Writing a Show

[Tyler]

Hi,

For the last little while I have been thinking of writing a show. The shows that I currently do are 1-10 minute pieces in variety/cabaret shows, they are strictly talent based and either choreographed to music or just juggling with music in the background.

I'd like to expand into a show where I talk and interact with the audience.

So I have a couple of questions for those who have a moment of free time to help me out.

Comedy Writing: I'm not a particularily funny person naturally, where would one learn about comedy writing?

Is there a balance that ought to be achieved between audience participation and showing off, and what do you think it should be?

Finale, how does one come up with it? It seems like there's a set way of finishing an act, with a big, dangerous trick. Is that the best way to do it?

If I think of some more, I'll post them, but other than that, I guess my only question is what do you think is the best way to go about writing and rehearsing a show?

Thanks for taking the time to help me out!

Tyler

[Hunter]

As to writing for funny, Melvin Helitzer wrote a book a while back that has some interesting insights. It's fairly accessible, but it can be depressing if you've avoided thinking about the root causes of laughter.

Comedy Writing Secrets

[scot]

if you want to be funny, you need to practice a ton. if you want to be a tv performer, learn to write well, if you want to be a live performer, learn to be off the cuff funny.

don't set the bar where others are. aim to be funnier and know that it comes from hard work, attention and desire and not from a natural ability.

watch stand up comedians. you can prolly get your hands on standup dvds at your public library or video store. It's better to watch a whole show than clips on youtube. watch them over and over and memorize their routines and styles. watch bad ones too. You learn much more by paying attention at an open mic than by performing at them.

read books about comedy writing to learn the formats of jokes and how to rewrite your words before you say them. Not only will this help you be funnier, but it will help you with more effective speaking in general.

Watch television interviews figure out funnier ways to answer the questions asked.

when you talk to someone and think afterwards of funny things you could have said, or ways to win an argument, make special note of those. Then, think about how you could make those imaginary responses more powerful. It will get you in the habit of thinking of better responses.

your goal is to make the audience laugh and respond to the WORDS your saying, so find the performers that make people respond. whether you personally think they're funny or not. Learn about that style of comedy and expand.

This stuff is an ongoing practice. It will take a lot of work, but you'll see yourself getting stronger and stronger and in a few years, you'll be better than most everyone around you. Work harder than them. Care more about audience responses. Never blame an audience. You are the entertainer. If you are not entertaining them, you're not doing your job. Work 12 hours a day.

There's no perfect balance of interaction and showing off, but there should be some of each. Again, with out true interaction (where you put yourself in a truly vulnerable position) it is not a live show.

a finale doesn't have to be dangerous, nor high, nor loud, nor any other rule, the main purpose is to draw a conclusion to your show. the easy way is to do Frank Olivier's unicycle routine at the end of the show. i do pancake flipping.

the best way to write a show for me is put together the tricks you wanna do and perform them talking your way through it on video without an audience. watch the playback and pause it everytime it gets boring or you say something cliche (eg: "this next trick takes lots of practice..." ). write a joke for each of those points (eg: "...or lots of hands") and perform it in front of the camera again. each time going through and beefing it up until it's completely unexpected and fun.

[Spike McGuire]

Robert Nelson explained the whole thing to me one time:

Start strong, end strong, and put your week shit in the middle.

[Schuyler]

Create a character you can be while doing the show. I find it a lot easier to create lines, or generally interact when I'm being a character than as myself. I don't mean a full out clown persona, but if talking a lot isn't who you are then be somebody else.

[dave walbridge]

writing a show...with lines

Tyler,

All the advice thus far is good -- Get the books, watch the stand-ups, and get stage time. Also, think about what you say when you juggle informally for a person or two and use that as the beginning.

DW

[jayrodin]

Your character should be an extension of yourself. Like uh.... a characture..

I think you will find that it helps to take the stuff you already have break it down, find the parts where you need jokes or where it ain't to strong write everything down you can think of then revise revise and revise some more. Also, think of things that can go wrong during your bits- uncooperative assistants, etc. and write jokes for all of those so you have a ton of outs. When you've writen all that crap down take the best of the material- a small small portion- maybe like a 15 min show and do it then once you are comfy start adding other stuff on. Go slow- those who run to fast stumble.

Here is the basic structure I use when writing a show ( I don't know if this is proper, I didn't learn it from a book or n e thing but it works great for me)-

Blockhead Bit

1. intro
2. select volunteer
3. Have her check out the nail
4. Hammer the nail in
etc...

So then you break the catagories down into subcatagories.

It will help you a lot to use a notebook and pen instead of a puter when writing like this. Never cross anything out. See a spot in the show where you might work in a joke (or just a joke it's self) write it down how it would normally be then try dif things for instance I'll do a lightbulb joke:

How many stoners does it take to screw in a lightbulb? 1 to say man, and three to say... duuuude....

2: 1 to say man it broke and three to say, duuuuude....

3: five- one to say man it broke, and three to sit in a circle and say, duuude

See, the third looks like it works to me.

Remember, when you are writing like this nothing is wrong- being funny the first time doesn't matter- even after you think it's funny work on it some more, look for relationships between different things, write a ton of tag lines.

Try it.

[Evan Young]

most comedy TV shows are "gang banged", meaning a group of writers get together and write the jokes together.
Gather your friends and write jokes for eachothers shows.

[Tyler]

Hey thanks for all the replies guys, that was really helpful!

Tyler