Dive into the intricate world of humor in storytelling! Discover how laughter drives readers to turn pages and the importance of context in transforming jokes into meaningful narratives. Explore techniques like the rule of three and comic drops to master humor's timing and impact. Learn how character familiarity can amplify both comedic and emotional experiences, plus gain insights into navigating humor across genres. If writing humor feels daunting, practical exercises are provided to enhance your comedic skills!
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insights INSIGHT
Visceral Humor
Humor is a visceral genre driven by the anticipation of a metabolic reaction, like laughter.
Readers turn pages hoping for that repeated release and loss of control.
question_answer ANECDOTE
Joke as Story
Mary Robinette Kowal recounts hearing Peter Sagal, from Wait Wait Don't Tell Me, speak on humor.
Sagal stated every joke is a story rooted in desire and connection, requiring context.
insights INSIGHT
Humor Through Recontextualization
Many jokes and funny stories involve a recontextualization.
This occurs when the initial story's meaning shifts unexpectedly, creating humor.
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"Talking about humor is the least funny thing you can do." —Howard Tayler You have been warned! and with that out of the way... What is the driving force that gets readers to turn pages in a book that is primarily a work of humor? More importantly, how do we as writers get that driver into our books? We cover this, and provide some starting points for writers seeking to improve their humor writing, along with a bunch of neat techniques, and (as apparent from the liner notes) a long example for deconstruction. Credits: This episode was recorded by Jeff Cools, and mastered by Alex Jackson. Liner Notes: here are the lyrics we cited from "Love is Strange" (Galavant). We've added superscript numbers from the Rule of Three exercise. ¹Love is strange, And sometimes kind of gross¹ It's embarrassingly gassy² And it leaves its dirty underwear In piles around the place³ ²Love is rude, it has a sort of smell¹ And it thinks that you don't notice² And it blurts out things That make you want to smack its stupid face³ ³And it's awkward and confusing¹ It annoys you half to death² Then it grins that dopey grin And you can't catch your breath³ The full song is available here, for $1.29 (link provided out of courtesy to the original artists whose work we deconstructed for educational purposes.)
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