Comedy Writing Secrets · The Best-Selling Guide to Writing Funny and Getting Paid for It by Shatz, Mark -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Cover Title Page Copyright Page Dedication and Acknowledgments

A Magnus Hopus

About The Authors Foreword

A History Lesson

Introduction PART ONE: Comedy Writing 101

Chapter 1: Introduction to Humor Writing

Comedy Writing’s Top Secret: Imagination Humor vs. Comedy Humorist vs. Comedian Whose Joke Is It? The Benefits of Humor Writing The Downsides of Humor Getting Started Recap

Chapter 2: Why We Laugh

The Science of Humor: The Search for Universal Answers Recap

Chapter 3: The Recipe for Humor

Target: Aiming Your Humor Hostility: Ridicruel Realism: Raise Your Sites Exaggeration: Talking Up a Storm Emotion: Burst the Bubble Surprise: Nobody Knows the Stumbles I’ve Seen Recap

PART TWO: Humor Writing Techniques

Chapter 4: POW: Play On Words

The Chemistry of Jokes POW: Play on Words Words: The Atoms of Humor Reforming: The Atom Smasher The Double Entendre: Away With Words Malaprops: An Error of Their Weighs Oxymorons: Pretty Ugly A Barrel of Pun Recap

Chapter 5: More POW: The Simple Truth and the Takeoff

The Simple Truth: The Whole Truth and Nothing But the Truth Simple-Truth Construction: It Ain’t Simple Simple-Truth Variations: More Than One Truth Simple Truths: By the Pros The Takeoff: Do Unto Others … Then Take Off Takeoff Construction: Ready, Set, Surprise Takeoff Variations: Multiple Launch Pads Takeoffs: By the Pros Recap

Chapter 6: The Next Giant Step: Reverses

The Reverse: Step Backward Reverse Construction: The Art of Surprise Reverse Variations: Working Backward with Others Reverses: By the Pros Recap

Chapter 7: Bewitched, Bothered, and Bewildered: Triples

Snap, Crackle, and Laugh: Triple the Funny Triple Construction: The Power of Three Triple Variations: Triple the Triple Triples: By The Pros Recap

Chapter 8: Realism, Exaggeration, and Shock

Exaggeration: Turning Sense into Nonsense Exaggeration Construction: Stretching Reality Exaggeration Variations: A Truly Shocking Surprise Recap

Chapter 9: Brainstorming and Editing

A Humor Writing Playroom Warm-Up Brainstorming: Listing Brainstorming: More Humor Block Beaters Editing Recap

PART THREE: Writing Humor For Specific Markets

The Title: Getting ’Em into the Hall The Speaker’s Introduction: Hold On to Your Seats Introductory Remarks Speech Content: Everybody’s Entitled to My Opinion Closing Remarks: Getting Off Stage With A Standing Ovation Avoid Bombing: Speechwriting No-Nos Recap

Chapter 11: Print Humor: Columns, Articles, Greeting Cards, and Abbreviated Humor

Columns Articles Greeting Cards: Humor in the Mail Abbreviated Print Humor: Everywhere You Want to Be Recap

Chapter 12: Writing Humor for the Cloud: Social Media, Blogging, and More

Twitter: Joke’s Big Bang Or Black Hole Facebook: Like Me, Please Blogging: Read Me, Please E-Mail: You’ve Got Mail Online Dating: Pick Me, Please Recap

Chapter 13: Teach, Learn, and Laugh

A Classroom Is Not A Comedy Club Teachers Do It at the Podium: Instructional Humor Teachers Do It in Groups: Active Learning Teachers Do It in the Cloud: Online Instruction Pass, Fail, Or Laugh Recap

Chapter 14: That's a Wrap