Earlier quoted context omitted.
Can you post some examples of her unfunny jokes?
Sure, it's a knock-knock joke though. You start.
Knock knock...
Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
61–70 of 87 posts
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#62I used to do standup comedy at the mostly amateur level. One woman who was always at the same shows was so unfunny, she could suck the life out of any room. I always tried to study her, thinking that if I could understand the essence of why she was so deeply unfunny, I could understand the secret to being funny. Sadly I could never figure it out. Her unfunniness was inscrutable.
The OP is about writing. Stand Up Comedy != Writing, stand up comedy is mostly a performance (art) with a little bit of writing. I realized this after doing stand up comedy for over 12 years. I don't know what makes good writing but I know that if it gets a laugh then it's a good joke. No one has figured out the rules of what is good stand up comedy which is probably why studying comedy using "via negativa" or any ot…
I've read quite a few books on writing comedy and stand up comedy and far and away the best for understanding the mechanics of it was What Are You Laughing At? A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event by Dan O'Shannon.
Some basic golden rules:
Comedy is about surprise. Don't let them see the punchline coming.
Related to the above, make sure you've done enough setup so the audience can reach the punchline. An obvious connection to you might be not be so obvious to the audience. The punchline will flop if the gap between the setup and the punchline is too large for the audience to connect the dots.
Lie when you're meant to tell the truth. Tell the truth when you're meant to lie.
The funniest word or part of the joke needs to be at the end of the sentence.
Don't change your delivery for the punchline. Tell it straight and commit to it. Changing your delivery for the punchline is equivalent to putting a laugh track on a old style sitcom. If you have to prompt people to laugh, it's not funny.
Utilise the rule of three.[1]
Be as concise as possible.*
If you're telling a story, heighten the details even if that means lying about what actually happened. My friend has a story about a barfight in Thailand. The first time he told it, 5 people ran out of the bar to join him in the fight. The second time he told it 20 people ran out of the bar to join in the fight. The last time I heard it, everyone in the bar ran out and joined in the fight. The last one is inherently funnier because the chaos is heightened. Google Bert Kresicher's advice on telling stories for more info and examples, he's one of the best storytelling comedians around at the minute.
A related rule is, when telling a story based on a real life anecdote, recall the story and not the event. Unless you've got photographic recall, if you try and recall the event as you lived it, you're going to get trapped trying to remember precise details and you'll slow down the joke and people will zone out e.g:
"So there was me, Dave and John at the bar. No not John, Stan. And we were hitting up this bunch of girls and one of them was wearing this leopard print dress, no not leopard print, tiger print."
Never do this. Try and plan out how you're going to tell the story. Cut it down to the essentials and keep iterating on it.
If you've written a monologue, always practice speaking it out loud before performing and revise it accordingly. It needs to sound like you're speaking naturally in the moment and your written voice is normally more formal and stuffy than your spoken voice.
*The exception to this rule is if you're doing a shaggy dog story[2]. These are ramblings deliberately meant to lead the audience down the garden path with a punchline that didn't require about 90% of the surreal setup. The key to pulling these off well is to have mini punchlines or funny occurrences happen whilst you're telling the story and building the tension appropriately, otherwise the audience just zones out. The absolute master of these was Norm MacDonald, who in my opinion told the greatest one of all time, Dirty Johnny[3]. The other great one I've heard is "The Orange Head Joke"
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rule_of_three_(writing)
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#63He has a great Dudley accent (even though he's from Northampton)
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#64Earlier quoted context omitted.
The OP is about writing. Stand Up Comedy != Writing, stand up comedy is mostly a performance (art) with a little bit of writing. I realized this after doing stand up comedy for over 12 years. I don't know what makes good writing but I know that if it gets a laugh then it's a good joke. No one has figured out the rules of what is good stand up comedy which is probably why studying comedy using "via negativa" or any ot…
I've read quite a few books on writing comedy and stand up comedy and far and away the best for understanding the mechanics of it was What Are You Laughing At? A Comprehensive Guide to the Comedic Event by Dan O'Shannon. Some basic golden rules: Comedy is about surprise. Don't let them see the punchline coming. Related to the above, make sure you've done enough setup so the audience can reach the punchline. An obviou…
I just watched Norm perform that joke and I cannot for the life of me figure out why I'm laughing so hard. What an epic shaggy dog performance.
(Thank you for sharing - I'd never heard it before).
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#65faulkner said it first
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#66So, reading really bad code should aspire great developers, right?
Yes actually! Knuth says he got into computer science because he could see that the example programs in the IBM 650 manual were not very good, and he thought "if I, a college student just getting started with computers, can do better than the professionals, then maybe I have some talent for it". Years later, he learned that the programs in the manual were just bad; almost anyone could do better.
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#67I used to do standup comedy at the mostly amateur level. One woman who was always at the same shows was so unfunny, she could suck the life out of any room. I always tried to study her, thinking that if I could understand the essence of why she was so deeply unfunny, I could understand the secret to being funny. Sadly I could never figure it out. Her unfunniness was inscrutable.
Reversed bad {writing, comedy, &c} is not good {writing, comedy, &c}.
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#68Also I recommend reading mediocre books. Especially first time authors. They're the best way to be on the other side of someone reading your first book. It's easy for anyone with a college education to avoid being truly terrible, but the middling eternity of mediocrity is a far harder to navigate out of.
One of my favorite fantasy series is The Dresden Files. The first two novels are awful. Jim Butcher is clearly a new author at the time and making new author mistakes. But in the third book he starts finding his voice and the characters hit their stride. Each subsequent novel he's getting better and better. You're watching his growth as an author at the same time as his characters are growing throughout the story. It starts as a serial noir wizard detective story and ends up being an epic fantasy. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride despite the very rough start.
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#69Has anyone ever written a book on what makes bad writing?
Re: Every aspiring writer should read terrible books (2022) [video]
#70Also I recommend reading mediocre books. Especially first time authors. They're the best way to be on the other side of someone reading your first book. It's easy for anyone with a college education to avoid being truly terrible, but the middling eternity of mediocrity is a far harder to navigate out of.
For an infinite treasure trove of mediocrity (and the odd surprise), there's fanfiction archives like AO3 ( https://archiveofourown.org/ ).
Definitely mind the tags and ratings if you mine AO3 for anything.