Knock Knock: on Writing Comedy
What is The Deal With Airline Food?
Listen, we’ve all made a poorly timed joke or two. That one little comment that sounded brilliant in your head that, once delivered, had the same level of suave panache as involuntary acid reflux disease.
We laugh them off, brush them aside, and move on with our day.
We do not, typically, immortalize them in the written word to be critiqued by posterity. Unless you’re an author trying to inject some levity into your story that is in which case buckle up.
Comedy is an art, they say, and while that is true for the most part there are some basics I think we could all use a refresher on every now and then before we try inserting another gaff into our latest magnum opus.
For your consideration, here are my top five things to avoid while writing comedy:
5. Avoid Inside Jokes
Every friend groups got ‘em, and they can often have an entire room falling out of their chairs with a single sentence. Problem is, no one outside your friend group is going to get the punchline.
Comedy doesn’t have to land for everyone but if you narrow your potential audience to the three people you shared third period French with your junior year you’re hamstringing yourself is all I’m saying.
Keep the funny, lose the niche.
4. Avoid Meta Humor
Good comedy ages like fine wine. Great comedy doesn’t age at all. What was funny then is funny now will be funny in the future. Trying to appeal to contemporary issues, gimmicks, or events is not only gauche but can date your punchline to the point of irrelevancy in a matter of weeks.
Not every reader is going to understand some fourth tier meme you found on reddit, nor should you expect them to.
Your readers aren’t here for homework but to relax. Jokes that don’t age well have the opposite effect.
3. Don’t Overplay It
Guest shouldn’t overstay their welcome and neither should your jokes. Constantly harping on the punchline not only weakens the overall delivery but sends a not so subtle message to readers that you think they weren’t smart enough to get the joke the first time.
If you have to explain it you need to reconsider the joke itself, not present an in universe TedTalk to explain how devilishly clever that one liner really was, no really you guys.
2. Don’t Abandon Comedic Timing
Understanding when it is appropriate to undercut a dramatic moment with a good bit of humor and knowing when it’s necessary to let a heavy moment breathe in a story is paramount to not making your audience hate you- yes, you. Not your story. Oh, heavens, no. You ruin a pivotal character moment with a piss weak dick joke and they will blame you personally.
And rightfully so.
Hell, look at the criticism Marvel has been getting lately for refusing to allow characters (and thereby audiences) any time to actually process a traumatic event before they inject a committee approved, data driven quip to ensure the kiddos don’t have to deal with you know…emotions and such.
This is a solid reminder that while comedy is meant to entertain mistiming the execution of it will actually detract from your audience’s overall experience. Tragedy and Comedy are two sides of the same coin. Know when to leave them be.
1. Don’t Pause The Story For A Laugh Track That Ain’t Coming.
Worse than mistimed delivery, or a joke that simply doesn’t land, or even overexplaining a joke that did until it isn’t funny anymore is the joke that’s followed by the expectant pause. You know the ones. Its where the entire story lurches to a halt after a lukewarm zinger by Quirky Side Character B (extra points if they’re usually stoic) and where you can practically hear the buzz of a neon sign flashing “Applause!” as if to signal that, yes, you may kindly engage in slack jawed mirth at the brilliance before you as the author strokes themselves in self-congratulatory bliss on the other side of the page.
Though rare (and in case you couldn’t tell) this one grates on my soul, dear reader.
Whereas the other items on this list typically stem from a lack of confidence or unfamiliarity with delivery, this cardinal sin of comedy derives from too much of either. The author knows they’re funny. They KNOW when to plant that perfectly timed comedic relief. They KNOW they’re going to make you laugh. And they’re so sure of this fact they will literally freeze frame a scene in place for a paragraph or two just so you can fully appreciate the scope of it.
Why do this? Why ruin a good thing? It’s like you had all the ingredients to make a perfectly good cake, followed an exacting recipe to the letter, baked it, frosted it, and then deliberately sneezed on it just as you were presenting it to your customer. And I’m not talking a gentle zephyr from your nostrils I’m talking Dad-energy sneeze that shakes the entire house and showers that cake in so much debris it makes it look like your nose was a bottle of Windex set to “mist.”
Don’t do that.
Don’t ruin a good thing.
Trust your audience to appreciate the moment and move on. They’ll appreciate your brevity. And if they don’t, I will.
I’m sure theres more I could expand on but I’d say those are my top offenders, dear reader (at least for now). Do you have a special layer of comedic hell I may have missed? Was this very post self induced hypcritical cringe?
To find out the answers tune in next time, on Dragonball Z