A HIGHLIGHT FROM THE COMEDY BOOK …
FOUR COMEDY FORMULAS THAT WILL KEEP YOU FUNNY FOREVER …
1. EXAGGERATION
You will learn how to exaggerate to the point of absurdity, until everyone laughs. Not funny enough: “I haven’t gotten any sex for 10 years.”
Funny enough: “Neither me nor my ancestors have gotten any sex since the 12th century.”
Or exaggerate small: “I haven’t gotten any sex since … 4:30.”
2. THE SWITCH
The “Switch” formula teaches mis-direction, twist, selectively omitting important facts — all for the purpose of creating surprise=laughter.
Easy drills teach you to switch the Who, What, Where, When, What, Why, How.
A typical WHO switch: “I just left this woman I’ve been with for twenty years. I finally said, ‘I’ve got to get out of the house, Mom’.”
A typical WHERE switch: “My wife is always vacuuming during the football game. She claims it doesn’t bother anyone else in the stadium.”
“I’m Italian and Jewish, I don’t know whether to be a defendant or a lawyer.”
3. THE COMBINATION
You’ll learn how to create combination jokes like: “I dated a dentist and we hit it off great — he wants to see me again in 3 months.”
4. FLAW IN A SITUATION
you’ll learn how to take known flaws of your comedic character (your flaws, exaggerated) and place them in everyday situations.
Interactive exercises will teach you how to write material based on how your comedic character would screw up normal situations. (A good comedic character can botch opening a door.)
Step One: Pick a flaw (such as ‘procrastination’).
Step Two: Put it in a situation (such as ‘dating’).
Step Three: Exaggerate it until it is absurd: “I didn’t get around to dating Sheila until three months after we were married.”
YOU’LL ALSO LEARN ABOUT …
Your performing options: clubs, workshops and classes, coffee houses, open-mike nights, the sidewalk in front of your house.
The value of workshops in maintaining your learning and “momentum”.
The destructive effects of most ‘Open-Mike Nights’.
The value of ‘safe’ places to perform.
The difference between teachers and ‘critics’ (well-meaning friends, many club-owners, other comedians)
How to apply your comedic character to speeches and meetings.
Applying your comedic character to acting.
The market for standup comedians, both in clubs and as actors for sitcoms.