Comedy Writing Self-Taught

The Professional Skill-Building Course in Writing Stand-Up, Sketch, and Situation Comedy

Gene Perret

• Publisher: Quill Driver Books
• Year: 2015
• ISBN:
  9781610352604
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Television

In "Comedy Writing Self-Taught, " Perret (a legendary comedy writing teacher as well as a famous TV comedy writer and producer) teaches aspiring comedy writers how they can teach themselves the essential principles of comedy writing through comedy analysis and writing exercises. Covering the essential principles of writing stand-up comedy, sketch comedy, and TV situation comedy, "Comedy Writing Self-Taught" is professional level training from a master who has spent decades at the very top of the entertainment industry. Expressly designed for home self-study, "Comedy Writing Self-Taught" teaches that the most effective way to learn is to create comedy yourself. Perret teaches how to analyze the work of professional comedians to learn the principles of comedy and presents a full set of writing exercises to hone one's skills. A companion workbook provides even more comedy writing exercises, giving readers the equivalent of a master class in comedy.

Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Comedy Can Be Taught

Chapter 2: Self-Taught Is the Best Taught

Chapter 3: Two Concepts You Can Teach Yourself Immediately

Chapter 4: Learn the Business

Part One: Joke Writing

Chapter 5: Learn What Good Comedy Is

Chapter 6: Learn to Be Good by Not Being Bad

Chapter 7: Selecting Your Mentor

Chapter 8: What and How You Should Learn from Your Mentor

Chapter 9: What Do You Write About?

Chapter 10: Preparation and Research Are Part of Learning

Chapter 11: Teach Yourself to Write Routines

Chapter 12: Find and Study Joke Formulas

Chapter 13: Do Comedy Writing Exercises

Chapter 14: You May Want to Skip This Chapter, But Don’t

Part Two: Sketch Writing

Chapter 15: Your Best Mentor Is in Your Den

Chapter 16: How to Watch Sketches

Chapter 17: Sketch Endings

Chapter 18: Sketch Writing Exercises

Part Three: Sitcom Writing

Chapter 19: How to Watch Sitcoms

Chapter 20: Sitcom Writing Exercises

Chapter 21: Develop a Situation Comedy Story and Outline a Script

Chapter 22: Write a Situation Comedy Script

Chapter 23: Errors to Avoid in Writing a Spec Script

Part Four: Graduation

Foreword

Whenever people ask me where I learned to write comedy, I tell them I attended the College of Gene Perret, got my Master’s from the School of Phyllis Diller, and my doctorate from the University of Bob Hope.

There was no greater education than watching these three legends in action. Gene Perret is an acclaimed teacher/mentor/book author/writer of television comedy for decades. Having written for The Carol Burnett Show, Mama’s Family, and for comedy greats Bob Hope and Phyllis Diller, this three-time Emmy winner knows his subject inside and out. He’s generous with that knowledge, too. I’ve personally made countless withdrawals from his bank of advice on many, many occasions. He’s not only been a mentor to me, but also a dear friend.

Phyllis Diller taught me comedy through her comments on the sides of the pages of material that I would send to her. “Too long of a set up,” “Too short of a set up,” or “Dynamite!” and “Great!” would be scribbled along the sides of individual jokes. Her words gave me encouragement, as well as helpful hints on how to make the jokes better.

From Bob Hope I learned to “hide the joke,” mine the humor hidden in the most unlikely topics, be aware of what’s going on around me at all times (everything’s potential material), and the most beneficial lesson of all, how to write fast.

By watching Gene work, I learned to write on demand, and I also learned the wisdom of sometimes getting alone to write. Often while the rest of us were trying to come up with a new line for Bob, Gene would step away and return some ten minutes or so later with a page of great material.

Writing in volume is another method that I learned from Gene. The more you write, the greater your chances are of coming up with the right joke. You can’t watch Gene for very long and not learn how to organize your material into a solid routine, too.

Don’t get me wrong—I bought his books also. But there’s something about watching the master in action that gives you an even greater insight into this world of comedy writing. There was something about watching Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope that taught me bonus lessons, as well. I learned from so many of the other legends that we were blessed to get to work with—Milton Berle, Danny Thomas, George Burns, Lucille Ball, the list goes on and on. Bob Hope ran in a nice crowd. A crowd that knew the art of comedy and continued to hone it until the day they exited the stage of life.

You truly can learn a great deal about a subject by watching the masters of it. Want to learn about Wall Street? Hang out with Wall Street traders. Ask them why they made the decisions that they made. Want to learn about professional sports? Follow the careers of those who have made or are making a name for themselves in that field. Watch how they handle their wins and losses, negotiate their contracts, and talk to the press. That’s information you can’t get in school. Or even in books. And it’s all free. Follow the people you admire. They’re your mentors. Learn from them. Read everything you can about that person. There’s a reason they’re at the top of their game.

I originally contacted Gene Perret because we had similar career paths. I got my comedy writing start in churches, roasting pastors. He roasted fellow workers and bosses when he worked for General Electric. I wrote for Phyllis Diller. So did he. But he was a lot further along in his career than I was. He was where I wanted to be. So I watched him. I read and reread his books. I stalked him. Okay, not really, but I did connect with him. He invited my husband and me down to CBS Studios in Hollywood to see a taping of Mama’s Family, and then the three of us walked over to a restaurant across the street. He was so gracious as he looked through my album of writing that I had brought with me that night, chuckling at all the appropriate places in the articles.

Today, I can say that it is because of Gene Perret’s encouragement, because he saw something in my writing that made him say, “You belong in Hollywood,” that I have enjoyed any success at all over these years. Ever since that night, I’ve wanted to live up to his faith in my writing skills. I’ve wanted to continue to improve and to make my mentor proud. I hope I have.

So find your mentors. Watch them. Learn everything they’ll share with you. Then, do whatever you can to make them proud.

And the best part of attending the College of Gene Perret is, it’s all been free.

—Martha Bolton

Emmy-nominated and Dove-nominated

writer and author of eighty-seven books,

including Josiah for President

Introduction

One of the most astounding learning moments I ever experienced was prompted by a teacher who wasn’t even in the classroom at the time. He was teaching physics to a group of us in junior year in high school. We were studying electricity, and he first taught us that an electrical current passing through a coil of wire would produce a magnetic effect.

Shortly after we learned this principle, this teacher handed out to the class several doorbells mounted on blocks of wood. He also supplied nine-volt batteries and a simple button that would act as an on-off device. There weren’t enough of these supplies to go around, so he divided us into teams that would work together. Since it was the last class of the day, he told us we were dismissed as soon as we could explain how the common doorbell worked.

We were puzzled and had many questions, but our instructor ignored our raised hands and headed for the door. We asked where he was going. He said, “I’m leaving. I already know how a doorbell works.”

We looked at one another in confusion. We looked at the apparatus before us. We looked to the door, hoping the teacher would return and make some sense. He didn’t. He left us to our bewildering assignment.

My team hooked up the gear, which was fairly easy. We pushed the button, and the bell went r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring. A brilliant classmate said, “That’s how a doorbell works—you push the button and the bell rings.” That didn’t advance the world’s knowledge of electricity.

Another student said, “We’re studying electromagnets, so that must be part of it.” He was onto something.

We played with the apparatus until we finally figured out that one of the moving parts—the part that clanged the bell—was part of the electrical circuit. When current passed through the coil, it pulled the metal clanger against some springs. But when the clanger was pulled away, it interrupted the flow of electricity. That meant that the magnet no longer attracted the clanger. The springs shot the clanger back against the bell. This closed the circuit again. This sequence repeated at a rapid rate, producing the distinctive r-r-r-r-r-r-r-ring of the bell.

This innovative teacher didn’t tell us how a bell worked. He didn’t show us, either. He simply furnished a bell, a power source, and a switch. He let us teach ourselves how the bell worked. And we did. In the process we learned much about electromagnetism and its application.

That’s the idea behind this book. It doesn’t teach you how to write a joke. It leaves you with a world full of Henny Youngmans, George Carlins, Phyllis Dillers, Jerry Seinfelds, Jay Lenos, David Lettermans, and any others you choose. It doesn’t teach you how to write sketches, but it does allow you to teach yourself using the principles exhibited by Lucille Ball, Carol Burnett, Sid Caesar, the Saturday Night Live gang, and countless others. You’ll teach yourself to write sitcoms based on the lessons available from The Dick Van Dyke Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Cheers, Friends, Two and a Half Men, The Big Bang Theory, and whatever other TV shows you enjoy.

The principles of electromagnetism were contained in those fundamental pieces of equipment that our teacher furnished. As one of our classmates observed, when we pushed the button, the bell rang. That showed us that the device worked and that the principles worked. Now we had to figure out how and why the doorbell worked.

All the principles of comedy are contained in the people who have practiced and are now practicing comedy. Many of them went on to legendary achievements. Again, that means the principles worked. By studying great comedy performers and superb humor writing, you can uncover secrets that will benefit your comedy creativity.

When Henny Youngman told a joke, people laughed. Why and how did he get them to laugh? That’s your assignment. When Bill Cosby is onstage telling stories about his childhood or his family, people roar. Is it the punchline he delivers? Is it the tone of his voice? Is it the facial expressions he uses? Is it all of these? With some effort, you will uncover valuable information.

The comedy principles are there for the taking, just as the idea behind a doorbell was there for my classmates and me to discover. However, there are some differences between figuring out the ringing of a doorbell and the intricacies of comedy.

First, once we solved the riddle of the ringing bell, we were done. We had conquered the mystery. We knew now that when you pushed the button the bell rang. And we knew how and why. There was no more for us to solve. The comedy-learning process, though, can go on forever. You never stop learning and you never learn enough. It’s also addictive. The more you learn about humor, the more you want to learn.

I remember once sitting with Bob Hope during a postproduction session. During a break in the work, Hope began practicing the motions of his golf swing. He mentioned that he had talked with one of the professional golfers who was playing in his tournament at the time. He said, “He told me to begin the backswing just like I’m pulling down on a rope.” He demonstrated the motion for me.

I said, “Bob, how long have you been playing golf?”

He said, “Oh, it’s over fifty years now.”

I said, “You’ve been playing golf for fifty years and you just learned that you have to pretend you’re pulling down on a rope?”

He said, “That’s the thing about golf—you never stop learning.”

That’s the thing you’ll find out about comedy, too—you never stop learning. And you never want to stop learning. The more you learn, the easier the laughs come and the bigger the laughs get.

In fact, that is the first lesson you should teach yourself right now: You must continue to learn throughout your comedy career. Learn from your own experiences and from listening to and watching others. Make yourself aware of any comedy lessons that are there for the asking.

Another difference between our high school bell research and your comedy self-education is that comedy is much more complicated and varied than ringing a simple doorbell. We had one basic device to investigate; you’ll have countless forms of humor to work with. For instance, there is stand-up comedy. In this form you write one-liners, stories, anecdotes, or whatever gets a laugh for the onstage performer. Another form is sketch comedy, such as you see on Saturday Night Live, The Carol Burnett Show, Your Show of Shows, and others. There are numerous other forms of co...