First Word

The thing about writing funny scenes (for me) is that I can't force the humor. If you stand there and tell me, "Be funny now," I'll stare at you with one of those blank deer looks. In fact, I would be terrible if someone asked me to write in a group and make it funny. Again, blank, uncomfortable stare on my face and absolutely no idea. Yet throw me in a situation where human behavior takes place at random, and I become the narrator of the place. Better yet, do something annoying, and I don't get annoyed, I just make a string of quips. When I'm writing humorous material, I have to be left alone with my quirky mind to run amok on the page. What truly amazes me is when I start a scene and the material evolves on its own without a direct push from my logical thinking. Here is one of my favorite jokes from the script Beauty School . Let me set the scene, our resident fool Bo is attempting to do a little girl's hair with some funny consequences from his own in...

I now get "fan" mail from people who read my newsletter or other projects. I love that people enjoy what I'm writing and get a big kick out of it. I was talking to a gal the other day that said if my newsletter didn't show up in her in-box every Sunday morning she would be worried ... oh, and disappointed. I hear that all of the time, which says a lot about the power of consistency when marketing your business or product. I also get asked how to write comedically, which is a tough question. So, let's see if I can dissect it some way that makes sense of the nonsensical. Let's start with the basics: sense of humor or more like do you have one ? I know, I know that's off the charts madness to believe that one requires a sense of humor to writing something funny. Mind you, I'm not talking about stand-up comedy. I am talking about writing. Believe it or not those are two entirely different art forms. Although I did have a gal tell me I should do stand-up,...