Happy Friday!
In my new quest to learn the structure of comedy, I started a five week for stand-up comedy workshop at the Laughing Buddha comedy school. Joe DeVito, who owns the school, and teaches this class is an accomplished comedian.
He comes up with jokes as fast as I come up with stories!
It’s amazing to watch him listen to a class full of comedians doing their sets, and to see how he shapes and improves the jokes. His enthusiasm for creating jokes is contagious.
I can’t wait to work on my own material using his wonderful suggestions. To create jokes, one of his techniques is to brainstorm on a particular subject such as yoga. You begin by making lists of all the props, a list of positions, a list of yoga clothes, a list of yoga styles, etc. As you make these lists, you look for jokes!
It’s an amazingly simple but effective technique. It struck me that it would also be useful when building dialogue in any sort of script. Each item, becomes a topic for discussion or even better, a source of dissension. By brainstorming the various aspects of what the characters need to talk about, you’ll create more interesting choices.
Today we’re sharing the second issue of The Friday Funnys . It is number two in our ongoing series.
Please enjoy, sign up to receive a free subscription, and tell all of your friends!
Here’s to your successful writing,
Professor Marilyn Horowitz
