Melanie's How To Do Stand Up Comedy Blog

Is it possible to “learn” to be funny?

Isn’t a sense of humor something that your born with?

Can anybody learn the basic comedy writing secrets?

These are questions that are not easily answered, because the answer may be both yes and no.

Truth be told, if a person is blessed from birth with a little bit of humor, then they probably have the ability to get funnier. However, if the person in question has been a sourpuss from day 1, then it’s doubtful they will ever make it as a standup comic. Truly they will never master the required comedy writing secrets to be successful.

Here’s the deal, learning to be funny is one of the most difficult writing skills to master.

We all are endowed from birth with the sufficient sense to be confused, scared, moody, frustrated, serious, and angry—all elements that a good writer uses effectively. You’ll notice “funny” is not on that list. If you’re not born with it, then it needs to be in your environment as you grow up, or else it won’t be on hand when you create.

However, I believe anyone who possesses at least a small sense of humor, anyone who likes jokes and likes to laugh, can learn to be “funnier.” And therefore, they can learn to write more effective comedy.

Here’s a list of 4 key comedy writing secrets guidelines:

LET THE JOKE COME OUT OF THE CHARACTER OR SITUATION

Here’s what I mean: a scene should be fleshed out first, with the jokes inserted later as they seem appropriate. If you try to write the scene around the joke, the scenario is almost sure to fail. More often than not, the joke will screw up the flow of the dialogue, and may even stop the scene dead. The most effective jokes are the ones that grow organically from the scene. The best humor always comes from fully developed characters with specific (and probably quirky) traits that are dealing with some sort of conflict.

WORDS WITH A HARD “K” SOUND ARE FUNNY

I first heard this maxim uttered on the Rockford Files. Jim Rockford was trying to help a (rather lame) comedian in a possible murder situation. It was a funny episode featuring a would-be comedian who actually understood some of the basic theory behind good comedy. And he was right! As proof, you can watch any great comedy movie or any classic sitcom. If you listen carefully you’ll find the majority of the jokes rely on the use of a word with these sounds. Neil Simon recognized this truism in his classic movie, The Sunshine Boys. To quote his main character,Willie Clark: “Pickle is funny, Chicken is funny, Alka-Seltzer is funny.” And, he’s right. Comedy writers as a rule don’t search their brains for “K” or “C” sound words to end their jokes, but when pitching the jokes, our minds “instinctively” choose words with those consonants

BE SPECIFIC

A “specific” allusion is the best thing for a successful comedy routine.. The more famous the allusion, the bigger the laugh. Often people trying comedy for the first time will violate this rule on a regular basis. They’ll use the word “dog” rather than Schnauzer, or Poodle, or Chihuahua. As you can see, the specific breed is funnier than the general word “dog”.

Another good example of specific humor comes from The Producers DO you remember the part where Max Bialystok tries to convince Leo Bloom how poor and needy he is? He screams at Leo, “I’m wearing a CARDBOARD belt!” Flimsy belt, crummy belt, discount belt…none of these are as specific as “cardboard.” It’s part of what makes the joke so funny.

PUT THE FUNNY WORD AT THE END

This rule is so basic that many writers forget to implement it, to their detriment. If there’s a funny sounding word within the punch line, you should arrange the sentence so that the funny word falls at the end of the joke. Why? Nobody really knows. A lot of what makes us laugh is mysterious, and perhaps beyond our capacity of understanding. Even hardened, cynical comedy writers can’t always explain why some jokes work and others fall flat. The best guess is that it has to do with rhythm and sound. If a funny sounding word is the last thing the audience/reader hears, it seems to strengthen the joke.

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