There's Nothing Like a Good Comedy

This is part two of the three-part miniseries. For part one read I NEED DRAMA IN MY LIFE! Like the title has hinted this will be the comedy in drama and comedic storytelling. First thing first, not everyone is funny. Also, it's hard to be funny because everyone's sense of humor is different.

Comedy comes from suffering. Not in the torture sense of the word, but the humor comes at the expense of someone. Comedians make jokes at the expense of themselves or those they know. The same goes for a television show. One or more characters suffer for a joke. Slapstick is the physical pain of one or more people. These are just some examples of comedy and there are much more than what I just listed.

Writing comedy is not something that is easy. Because everyone's sense of humor is different, there are going to be times when a joke is not going to get the response the writer wants. Also jokes don't always sound that funny when read. But that's the nature of the medium. Though it does help if you're a naturally funny person.

The best way to understand it is to watch comedy movies. Both the good and the bad ones. Yes I know, no one likes sitting through unfunny films but it's important to see what the bad ones lack. But to stay on the safe side, only expose yourself to the bad movies only once in a great while. Unless your job requires you to see awful movies. What needs to be focused on is the setup and the delivery of the joke. Timing is what makes the joke funny.

Now there is no way to know if a joke is going to work. What I just explained is only the basic info of telling a joke. There's no science to this madness and there most likely never has been one. It's easiest to write funny dialogue for characters who seem naturally funny. The character's personality should be able to clue you in on whether they're someone who's supposed to be funny. 

Serious moments in the story naturally don't have someone trying to be funny.  If the desire is to have a character be a bit off in the head then it can work. Touchy subjects are hard to make lighter with jokes. Unless you're willing to have a hard time with the audience, it's best to leave touchy subjects to people who will take them seriously.

 Being able to write funny characters takes practice. Again it is easier if the writer themselves are naturally funny.  The character also needs to be set up beforehand to be funny. Not by saying that they are, but the character's actions and words need to clue in the reader that they are. This is a common problem in writing. An author will continue to tell you a personality trait of a character, instead of showing the reader what their personality trait is. An example of this is when a character is said to be mean and then does nothing to confirm this statement.  The next time you come back will be the third and final part of the mini-series. Look for Tragedy; Everyone You Know and Love is DEAD! and make sure to vote for the Halloween Prompt poll.