No one wants to see the innocent child beaten down, but most of us do like too see the tables turned on the bully, so he or finally gets his or her comeuppance. The general population also has some common, shared, arch-enemies: violent criminals, corrupt government officials, the dictator, “boss,” and more; they’ve become tooContinue reading “Writing Funny: Comfort & Affliction”
Tag Archives: #humor
Writing Funny: Surprise People
Twists and Reversals are great ways to get laughs–and to scare the daylights out of folks. For the grin, let the underdog overcome the Goliath or make the cute and cuddly pull off the caper. Even a sudden scare can often lead to a laugh, especially if the audience knows it hasn’t truly harmed theirContinue reading “Writing Funny: Surprise People”
Writing Funny: Humor in Any Situation
Years ago, I taught an acting and film unit called “The Seven Causes of Laughter” and it covered things like Exaggeration, Incongruity, Protection Factor, Relief of Pressure, and more. Relief of Pressure is an important concept when trying to find humor in difficult situations. When tension builds or emotions are already high, a well-timed quipContinue reading “Writing Funny: Humor in Any Situation”
Writing Funny: It’s all about the…
… timing. Truly, I think this this is what makes writing funny more difficult than performing funny. In a performance, you can hold for a split-second to be sure the audience is following before hitting them with the punchline. Then, you can stop, start, speed up, slow-down, repeat, change your inflection, or pull the escapeContinue reading “Writing Funny: It’s all about the…”
Ships & Bricks: alike in the way they’re different.
This was another simple, absurd, and entertaining description from Hitchhiker’s Guide. When we draw parallels we frequently compare like things. The choice to combine “these two things that are similar because their not” caught me pleasantly off guard. I’ve been looking for some funny books of late–the kind that make you laugh out loud. They’reContinue reading “Ships & Bricks: alike in the way they’re different.”