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I agree with James here, what's the story about and what genre? If it's a heavy drama then the jokes needs to be light and just enough to lift the mood at some points. If however the story is a comedy and you feel the need to inject jokes then maybe you need a rethink as forcing cheap laughs is never the answer.
Check out my scripts...if you want to, no pressure.
A few months into my writing, I wrote a cheesy zombie/gangster script. A year later I determined that if you're going to have cheese you need to have humor, and I had very little. I cleaned up the writing, which opened about 20 new pages for new scenes. I focused on making the new scenes as filled with humor as I could, and injected it in spots elsewhere in the rewrite.
The key to comedy is often conflict, though sometimes random one liners help too. If character A wants to go north and character B wants to go south, they bang heads, which is a chance for humor.
One thing to keep in mind is that it helps to set this in the tone in the first scene. For example, if it's an action thriller laced with comedy, it might help to have some of that in the opening.
Also, the way you set up your characters is key. Not only might they want different things, but they might have opposite personalities which cause them to clash, like 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Sherlock Holmes(the recent ones).
Comedy should come naturally. I think it's one of the most hardest genres to create, because if its not funny and people don't laugh then you're piece really isn't doing its job.
I also think it's hard to have screenplays posted on SS be funny. Because I think half the fun/comedy, and what makes it funny, is the delivery and the actor playing the character and whether he himself can deliver funny lines well. So, it's tough.
If I was writing a comedy I wouldn't so research. Like someone else said, it's organic, and forcing comedy into your script could possibly do more worse than good. I'd like to get some more insight though as I don't think I have enough background on the story, plot etc.
Curt
"No matter what you do, your job is to tell your story..."
I'm writing a youth adult science fiction drama but I kind of think the lack of humor in my story makes it rather dull.
I don't want to force jokes at all but how can I incorporate them organically? Should humor be the focus WHILE writing the story or should I wait to inject the humor on a rewrite of the story?
I find that the scripts that I find the most interesting on the is forum always make me laugh.
Those writers kind of make it seem so easy.
Oh and thanks for the links Silverback but I'm really looking for tips from actual writers on SS who can share their actual experiences on attempting to inject comedy in their writings - their failures and successes.
A few months into my writing, I wrote a cheesy zombie/gangster script. A year later I determined that if you're going to have cheese you need to have humor, and I had very little. I cleaned up the writing, which opened about 20 new pages for new scenes. I focused on making the new scenes as filled with humor as I could, and injected it in spots elsewhere in the rewrite.
The key to comedy is often conflict, though sometimes random one liners help too. If character A wants to go north and character B wants to go south, they bang heads, which is a chance for humor.
One thing to keep in mind is that it helps to set this in the tone in the first scene. For example, if it's an action thriller laced with comedy, it might help to have some of that in the opening.
Also, the way you set up your characters is key. Not only might they want different things, but they might have opposite personalities which cause them to clash, like 48 Hours, Lethal Weapon, Sherlock Holmes(the recent ones).
(Good) comedy comes from the audience totally understanding the characters. All you really need to think about is what's funny in real life -- what makes you laugh on an average day? -- and then put similar dynamics into your scenes.
For example, it's funny when your friends fearlessly do something totally inappropriate in public --> the famous "restaurant orgasm" scene in When Harry Met Sally.
It's funny when your friends have a huge, frustrating argument that stems from a small misunderstanding, and you can see the misunderstanding --> the famous "Who's on First" bit.
It's funny when a friend suffers from massive hubris when anyone can see their obvious incompetence --> the famous Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and while I'm on that, it's funny when a friend doesn't understand why something is funny --> the "Biggus Dickus" scene in Life of Brian.
It's funny when people fart, and Mel Brooks gave us farting cowboys.
What I'm getting at here is that humour will be organic if your characters are realistic and they end up in these situations. So if you have two believable characters that totally can't understand each other, but we get the misunderstanding, there will probably be humour there. If you have a believable character who suffers from totally unjustified arrogance, this could well be funny. If you have a believable character who farts in the right context...well, I'll laugh, anyway.
(Good) comedy comes from the audience totally understanding the characters. All you really need to think about is what's funny in real life -- what makes you laugh on an average day? -- and then put similar dynamics into your scenes.
For example, it's funny when your friends fearlessly do something totally inappropriate in public --> the famous "restaurant orgasm" scene in When Harry Met Sally.
It's funny when your friends have a huge, frustrating argument that stems from a small misunderstanding, and you can see the misunderstanding --> the famous "Who's on First" bit.
It's funny when a friend suffers from massive hubris when anyone can see their obvious incompetence --> the famous Black Knight of Monty Python and the Holy Grail, and while I'm on that, it's funny when a friend doesn't understand why something is funny --> the "Biggus Dickus" scene in Life of Brian.
It's funny when people fart, and Mel Brooks gave us farting cowboys.
What I'm getting at here is that humour will be organic if your characters are realistic and they end up in these situations. So if you have two believable characters that totally can't understand each other, but we get the misunderstanding, there will probably be humour there. If you have a believable character who suffers from totally unjustified arrogance, this could well be funny. If you have a believable character who farts in the right context...well, I'll laugh, anyway.
Chris, sorry, I've given you the wrong impression. No, ideally you don't want to wait until the rewrite. It was my impression that you had a completed script and you wanted to inject humor in the next draft.
Humor IS something that you can grow into your script which each pass, though. Humor often comes from having things set up so that the characters are in conflict or have contradictory natures. If you did that well in the first draft, it's easy to find ways to inject more humor in the rewrite.
I am assuming your script is not a comedy, but is perhaps a horror or an action thriller and you want humor to spice it up. I agree with your goal, and think that humor is often neglected by amateur writers. Set your characters in motion with conflicting goals and natures and then just look for opportunities for humor. You'll find them.
Thanks KevingL, that was very helpful. I definitely don't want to make the rookie mistake of neglecting humor. I can already see where I can add some conflicts that have a humor like edge now.
Chris, sorry, I've given you the wrong impression. No, ideally you don't want to wait until the rewrite. It was my impression that you had a completed script and you wanted to inject humor in the next draft.
Humor IS something that you can grown into your script which each pass, though. Humor often comes from having things set up so that the characters are in conflict or have contradictory natures. If you did that well in the first draft, it's easy to find ways to inject more humor in the rewrite.
I am assuming your script is not a comedy, but is perhaps a horror or an action thriller and you want humor to spice it up. I agree with your goal, and think that humor is often neglected by amateur writers. Set your characters in motion with conflicting goals and natures and then just look for opportunities for humor. You'll find them.
You might want to try and find some notes from Second City's sketch comedy class and learn what they teach. I have some incomplete notes from a friend who went there and it's really helped me rethink my approach to comedy. It allowed me to be more methodical and calculating about it, rather than trying to catch lightning in a jar.
The biggest help for me, though, was learning about the comic perspective. This is when a character believes themselves to be the best at something when, actually, they're the worst. One example my buddy used was Chris Farley's Matt Foley from SNL. He's a motivational speaker and thinks he's super good at it, but he's lousy at it and he could use the help of a motivational speaker himself. That's his comic perspective. When you come up with that, you develop it further by giving the character flaws and endearing qualities. Flaws to alienate the character from the audience, but endearment so they can still relate and sympathize. Even if you're writing a serious story, developing a small CP still gives your character some depth and more material to play with.
This sounds like a lot more work than "injecting" should require, but if you're going to do it right you should know what you're doing. If this isn't directly helpful toward "injecting" humor, at least you'll know you can apply it by writing a comedy-only script.
"I remember a time of chaos. Ruined dreams. This wasted land. But most of all, I remember The Road Warrior. The man we called 'Max'."
That's something I really need to work on, comedy. I sometimes worry when I write something that it's going to just depress the hell out of people. But, I don't understand comedy when it comes to specifics. There's really no secret to "getting" comedy, though, is there? It's more that, once you get it, then you can build and expand upon it.
You might want to try and find some notes from Second City's sketch comedy class and learn what they teach. I have some incomplete notes from a friend who went there and it's really helped me rethink my approach to comedy. It allowed me to be more methodical and calculating about it, rather than trying to catch lightning in a jar.
The biggest help for me, though, was learning about the comic perspective. This is when a character believes themselves to be the best at something when, actually, they're the worst. One example my buddy used was Chris Farley's Matt Foley from SNL. He's a motivational speaker and thinks he's super good at it, but he's lousy at it and he could use the help of a motivational speaker himself. That's his comic perspective. When you come up with that, you develop it further by giving the character flaws and endearing qualities. Flaws to alienate the character from the audience, but endearment so they can still relate and sympathize. Even if you're writing a serious story, developing a small CP still gives your character some depth and more material to play with.
This sounds like a lot more work than "injecting" should require, but if you're going to do it right you should know what you're doing. If this isn't directly helpful toward "injecting" humor, at least you'll know you can apply it by writing a comedy-only script.
That's something I really need to work on, comedy. I sometimes worry when I write something that it's going to just depress the hell out of people. But, I don't understand comedy when it comes to specifics. There's really no secret to "getting" comedy, though, is there? It's more that, once you get it, then you can build and expand upon it.
Depending on far you've gotten with your script, Chris, it may be easier to start over. Throwing jokes in to an already written script will ruin the pacing of the story and the story.
If you still want to do it, I can only suggest that you keep it to a minimum. Maybe have one of the characters throw the occasional sarcastic/humorous remarks.
I think it was Phil who told me one time in a post...writing funny is easy...if you just inject real things from real life that were funny.
If you try to 'create funny' it feels often forced. I've never felt I was good at writing comedy of any sort...but after thinking about what Phil said, I can come up with some really funny shit I lived through or seen happen in real life.
Thanks Phil, I'm just going to start it over. I'm stuck halfway through the story anyway! I didn't realize writing was so hard, lol.
Quoted from dogglebe
Depending on far you've gotten with your script, Chris, it may be easier to start over. Throwing jokes in to an already written script will ruin the pacing of the story and the story.
If you still want to do it, I can only suggest that you keep it to a minimum. Maybe have one of the characters throw the occasional sarcastic/humorous remarks.
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.
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?
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.
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.
.:An optimist is nothing but a badly informed pessimist:.
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