whether it be straight comedy or a comedic twist in another medium, is welcomed into homes, businesses, with open arms and a smile. - Do you see the returning readers


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

         Okay, cliché time ~ “Laughter is good medicine!.” It’s being tested (and perhaps proven) daily in worker productivity, social altruism, and family harmony (or lack of overt hostility). Medical science is even jumping in with scientific studies postulating that humor is good preventive medicine; with studies which apparently show laughter releases beneficent endorphins into the bloodstream. The act of laughing has even been touted as an easy, age retarding, low impact physical exercise, requiring merely seven muscles to raise a smile*Smile*, as opposed to twenty-some for a line-scoring, drooping frown*Frown*.

         "Funny is in the eye of the beholder" Humor is out there, seeking but the discerning eye and open mind (which writers, by nature, must have). Comedy today has quite a variety of forms for expression, from slapstick and physical comedy to the sardonic and wry wit of political jokes. Just think about it, who wouldn’t laugh as the convenience store robber, running for the exit, holding tight his bag of cash from the register, finds his unbelted ‘fashionable’ droopy drawers falling to his ankles. He has to stop and bend over to pull them up, an apparent invitation to the arriving cops to cuff his wrists and retrieve the money, his pants effectively still shackling his ankles. Here, a potential crime becomes a comedic repast.

         As you see, humor can be subtle or satiric, as well as out-and-out funny, like the joking miming clown (physical) or stand-up comedian telling jokes. To be effective (and get a laugh or smile), what they all require is a sense of pacing - a writer who can see the humor in something others may overlook or bypass as white noise, and build up to it by expectation or with a twist.

         If you google or bing or otherwise search-engine the word 'cliche' you will be surprised at some of the examples - from common speech to inspirational to solemn to silly. Cliches exist because we have common understanding of certain spoken images. I believe we can look at clichés as precursors to text-speak - where certain expressions or statements are understood to have a generally understood meaning. In that way, I can see them as precursors to text-speak.

         So, how do we make the old cliché something fresh, un-common - can we? Come on, we're writers here *BulbY*

         My neighbor is all thumbs - now, with ten opposable strong digits (doesn't have to be ten, by the way}, what can he do with those strong opposable digits at the end of his hand? One possible, he can open a six pack (not abs) simultaneously. By imagining a use outside the pale, I've come up with an alternate image. Is this funny, maybe. It started with a cliché taken out of context.

         That's just one possible - create something unexpected - startle, confuse, intrigue your readers - take away their complacency with a new perspective on something they thought they understood. Alternatively, take on the understood meaning, and expand on it to make it uncommon. They may laugh, chuckle, roll their eyes - but they will see your new image, not the one they expected and, likely, continue reading the story to see what happens next *Wink* Try a twist on words in your next story - make it your own *Thumbsup*


Editor's Picks

See how these stories and poems create something unique from the familiar - share your thoughts with a review, perchance, then maybe try one of your own

 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2071837 by Not Available.


 The Singing Pig Open in new Window. (13+)
Richard tried to teach the pig to sing. The pig had other plans.
#2187515 by Robert Waltz Author IconMail Icon


 Teaching the Wind - Or Cliches Galore! Open in new Window. (ASR)
Cramp Entry. Cliches rub shoulders with each other in this one!
#1385239 by THANKFUL SONALI Library Class! Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2187160 by Not Available.


 Frosty Creme Open in new Window. (E)
A new look for your face!
#2186849 by QueenNormaJean maybesnow?! Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2185749 by Not Available.


 The Evil.... She Open in new Window. (13+)
This story is told from a 3rd person point of view. It is a horror story. It is FICTION.
#1931313 by Mary Ann Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#2055579 by Not Available.

 
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Ask & Answer

Thank you for allowing me to invite myself to your virtual home. Tell the tale, cliché your image in your own way, or not, but whatever you do, have fun with it *Smile*

Write On!
Kate
Kate - Writing & Reading Author Icon

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