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VIRTUAL HUMOR WRITING CCLASS:Performers do not know how to sit down and create material, number one and number two, they also feel it's not real, it's not organic unless it just happens. So what DOES happen is you've got performers who suddenly get on the phone trying to get material. I have two partners and as writers we write and sell material to Bobby Slaten, Michael Pritchard, Will Durst, Jerry Sobel, Kevin Meany, Jose Simoen, Ron Lucas, on and on and on... What happens is suddenly the Tonight Show calls the comedian up and says, hey, we want to have you on air, we like your act but you know, we can use three minutes of your material but the rest is too dirty to use, you need two more minutes. Then the comedian gets on the phone, "John, can you write some material for me. I've got a gig coming up and I need two or three minutes of material." They simply don't have the luxury of waiting six months to get that material. Writers sit down and write it on demand. Writers write in a week what most comedians take a year to develop. We are going to show you in this class how to sit down and do it on purpose. I love this class. It's great. It will knock your socks off.  What's the difference between a Humorist and a Comedian? Click Here and find our! |
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VIRTUAL COMEDY WRITING COURSE
Back by Popular Demand Whole Series Immediately Available in InnerSanctum The Handouts: August 10, 2010
When Patricia Fripp tells about cleaning out her closet under the direction of image consultant, Diane Parente, Fripp says at one point, "We had two piles - one for me and one for the poor. And then Parente said "Let's not give them to the poor. They have enough problems. They don't need to be badly dressed." I laughed out loud the first time I heard Fripp quote the tag line. And the laugh line is so effectively placed and so well supported by the set-up, that even though I have written for Phyllis Diller in the past, and thus, am more familiar with Diller's material than most people, even I didn't recognize the line as coming from one of Diller's old joke books. So, go ahead and change the story line as needed and then use the following principles to make your humor even more effective. If you are an experience speaker, you will probably recognize these principles as basic rules for more clarity in all communication. 1. Use Conversational Language. We have three different vocabularies: a speaking vocabulary; a writing vocabulary; and a reading vocabulary. One problem with beginning comics, comedy writers, and speakers is the failure to take this into account.
2. Use the RIGHT word. Word selection in important. The difference between the right word and the almost right word is the difference between using "lighting a roach" and "lighting a cockroach." The Handouts: August 17, 2010
Use the RIGHT word Rough: I knew she was a country girl when I married her, but it's embarrassing to go to the beach with a woman in a burlap bathing suit. Polished: I knew she was a country girl when I married her, but it's embarrassing to go to the beach with a woman in a burlap bikini. Sometimes getting the right word is just a matter of updating... Original: A young man was asked what his father did. He replied: "He cleans out the bank." Polished: A 30's something entrepreneur who was born poor and got rich through financial investments was asked how he had managed to afford a college education with his poverty-stricken background. He replied: "I made money one summer by cleaning out an investment bank." "What were you - the janitor or the president?" Sometimes it is the avoidance of an awkward repetition of the same word... Rough: Boy, did this restaurant have lousy coffee. I left without paying for it, but I did write an explanation on the coffee. Polished: Boy, did this restaurant have lousy food. I left without paying for it, but I did write an explanation on the coffee. Use active verbs: ♦ I went to the store. Not: I was going to the store. Delete unnecessary words: Edit, Edit, Edit. When in doubt, throw it out. When you cut four pages down to two but still keep all your laughs, you have made your presentation twice as good.
The Handouts: August 24, 2010
Increase quotes/reduce narrative. (Or, show us what was said, don't tell us!) EXAMPLE Rough: Polished: When writing spoken dialogue keep one important point in mind - Never Divide quotes: ♦ My kid went to camp. "Now, make sure," I said. "To let us know you're all right." Make jokes more vivid: Always try to create life like images in the audience's mind. You can make your jokes more vivid by: A. Specifying OKAY: This quarterback walks into a bar . . . BETTER: Steve Young walks into a bar. B. Personalizing OKAY: This man and his girlfriend had an interesting argument the other night. He said she started all the arguments, and she said he did. BETTER: My girlfriend and I had an interesting argument the other night. I said she started all arguments, and she said I did. C. Localizing Ineffective: My comedian friend, Tony Depaul had a gig in anchorage Alaska. He had a chunk in his act about the strange people he'd seen in Zim's Restaurant at 2:00 a.m.. His first night performing, he asked his traditional set up question, "How many of you have been to Zim's at 2:00 in the morning?" The bit bombed because there are no Zim's in Alaska and no one knew what he was talking about. Effective: By the second night he had found there was an all-night restaurant called Betty's Diner that was fairly well known so the second night, he asked. "How many of you have been to Betty's Diner at 2:00 a.m.?" Much better response because he had given them a local reference. Put the punch word at the end. (Punch/stinger-No words following!) I used to use the expression put the punchline at the end, but when I heard Mark Mayfield and Scott McKain use the term 'punch word' I realized that was more precise. RERUNS! By Popular Demand the Entire Series Will Be Repeated. INTRODUCTION: August 31, 2010 Trial and error, hack and hue - that is how most comedians create their material. If you are a writer you do not have this luxury. Comedian calls up and asks - did you hear what XXX just said on CNN? Write five jokes on that and fax it to me in an hour. Comedians write by accident, trial and error, at whim which is why most comedians take a year to create 10 minutes of material. Most comedians, roughly speaking, grow at the rate of about 10 minutes a year. At the end of a year, most comedians are at the open mike level. At the end of two years most comedians are at the showcase level and at the end of three years, most comedians are working as an MC/Opener; at the end of four years most comedians are middling (middle act) and at the end of five years most comedians are at the headliner basis. Not always a headliner at the Improv or the Punchline, the bigger clubs, they may be on one of the outer circuits. But that is a rough idea of the growth. And the major reason for this is simply material. Performers do not know how to sit down and create material, number one and number two, they also feel it's not real, it's not organic unless it just happens. So what does happen is you've got performers who suddenly get on the phone trying to get material. I have two partners and as writers we write and sell material to Bobby Slaten, Michael Pritchard, Will Durst, Jerry Sobel, Kevin Meany, Jose Simoen, Ron Lucas, on and on and on... What happens is suddenly the Tonight Show calls them up and says, hey, we want to have you on air. We like your act but you know, we can only use three minutes of your material. The rest is too dirty to use, you need two more minutes. The comedian rushes to the phone, "John, can you write some material for me. I've got a gig coming up and I need two or three minutes of material." You simply don't have the luxury of waiting six months to get that. Writers sit down and write it on demand. Writers write in a week what most comedians take a year to develop. We are going to show you in this class how to sit down and do it on purpose. I love this class. It's great. It will knock your socks off. Next Week: JOHN CANTU
Earlier lessons will be available for one month HERE:
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