Screenwriting : Comedy - Its not funny. by Lesley Jones

Comedy isn't my forte as a writer, so this is coming from the perspective of someone who just enjoys watching a good sitcom. For me, the best comedy is born from character. Parks and Recreation did this fantastically - 7 years of stories, with characters that grew and changed but stayed constantly hilarious. For me, the humor (dry and slapstick or otherwise) vanishes when you stop digging below the surface of your characters and allow them to just be caricatures, mouthpieces for your jokes. A slight aside: if you're looking for feedback (from executives) who will give real suggestions instead of insults, let me suggest taking a look at our Happy Writers Coverage and Consulting services. You can get full Development Notes or even a review of just your first ten pages - check it out here, and feel free to message me with any questions: https://www.stage32.com/happy-writers/coverage?affid=MHW. Best of luck!

Nice post by Matt. Comedy is probably the most subjective genre of them all. What tickles one, may fall flat to another.

Comedy is very subjective. Have a look at Steve Kaplan, look at his youtube clips and buy his book The Hidden Tools of Comedy. If the response from the London agent was so funny, why not incorporate that into your story? edit - I like There's Something About Mary and it was a bit hit for Bobby and Peter Farrelly but when reading the script, I found it was the unfunniest comedic script I had ever read, every joke fell flat on paper. Maybe it was me? I don't know but I laughed a lot during the movie. Perhaps your jokes fall flat on paper but will be a success on screen. I also have to ask, why do you think your script is funny? Is that just your opinion or is it also the opinion of others and if so, who are the others? are they family and friends or are they industry peers?

Quoting the OP: "My humour is along the lines of dry, slapstick humour. So how do you define a good comedy?" Respectfully, maybe "dry" and "slapstick" have different connotations in the UK than in the US. In the US, I think it's safe to say that dry and slapstick are on different ends of the comic tonal spectrum. I'm curious how dry and slapstick are viewed as similar in the UK. Secondly, if you read some of my posts, you'll see that I'm very wary of broad generalizations. To paint with a broad brush and try to "define a good comedy" undermines the specific nature of different types of comedy. I'd suggest narrowing your focus. For example, you could have a much more productive conversation about what's working in kids' TV comedy, or multi-cam TV comedy, or R-rated dude movies, or rom coms, or Melissa McCarthy comedies, or sketch comedy, etc... but to try to lump them all together, IMO, is not a constructive way to improve our own development. As I say in my Stage 32 Class, try to box in your own weight class. Don't try to box in every single weight class.

For example, the Disney Channel likes comedies in which a adolescent character might slip on melted ice cream. That's a winner for them. But in a Zac Efron comedy, you don't want that. The more you can define your intent and narrow down your space, the greater the potential of creating a tailored conversation that helps you and helps others! :-)

I know that you can develop a sense for it. Doing some stand up helps.

Seems very simple: I define a good comedy as one that makes me laugh.

There are around 25 types of comedy categories. I like all forms of comedy. Here are a couple of good lists of the categories. Each one kinda has its own set of rules. If you don't follow the rules, you will be shot. http://www.thedramateacher.com/types-of-comedy-for-drama-class/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedic_genres

Thankyou to everyone who has taken the time to respond. It has been a great help to me. I do feel my style of comedy writing is screwball comedy. I think you have to write what you think is funny and hopefully others but not everyone will think so too.

For what it's worth, I can't think of a current US series that I would describe as a screwball comedy, but I very well could be mistaken. In terms of UK programming, I'm much more familiar with hour-longs than half-hour. Is there a healthy market for screwball comedy on the British broadcasters?

I define good comedy as something that makes ME laugh. I once put a funny story in a blog on yahoo. I literally received over 1600 thumbs up and hundreds of replies from people saying they liked it. But I also got a few dozen thumbs down and a few comments on it being childish humor, and a few people who said they didn't get it. - Humor is in the mind of the beholder. Don't let 1 person bug you. Slapstick comedies can be very popular. - I have also written a comedy that I know is outright stupid, so I'm sure millions will like it if it gets made. - Have fun and good luck.

Lesly - like all drama, characters (who they are inside....how they react to the world around them) drive a story. If your work is along the lines of British comedy classics like Fawlty Towers/Keeping Up Appearances/Ab Fab/Mr. Bean/The Office...those shows are driven by some wonderfully eccentric, idiosyncratic and nutty characters who respond to the situations that they are in. Think of the situations that they get in....they are tragic to some degree. But in the comedy world, tragedy is turned upside down. I think those shows that I mentioned are farcical, and incorporate character-comedy, deadpan comedy, and zany character actions and reactions more than the traditional slapstick genre did. In the beginning...middle...and end....it's all about those wonderful, wacky lovable characters. Good luck and happy writing!

Comedy is an interesting thing in terms of screenplays because there is so much interpretation involved. I've read comedy scripts that I didn't find funny at all, yet when I saw the final film production it was hilarious. That makes it all the more difficult to see how good a comedy script really is. So much comedy in film comes from timing and character interpretation on the part of the actors and director. So, I think in the end if you're writing comedy it's about giving a good framework for that comedy to grow out of the production. It's no exact science to be sure.

Yes Bill you have said exactly how I feel thankyou

Remember, British comedy is much different than American comedy. You should always be cautious when accepting criticism, especially when it comes from a completely different demographic. Trust your instincts and choose your demographic wisely, then listen to them and only them.

Comedy is very subjective. I once had a manager tell me she "didn't get" comedy and didn't think she could sell it (I'd sent her a comedy to read). My personal comedic style is finding hilarity in tragedy or in the ridiculous, dry humor, sarcasm. I make jokes about things no one should joke about. Curb Your Enthusiam is one of my favorite shows, I also always loved Flight of the Concords. That's my kind of humor.

Lesley, I think what makes a great comedy is how much people relate to it, like Seinfeld, Frasier, the Office, Friends, all these shows address important and universal themes. A great comedy should also include an element of tragedy or darkness. Best of luck,

Y'know...everyone will have a different point of view comedy-wise. A good way to be comedy-confident is to do some standup, you get a feel for what/how things work and don't, but even that is arguably different from comedy on TV/film. Something else to watch out for: feedback saying "it's not funny" can be another way of just saying "no." Arguably, few/nobody will get it until it's proven to work.

Comedy comes in all styles and flavors. You must first learn the screenwriting craft for your intended market, then understand what is viewed as comedic in your that market. Comedy in Bulgaria is entirely different than in the US, UK or Japan...

An Agent told me after reading my first screenplay I had zero talent and should quit wasting my time. He is no longer in the business and I am so I am glad I didn't listen to the moron.

Dan - it takes talent to be a successful agent too - or a Director, an Actor, a DP, a Writer or a whatever. Sounds like he didn't have it.

No. But he did offer me job working at his agency which I said thanks but no thanks.

Dan, probably a wise choice.

Back to the OP's post - comedy does not always translate well from one culture to another.