If it was easy, everybody would be doing it.

You can also look for scripts similar to what you want to do (a little bit of comedy to lighten up otherwise dark stories).  See how other people do it.


Phil

An important thing to remember too: when you revise a comedy script, don't try and change the funny lines or scenes too much, if at all. Comedy need to be spontaneous. The best lines come ad lib when you are writing them. If you are spending too much time on a line or whatever then it prolly isn't funny, so ditch it.

I try and use a buildup to the punchlines of certain scenes. And the timing is vital too. That may sound sort of odd as the comedy bits are going to be read as opposed to being heard like at a stand up show or in a film. But you have to have that knack of inserting the lines at the right moments, whether it be in dialogue or the action.

Hmmmm...not sure what to say about this.  Alot of my stuff - whether dramatic, horror, etc - does have bits of comedy in it.  (Containment and Last Stop come to mind.)  But I'm not sure that's something you can "inject" per se.  As others have said, it's got to be organic to work.  And for the jokes to surface at all, you just have to be in the right (usually sarcastic) frame of mind while writing.  ...and - preferably - during the first draft, at least in some form, although it can be polished over time.

I guess the best suggestion is to make sure you're in the right headspace when you sit down to write.  Watch a stand up bit from a comedian whose style you want to emulate first, if necessary.  That might help?

Cheers,

--J

Thanks for all the help guys.  I'm taking notes.   Anyone else who has any more to share feel free to do so.

Look for dramatic scripts that have humorous moments in them and see what makes them work.


Phil

One more suggestion, Chris.

Make people uncomfortable, then use humor to break the tension. The more effective you are at making them uncomfortable, the less powerful the humor needs to be. That was the key to Andy Kaufman's material.

That's really great advice Kevin!  Thanks!  

Quoted from KevinLenihan One more suggestion, Chris. Make people uncomfortable, then use humor to break the tension. The more effective you are at making them uncomfortable, the less powerful the humor needs to be. That was the key to Andy Kaufman's material.

If you just "inject" jokes here and there they will seem out of place and probably won't get the laughs you want. The best comedy is set up early and paid off later. They come from the way circumstances lead the characters to act. It can also come from certain characters who just have a knack at timing their reactions (physical and verbal) with quips. Answering questions with snide (but funny) remarks, sarcasm, hyperbole. It's all about the characters and how you set them up, and how characters react to the circumstances around them.

Keep in mind that few people are naturally funny, and even those who are, usually can't translate comedy to the page. It really is something that needs to be studied like anything else. Rent (or preferably buy, for the commentaries as well) the ten movies you think are funniest to you and break down each scene, each joke and see where the humor comes from. Is it a bit that was set up forty pages earlier, or maybe five pages earlier? Is it just a wise-cracking character that has a knack for saying something funny at the wrong times? Even if you're not writing a full-blown comedy and just want to insert humorous bits in an otherwise "serious" story, knowing how comedy works will help you.

Sorry if I make it sound nebulous, but comedy is hard to characterize. Kind of like how the Supreme Court announced their ruling on what is and isn't pornography--they can't really give it a proper or legal description, but they know it when they see it.

There's a lot you can learn about comedy, but if you've never ever been able to make people laugh in real life, forget it. Luckily, most people can make other people laugh, some just more than others.

There's a few types of jokes you can identify (out of the top of my head):

(1) Basic joke-structure is this: setup - punchline. This is the classic 'one-liner'-joke, or maybe a few lines. It works like this:
The set-up sets out the basic premisse or situation, creating an expected outcome.
The punch-line crushes that outcome in an unexpected but logical way.
So your basically messing with people's expectations. Examples:
"Inside of you, there's a fashion model just waiting to throw up." - Robin Williams
"I haven't slept for ten days, because that would be too long." - Mitch Hedberg
"I have mixed-race parents… my father prefers 100 meters." - Stewart Francis
"I went to see Walt Disney on Ice. Bit disappointing - just an old bloke in a freezer." - Gary Delaney
See what happened? First part of the sentences, you had an idea where it was going, but in the end, it was going somewhere else- but it still added up.

(2) Irony. Saying the opposite of what you actually mean.
"Your screenplay is just the worst I have ever read."
- "No, tell me what you really think."

(3) Metaphors: find a colorfull way to make your point:
"Politicians are a lot like diapers. They should be changed frequently, and for the same reasons." - Robin Williams
"Women are like the police, they could have all the evidence in the world but they still want the confession." - Chris Rock
When trying to come up with one yourself, try looking for extremes. If you want a character to state it's cold? Think extremes. What's the coldest there is on earth? Probably the North Pole. And a freezer. And a polar bear. So that would be: "My living room is colder than a dead Polar Bear in a freezer on the North Pole". Is your character verbally agressive? Say something like "my brothers pitt bull could take barking lessons from this guy." (It always helps to use animals, and try to create a funny image: a character barking on a leash like a pittbull".)

(4) Honesty. Sometimes humor is being a little more honest a little earlier then the people around you.
"The first time I tried organic wheat bread, I thought I was chewing on roofing material."- Robin Williams (this is also type (3), by the way)
"Yeah, I love being famous. It's almost like being white, y'know?"- Chris Rock

There's more, maybe some other time.

Also remember:
- Insults just for insulting isn't funny. At least do it type 2 or 3.
- Character is indeed the source of most comedy. Create characters that have opposite traits and allergies: create a character that's just always happy, and create a situation with that other character that's cynical and can't take all this happiness.
- Comedy is serious. Don't let your characters 'act' funny. Let them BE funny.
- The comedy is often in the receiver of the insult/joke. That's why in sitcoms (and film for that matter) after the joke/remark, there's always an insert shot of the butt of the joke- usually with a deadpan or annoyed expression on his/her face.