Interview your loved ones about their jobs

What is the most stressful part of their job?

Ask Maria about funny stories about the daycare

Look Up: Norm Macdonald Moth joke

Most embarrassing times of your life?

-Puking while receiving first communion

http://www.reddit.com/r/Screenwriting/comments/1pqobj/tips_f
or_writing_comedy_how_writers_get_their/
Comedy is in human flaws. Dialogue is not a platform for a character to tell a joke
(occasionally is fine) but to expose their flawed nature. You need to find out why your
characters are broken, and that's what makes them funny. Are they vain? Are they
stupid? You can use this for
reference; http://www.englishclub.com/vocabulary/adjectives-personality-negative.htm
But don't make it a single flaw, because humans aren't singular traits. Develop them.
Think about people you know and yourself. Then expose these traits through their
actions and dialogue in a surprising manner. It's also a good technique to plot out story;
What situation will really show how broken my character is?

What I wrote above concerns humour in action/dialogue. I thought I'd add my ideas on
story. Comedy in story comes mostly from failure and irony. We laugh and feel good at
seeing someone fail because we empathise/feel better about our own failures. Ironic
success is funny because we are taught that smart and hard work = success and this
subverts that idea. In other words, your characters actions are almost always futile. At
the beginning stages of developing a story this is what I am concerned with.
I like to think of a 3 act sitcom structure as simpe as
ACT 1. desire -> action -> failure OR ironic success

ACT 2. new desire -> action -> failure OR ironic success

ACT 3. new desire -> action -> failure OR ironic success
Failure is generally favorable because it's easier to convert into a new desire. For many
stories the initial desire is resolved by the final failure/success and the character takes
three different attempts to achieve it.
Because the shows you mentioned you are trying to emulate are multiplot, that pattern
should be applied to each character who has their own story. The stories you write
should also intertwine and affect each other in as many interesting ways as you can
manage.

http://www.writerswrite.com/journal/jul99/writing-comedysketches-that-sell-7994
1) Escalation: Funny idea starts small and gets bigger and bigger,
ending in chaos of ridiculous proportions.
2) Lists: Sketches in which the bulk of the dialogue is a long list of
funny items. The best example of this is "Cheese Shop" in Monty
Python. (You can find all the Python sketches
at www.planetcomedy.force9.co.uk/bookstore.html.)
3) Mad Man, Sane Man: This format speaks for itself, but don't go for
obvious settings.
4) Dangerous Situations: For example, sketch set on flight deck of
aircraft.
5) Funny Words: Sketches which use the sound of language itself to
be funny. For example, use of the words "blobby" or "wobble" (See, Mr.
Bean).
6) Old and New: Getting a laugh from putting something modern in
an historical setting (Or, vice versa) Example: Sir Walter Raleigh using
a cigarette lighter.

7) Big and Small. Getting humour from large differences in scale. For
example, a mouse trying to make love to an elephant.

https://greatjokewriting.wordpress.com/

http://www.standupcomedyclinic.com/writing-jokes-1-2-3/

Start with stuff that is close to you. Look around you, think about your
surroundings, situations, behaviors and ask yourself 3 questions:
1. What is new?
2. What has changed?
3. What have I acquired?

Read:
http://splitsider.com/2012/04/steve-martin-shows-you-how-to-write-asketch-show-in-his-rare-tv-special/

http://www.wikihow.com/Write-a-Television-Show-Script
'Develop a Character Relationship List. With this step, you need to make three lists. A
Conflict or Disagreement list- this will be a list of two or more characters that just simply cannot
stand each other. You may want to include on the list why they fight and what they fight about. A
Friendship List- Write down groups of characters that are friends. Also write how strong their

friendship is and if it will last the whole show. A Love List- write down two characters that are
dating, married or like each other and will eventually get together during the show.

http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/10-ways-to-improve-yourwriting-while-thinking-like-a-comedy-writer

#10 HOLD YOUR READERS ATTENTION WITH INCONGRUITY.

Incongruity is the main reason we laugh. When logic and familiarity are replaced by things that dont
normally go together, such as a man lying in a hammock in an elevator, humor arises naturally as our
minds recognize that things are out of place and try to find a way to make them connect.
A great way to summon incongruity is an exercise I call the Journalistic Association List. Simply write
the words who, what, where, when and why across the top of a sheet of paper and separate the
columns with vertical lines. Then draw a horizontal line about halfway down the page. Choose your
topic (the more concrete, the betterfor example, space travel) and in the appropriate columns in
the upper half of the grid, fill in all the words you naturally associate with the topic. Then ask
yourself, What dont I associate with this topic? Fill the bottom half of the page with your answers. (See
Page 20 for a short example of what this exercise might look like, though yours should be much
longer.) Select the most interesting associations, and consider: How can you use them to add interest
to your work-in-progress?

#9 KEEP THEM ON THEIR TOES.

Similar to incongruity is the idea of misdirection, a concept used by all writers who make readers
believe they
are going down one path and then lead them astray. In comedy, the setup of a joke provides direction
and the punch line provides misdirection, which is why it goes at the end.
One of my favorite exercises for generating misdirected ideas is called Illogical Ways. First, choose a
problem youd like to resolve with misdirection. For example, lets say youre writing a novel and your
main character needs to have a broken leg. Your goal is to find illogical ways for that to happen.
Starting at the end of the alphabet (because it makes your brain work differently), list one illogical way
for each letter. For example:

In a ZEBRA stampede
Slipping on nonfat YOGURT
A XYLOPHONE accident
WEARING pantyhose too tight, causing her to trip

You can use this exercise to push even the most benign details of your stories beyond the obvious,
keeping your readers enthralled along the way.

#8 FIND AN ELEMENT WORTH REPEATING.

RULE OF 3: Comedy relies on repetition. Watch a sitcom and notice how often something is repeated
before the big laughs come. The magic number is usually threean action is repeated twice, and then
the third time, the writer goes for the hilarity. But repetition serves a purpose beyond just building the
joke: It gives readers a feeling of being an insider, someone who knows whats going on because they
were there the first time

#7 USE FAMILIARITY TO YOUR ADVANTAGE.

-RUNNING GAGS

#6 SATISFY READERS WITH A CALLBACK.

A callback refers to using a memorable line from the beginning of a piece later in another context. This
is an excellent tool for creating a feeling of completion in readers minds. Fans of Dave Barry will
recognize this as something he frequently uses to close his humor columns. (Once youve finished
reading this article, youll see Ive used it as well). The great news is, a callback doesnt have to be
funny to work. Try it and see.

#5 EMPLOY THE POWER OF PLAY.

Its very hard to write funny or innovative stuff if youre in a serious mood, so I always strive to be as
childlike as possible when approaching my craft. As children we were motivated by fun and didnt have
an inner critic whispering in our ear, Is this project leading to something worthwhile and productive?
Most researchers and parents agree that young children (from 3-7) laugh much more often than most
adults. Clearly we knew something decades ago that would come in handy now.
No matter your genre, lack of playfulness can drain the creativity out of your writing faster than a
leaky bathtub drains chocolate milk and Lucky Charms. The best way to introduce more childlike fun to
your writing is to follow Shakespeares advice: The plays the thing. Of course, he meant this in
another contextbut this article is about taking things out of context, so go for it! Play with your
children or your pets. Take an improv class. Dance badly to your favorite music. Take recess instead of
a coffee break. Just make sure your inner 5-year-old has a chance to play at least once a day, and even
more often when youre facing a writing deadline.

#4 STRETCH YOURSELF SHORT.

Of all genres, humor is one that lends itself best to short-form writing, which is why its a great field for
writers with commitment issues. Stalled in your efforts to write the Great American Novel? Take a
break and write sticky notes, greeting cards, one-liners and T-shirts instead. I do. Behold, some of my
recent work:

 On an apron: My other apron burned in the fire.

On a sticky note: Youre not the boss of me. Oh, wait, you are. My mistake.
On a button: Im now available in 3-D. Glasses not included.
The beauty about learning to write short and snappy is that it can help anyone create attentiongrabbing titles, subtitles and sidebars. Gephart, who has written for a humorous greeting card
company, agrees: I think my practice writing short, funny lines helped tremendously in my ability
to come up with catchy titles for my novels.
A great exercise for honing this talent is to set a clock for 10 minutes and try to write as many bumper
stickers as you can on a topic youre currently exploring in your writing. When youre done, choose a
favorite.
How might you put it to good use?
#3 USE THE POWER OF 10.
One of the truisms in comedy writing is that it takes most writers approximately 10 attempts at a joke
to create the funniest punch line. This is a great rule to remember as youre rewriting your feature
article for the seventh time. If things are going well, youre way ahead of the game.
The rule of 10 also works in brainstorming, which is why I teach my writing students to use top 10 lists
to come up with titles, plot points or character names. The most important part of this exercise is
writing a headline that stimulates creativity. Instead of Top 10 Good Names for a Bad Guy, for example,
try Top 10 Unexpected Names for a Bad Guy, or Top 10 Nicknames a Bad Guy Might Have Had in
Middle School. The point is this: No matter what youre writing, you should never settle for the first
thing that comes to mind. Only good can come when you push yourself further.
#2 REMEMBER: NOTHING IS OFF-LIMITS.
Comedy writers and comedians tend to push buttons and boundaries. Think of Mae West, George
Carlin, The Smothers Brothers, Larry Gelbart, Richard Pryor, Sarah Silverman and Chris Rock, to name
a few. It may be that people who are attracted to writing funny have fearlessness built into their DNA,
or perhaps comedy is a socially acceptable form of expressing outrage at societys foibles.
Fearlessness and unflappability, however, are important for any writer. The minute a voice says, Dont
go there, you may find that rejecting that advice will lead you to the most important writing
adventure of your life. Ive written many humorous political essays and wondered what consequences
might ensue. But I havent let it stop medespite the fact that I once came home to a message on my
answering machine that began, This is a call from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security.
#1 EXPOSE YOURSELF.
Comedy writers who also perform are regularly exposed to others material. As a stand-up comic for
the past 20 years, Ive witnessed the work of several hundred other comedians. Watching and listening
to them has influenced who Ive become as a writer and performer.
In the same way, all writers should regularly learn from other writers. If youre a poet and dont attend
local poetry slams, youre missing out on the rush of creative thought that happens when youre
around others who do what you do. If youre a writer and dont participate in writing groups or
conferences, now is a great time to change that.
With the idea in mind of exposing yourself to others work, Ill leave you with one last exercise, which I
call Where Do We Go from Here? Just write down a sentence or two from any piece of writing by a
favorite author, then use that as a prompt to write two pages in your own style, going in any direction
you want. For example, where would you go from Dorothy Parkers, Id love to dance with you. Id love
to be caught in a midnight fire at sea? Or how about Gelbarts, I dont know why theyre shooting at
us. All we want to do is bring them democracy and white bread?
With all these techniques for pushing beyond the expected, learning to be silly and reaching outside
your genre, it should be easier to approach new projects from a different perspective. And if you

become a better laugher and have more fun at the same time, I wont tell anyone. Your status as a
Serious Writer is safe with me.