Comedy Writing Secrets
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Product Description
Product Description
Updated and revised, this new edition of the bestselling favourite enables readers to master the fundamentals of humour writing and better understand the demands of the market for comedy. Comedy Writing Secrets now includes: Examples from venerable comedy greats as well as cutting-edge contemporary comedians A complete spectrum of techniques, from writing one-liners and stand-up routines, to finding a market for one's work Step-by-step writing exercises accompanied with sample answers, so readers can practise and hone their skills With this guide, aspiring comics can learn how to sharpen their comedic talent and turn it into a well-paying pursuit.
About the Author
Mel Helitzer is an award-winning journalism professor and has written comedy material for such stars as Sammy Davis, Jr., Art Linkletter, and Shari Lewis, Mark A, Shatz is a professor of psychology and teaches humour writing.
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First Sentence
THE FIRST STEP IN HUMOR CONCEPTION IS IMAGINATION. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THE FIRST STEP IN HUMOR CONCEPTION IS IMAGINATION. Read the first page
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Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
A very goog book on the mechanical aspects of comedy performing and writing, but in a lot of ways the style of comedy today has moved on. On the question of whether or not comedy writing and performing can be tought, I'm not so sure. In the case of writing, the comedy idea for a sketch or routine I usually find inspiration comes from a spark in the subconcious. And I usually find that these little sparks tend to come when I least expect them. I realise that it doesn't work like that for all writers, particularly writing partnerships. And there are some very famous writers who do sit down together and literally hammer out their masterpiece, and it works for them.
But unfortunately with all the best teaching books in the world, when you have crafted and polished your script, unless someone will pay you money for your efforts and perform your masterpiece, it is a whole different ball game. And every writer knows the feeling of rejection. In fact one writer I know has made his living on rejection, have a look at Simon Ashley Richmond's Write Again Vol 1 He didn't get his scripts published, but his letters of rejection made a small volume.
But back to 'Comedy Writing Secrets'. Yes it is well worth reading and it made me think about other avenues of exploration. But comedy is an everchanging genre and what worked yesterday won't always work tomorrow.
But unfortunately with all the best teaching books in the world, when you have crafted and polished your script, unless someone will pay you money for your efforts and perform your masterpiece, it is a whole different ball game. And every writer knows the feeling of rejection. In fact one writer I know has made his living on rejection, have a look at Simon Ashley Richmond's Write Again Vol 1 He didn't get his scripts published, but his letters of rejection made a small volume.
But back to 'Comedy Writing Secrets'. Yes it is well worth reading and it made me think about other avenues of exploration. But comedy is an everchanging genre and what worked yesterday won't always work tomorrow.
104 of 117 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Helitzer's Book on comedy writing is the best book out there on the subject. He has a firm grasp on essential techniques needed to refine your raw material into comedy gold. I recommend this book for anyone seiously interested in the old addage, "if it's funny there's money!" If you perform stand-up, or just write, this is the book to read. His various examples from today's comedians are not only hilarious but keep the reader interested and the book moving along. Helitzer has written the first and best book on the subject. I teach a comedy class and I know I couldn't do it without this book.
41 of 46 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
After the seventh page I found myself skipping the bits written by the author and jumping instead to the quotes. When I did force myself to read the (poor) prose between the quotes, I usually found the gist could be got from the first sentence with the rest of the paragraph mere padding.
Looking from the writing style to the theory and philosophy;
While I am undecided whether the author was the bully or the bullied, I am certain that he is familiar with bullying. In fact, his philosophy of comedy largely revolves around vindictiveness of one type or another and as such provides a charmless and cynical picture of humanity as a whole.
Moving from his philosophy to his theory of getting laughs; I found it distracting when the author used bad definitions of terms and then cited examples that failed to support even his own definition (eg: "malapropism" ... which uses a pun to introduce it in the book before mistakenly citing examples of verbal imbecility as malapropisms).
If you are interested in writing comedy, I strongly recommend against this book in favour of ... something else. For me, "Writing Television Sitcoms" (Evan S. Smith) is a much stronger book with more convincing (better written and informative) arguments and a much less misanthropic view of comedy.
Just my two cents.
Looking from the writing style to the theory and philosophy;
While I am undecided whether the author was the bully or the bullied, I am certain that he is familiar with bullying. In fact, his philosophy of comedy largely revolves around vindictiveness of one type or another and as such provides a charmless and cynical picture of humanity as a whole.
Moving from his philosophy to his theory of getting laughs; I found it distracting when the author used bad definitions of terms and then cited examples that failed to support even his own definition (eg: "malapropism" ... which uses a pun to introduce it in the book before mistakenly citing examples of verbal imbecility as malapropisms).
If you are interested in writing comedy, I strongly recommend against this book in favour of ... something else. For me, "Writing Television Sitcoms" (Evan S. Smith) is a much stronger book with more convincing (better written and informative) arguments and a much less misanthropic view of comedy.
Just my two cents.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Really rather good
There are loads of these types of books on sale and most are dire. This one is actually good. It is rather considered in the way it goes about dissecting humour, and funny at the... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Mt N. Holmes
Comedy Writting Secrets
This book guides you on techniques to use if you want to enhance your skills to think and write funny. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Noda
Old hat but solid
This book might be a bit dull but I suspect that's the gap between the excitement we all feel about hearing a great joke and the reality that formal comedy writing requires... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Houndog
Great comedy writing guide
A great introduction to comedy writing techniques. Some of them are brilliant. The techniques are easy to do and will a make a huge difference in your writing. Read more
Published 18 months ago by The Emperor
Many Perspectives, One Book.
I don't have to go through all the trouble of gathering and organizing so many theories of comedy since Helitzer here has done all the hard work for me with his book. Read more
Published on 23 Oct 2009 by Deniz Ates
Entertaining and Informative
I don't know if it's possible to learn humour, but there are certainly plenty of techniques in this book to help the budding comedy writer or performer hone whatever natural... Read more
Published on 5 July 2009 by Paul Solomons
boring but useful
it was very boring to me but if you can make it all the way through then i guess it would really help. but i would advise getting something else if you can.
Published on 17 Feb 2009 by joker
does what it says on the tin
I found this book both informative and easy to read. The ideas were well presented and give you the meat and two veg of comedy. Read more
Published on 23 Mar 2008 by Grahame J. Hadden
Lessons in VERY Old School Comedy
Very disappointing. Despite quoting from a few modern American comedians in the book,the comedy being taught here is SO dated. Read more
Published on 4 Oct 2007 by R. Lewis
Wow!
I've just read the other reviews on here and I'm shocked.
This is an EXCELLENT book, a detailed read on why we laugh, what is funny and what is not - and why! Read more
This is an EXCELLENT book, a detailed read on why we laugh, what is funny and what is not - and why! Read more
Published on 28 Mar 2007 by Mr. Daniel J. Offer
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