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Introduction
The Difference Between Being Funny With
Your Mates And Writing Jokes For A Living
‘Who here is funny with their mates?’ I always ask my new classes.
A few people always sheepishly put their hand up.
‘Don’t be shy,’ I say. ‘Because if you’re funny with your mates you can transfer
that skill to doing it for a living. You really can.’
People start to look very pleased at this point.
‘BUT,’ I warn them, ‘you’re going to have to put some work in.’
One of the biggest challenges I face as a joke writing tutor is that people want to
write jokes without putting in any effort because that’s how it feels when they
are being funny with their mates.
I would argue that when you’re with mates you are actually working quite hard
without realising it. It seems easy because you’re relaxed, you’re confident,
you’re going over a well worn subject you know and love. The general chit chat
of the group gives you numerous potential set-up lines to play off, and even
though you’re thinking really hard in order to do that, you’re enjoying it so much
that you don’t even notice how furiously your brain is working and how totally
focused you are.
Now think of someone on a popular comedy show. Say Frankie Boyle when he
was on Mock the Week. It looks like he’s just sitting there riffing with rest of the
panellists just like you do when you’re with your mates but in fact he’s been out
the night before at a couple of gigs trying out this material in advance. In fact
you can still listen to his podcasts of live recordings of him previewing the
material in preparation for the show
i
. His big skill is that he makes it appear
relaxed, spontaneous and conversational. It’s deliberately made to look as casual
as when you are being funny with your mates.
So how can you be as funny as Frankie Boyle or the writers on Mock the Week?
Many people tell me that they find it difficult when they try to write jokes on
their own. They tell me they’ve always wanted to be a comedy writer but when
they finally have time to get on with it, they don’t know what to do. They
become anxious about whether they’re really funny, and start making cups of
tea, which turns into lunch, then they’re on the phone to old friends and then
they get out a comedy DVD (to give them inspiration!) but it just means they
end up slumped in front of the telly and lack the will to try writing again. They
don’t need to tell me all this. I’ve done it myself. We all have.
This book is here to help you. For example, if you want to write jokes about the
latest celebrity scandal, to write that subject down on a piece of paper, and look
at it hoping for something to come, is to set yourself too big a target.
At Christmas when you are faced with an enormous turkey, you don’t wonder
how you are going eat it. You carve it up, pull it to pieces, chew it bit by bit,
make a stew out of it the next day, boil the bones for stock and give the giblets to
the dog. That’s what we’re going to do with our subjects: break them down, pull
them apart, mentally chew them over bit by bit and come at it with our comedic
knife (or cutting wit!) from different angles.
This book contains six different practical ways to write jokes, or six different
ways to approach the turkey, plus some theories and advice to help you stay
relaxed and focused just like you are when you’re with your mates. These
methodical writing exercises mimic the natural joke writing ability that most of
us display at some time, and heighten awareness of joke structures. Once you
have mastered the basics you will be able to write jokes about anything.
Because, let’s face it, if you spontaneously think of a gag it’s usually on a subject
that engages you on some level, even if it irritates the hell out of you; in fact
more so because it will be niggling away at your brain cells until they respond
with humour. So the second big difference between being funny with your mates
and writing jokes at home is subject matter. Could your mates in the pub really
write jokes on the latest BP Oil spill or the Japanese economy? That’s where
formal joke writing methods come in, and, believe me, it’s really exciting to
think of great jokes on a dull story and this book will show you how to put the
time in to find them.
Yes, there’s no getting away from that last point. I am going to ask you to do
some work, but you will never have to stare at a blank piece of paper again. You
will have things to do, associations to write out, links to find, angles to come
from. Do this regularly, and you will train the joke writing muscles in your brain
to become like a lean mean chess machine that knows all the moves and can
work out every angle, every scenario, because jokes are there to be found and
right now it’s time to start looking for them.
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