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The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not
 
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The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not (Paperback)

by John Vorhaus (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
RRP: £12.50
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Frequently Bought Together

The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not + Comedy Writing Secrets: How to Think Funny, Write Funny, Act Funny and Get Paid for it + How to Talk to Anyone: 92 Little Tricks For Big Success In Relationships
Price For All Three: £20.96

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Product details

  • Paperback: 191 pages
  • Publisher: Silman-James Press,U.S. (1 Sep 1994)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1879505215
  • ISBN-13: 978-1879505216
  • Product Dimensions: 22.6 x 15 x 1.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 18,592 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #5 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Linguistics > Semantics
    #14 in  Books > Reference > Writing > Editing
    #26 in  Books > Humour > Parodies

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About the Author

Vorhaus

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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
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Average Customer Review
4.2 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
17 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent start to wannabe writers, 25 Jan 2006
By olly (Portsmouth (you need a comic personality to live here, trust me)) - See all my reviews
I have read and re-read this book in its entirety, and in my view is invaluable if you want to become a more confident writer/performer or just want to have a deeper understanding of what humour actually is. The author offers many exercises for the reader to complete. This built up my confidence and made me realise that you can make a whole bunch of boring and mundane parts of life into supremely comedy sequences.
First the basics of what makes us laugh are explained. The book then moves into defining how to make your comic characters and to forget about why you think a certain aspect is unfunny.
After this the book is split up into seperate sections depending on which field of comedy you wish to pursue, be it sitcom, sketch, stand-up, and, ahem, practical jokes (it is hard to show sarcasm through text).
The end of the book applies to every comedian, helping you to perfect your work, and ultimately selling your material.
Unfortunately the book is not prfect throughout. Most explainations of certain comic situations involve the use of a 1980's film or tv series, so if you are under the age of, say 25 like me (or, if you didn't watch American shows of the 80's) I would strongly suggest buying Mel Helitzer's Comedy Writing Secrets, 2005. Apart from this I strongly recommend this book, trust me you can't go wrong.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Excllent compact guide., 11 Feb 2008
By J. Warburton - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This book was recommended to me by a BBC producer when I started trying to write comedy. Yes it's simplistic, but it works. JV gives you a brilliant method for developing characters and plots. I still dip into it now and again when I'm struggling with something. I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to anyone. It's a nice slim volume rather than a big fat tome, too. Which is nice.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Great ideas on structure for *all* writers., 9 Jan 2008
By Alistair H. Macdonald "hamishmacdonald" (Edinburgh, Scotland) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This and Vorhaus's other book on writing, "Creativity Rules" have been invaluable in helping me write more shapely fiction and I immediately recommend them to anyone who tells me they want to write, too.

His ideas on story structure are presented in a fun and funny way, but whenever I approach other books on writing I feel like Vorhaus got there first with this light little book, before all the guys with their deeply important mythic cycle breezeblock-workbooks hung around their necks -- and he got there with a smile on his face.

His principles on comedy in this book have given me what feels like X-ray vision when it comes to watching popular culture of any kind. This is someone who's been paying close attention to how story, humour, and thinking work, and he's given us all his crib notes.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars toolbox
really well written, really enjoyed reading it, was simple as well as
the methods it explained the different types of comedy was great. Read more
Published 26 days ago by kami

4.0 out of 5 stars A big help but use it wisely
Doreen has never been a confident public speaker but last summer she was faced with the daunting challenge of delivering a speech in a local debate. Read more
Published on 1 Aug 2007 by Wayne Redhart

5.0 out of 5 stars WOW!
This is a thoroughly recommended book. I used to struggle at parties for things to talk about, which used to make me feel awkward, this book has opened my eyes and now I can make... Read more
Published on 21 May 2003 by Adam Gutteridge

4.0 out of 5 stars A great way to make your sitcoms and screenplays funnier
This is the first book I bought on comedy writing and it managed to dispel my skepticism. Like the other review on here Chapter 7 is great and also the chapter on sitcoms is... Read more
Published on 10 April 2000 by N. A. Bhatti

5.0 out of 5 stars Essential structure. Must read for comic experts and novice.
This book is worth buying even just for chapter seven. His structure tools will break you out of any story block. Yes, the book is a bit stilted in parts. Read more
Published on 3 Sep 1999

1.0 out of 5 stars Too juvenile and obvious
I can't recommend this cheap attempt at telling you how to write humor. It is both too simplistic and obvious to generate any real energy. Read more
Published on 7 Jan 1999

5.0 out of 5 stars It was a very interesting, well writen story.
In the story you get to see life through many different points of view. Looking through these eyes is interesting and helpful to some people. Read more
Published on 20 Oct 1998

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