That's So Funny I Forgot To Laugh

Finding your genre is The Fourth Rule of Writing Funny.
            When we go to a Farrelly Brothers movie we expect a certain kind of product. Gross out humor in largely unrealistic, high concept plots with a handful of genuinely inspired lines and moments. Woody Allen films, especially his early and mid-career efforts offered a witty, neurotic take on the human condition, especially romance. His fans knew that they were going to see a unique, intellectual kind of creativity and wit. If Judd Apatow’s name is on a film be it as writer, producer or director we know it’ll be something high concept with an abundance of sex jokes, but with an undertone of sweetness. So finding your genre is The Fourth Rule of Writing Funny.
            The thing is, depending upon the kind of comedy you’re writing, you may not need to be as funny as these guys. Romantic comedies need laughs, but not necessarily six per page. Take two Reese Witherspoon films: Sweet Home Alabama wasn’t a laugh a minute. Neither was Legally Blonde, although it was funnier and had a higher concept. But both had compelling stories.
            Guy comedies (or buddy comedies) need more laughs than a romantic comedy. Think I Love You, Man, Wedding Crashers, The Pineapple Express or Role Models.
            Let’s look at television again. I used to hear people refer to Sex and The City as a sitcom. It wasn’t. It was a drama with occasional laughs and humorous situations. No one watched Sex and The City for the humor (and nobody went to the film version expecting to laugh out loud for two hours), as opposed to Seinfeld, The Office, Curb Your Enthusiasm and of the current season Modern Famly. Same with Entourage. Is it a sitcom? No. Parts of every episode are hilarious, but it’s really a drama with occasional humor that comes from character.
            Sitcom writers have an expression for the parts of a script where there are intentionally no laugh lines: laying pipe: information crucial to the plot is given.
            Comedy screenplays are allowed to have some laying pipe sections, but not many. And there should be on in the first 15 pages. You have to keep the laughs coming.
            So if you want to write a big, broad comedy (The Hangover, Tropic Thunder, Dodgeball, Liar, Liar) your script better be funny as hell from first page to last.
            If you want to write a romantic comedy or something serio/comic (serious topic with laughs) or a comedy/drama (lighthearted story with a serious or sentimental turn) you don’t necessarily have to have 3-6 laughs per page. Once again, here is where having a solid story will supercede lots of laughs.
            Can someone be taught to write comedy? Yes. Just like someone can be taught how to cook. If you take cooking classes, read a bunch of cookbooks, watch The Food Network and spend enough time in the kitchen trying out recipes, you’ll be able to prepare a meal that you won’t be ashamed of.
            Learning to write comedy is pretty much the same. Take a class on sitcom writing, improv and/or stand up. Read books on comedy writing (Writing The Romantic Comedy is very good, as is What Are You Laughing At: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories and More). You can study comedies (you’ll learn more from the bad ones, than the good).
            If you don’t want to collaborate and if your heart is set on writing comedies, just keep staring at the scene that needs punching up until a funny line pops into your head. Then do it again and again and again. Just don’t try to analyze what’s funny or figure out where it comes from. 

14 comments:

  1. Thanks. You make some good points.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I started writing chick flick even though I'm a guy. I figured I'd have a better shot than with a guy buddy comedy. By the time I finished I heard that chick flicks were out. I've also learned that these things tend to by cyclical. What's in can go out real fast and vice versa

    ReplyDelete
  3. When trying to write funny I bet most people just do it, which is why it's interesting to realize there's actual rules and formulas behind the process... even if they don't know it.

    ReplyDelete
  4. I tend to view the world through a haze of bitterness, jealousy, longing and bile. If I manage to get out of my own way, comedy just happens.

    your pal, roger

    ReplyDelete
  5. I agree with Roger. Getting out of one's own way is not only crucial for writing comedy, but just writing. Not second guessing, doubting, fearing that you have a bad idea or the wrong idea for what Hollywood's looking for.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Interesting ideas. I'll see how you play this out.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As someone in the press noted during this week's Late Night Wars, maybe comedians really are bitter, miserable souls at heart. But does that mean unless you revel in the All Is Doomed and Lost Forever Universe (and can boast of at least three major sexual hang ups) that you're destined to kiddie Christmas specials? Maybe not. I think funny material comes down to the same broader observation on writing posted in the welcoming message of this blog: "Not being able to write is at its core a mental problem." Yeah? Then I got your mental right here, pal, as in ca-razy. You know what crazy is, as someone once observed? Trying the same thing over and over again EVEN though you know it doesn't work. Remember when you were first learning to use a computer? You get the drift. In my own case, it was a script that basically beat the crap out of me for three years. I kept going down a variant of the same path and kept getting the same response, "Ah, ya ... but when does it start to get interesting, dude?" Then, out of the blue a friend said I should consider rewriting the story for a female lead. Bingo. I was done in a month. Anyway, I think this "rut" mentality can take over when trying to write comedy, and the harder you TRY to make it funny, the more uptight we get and the more the labor shows. Basically, something funny should bring a smile to your face the moment you type it. If not that very moment, then a small nudge should get you where you want to be. If it doesn't, good chance it wasn't funny in the first place. Get over it, and make more. How? Just resort to the basic rules of grammar school composition: compare and contrast. Thinking in terms of smilies and metaphors leads to ideas and absurdities and twists that move beyond wise cracks and get to the core concept of a joke. Once you have that, try to find a way to visualize the punch line so you can show it and not just say it. At any rate, don't linger. If it's not working, move on and try another angle. In comedy, the path of least resistance may well be the right way to go.

    ReplyDelete
  8. KL hit it on the nose. Staying with a script for 3 years (or in my case 4 years) is a lesson in futility. It's just so hard to walk away from something that I was so close to.

    ReplyDelete
  9. I don't know if comedy or being funny can be taught. It's like in real life. Somebody's either naturally funny or not. One of my brothers is hilarious. Always saying clever, witty things. My other brother is a nice guy, but hasn't said a funny thing in his life unless it was by accident.

    ReplyDelete
  10. I always doubt my ability to write funny dialogue. I can't tell on my own if it's actually "funny." I need someone else to tell me. I'm also someone who laughs at her own jokes.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Dialogue must be funny, but not stupid funny. It has to come out of character and be believable.

    ReplyDelete
  12. DB, I like the new photo. The other one was from an odd angle.

    ReplyDelete
  13. Thanks, Kevin. Trying to get up to speed and use a real photograph rather than from a vacation. I'm getting into the blog world slowly, but surely.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Your blog was just recommended to me. Is it easier to get an agent with a big broad comedy that involves major stars or with a small romantic comedy like, say 500 Days of Summer? It got all kinds of play, Golden Globe Nominations and not really name actors. I thought it was pretty good, but didn't understand all the hoopla.

    ReplyDelete