The Art of Comedy WritingJust as a distinctive literary voice or style is marked by the ease with which it can be parodied, so too can specific aspects of humor be unique. Playwrights, television writers, novelists, cartoonists, and film scriptwriters use many special technical devices to create humor. Just as dramatic writers and novelists use specific devices to craft their work, creators of humorous materials—from the ancient Greeks to today’s stand-up comics—have continued to use certain techniques in order to generate humor. In The Art of Comedy Writing, Arthur Asa Berger argues that there are a relatively limited number of techniques—forty-five in all—that humorists employ. Elaborating upon his prior, in-depth study of humor, An Anatomy of Humor, in which Berger provides a content analysis of humor in all forms—joke books, plays, comic books, novels, short stories, comic verse, and essays—The Art of Comedy Writing goes further. Berger groups each technique into four basic categories: humor involving identity such as burlesque, caricature, mimicry, and stereotype; humor involving logic such as analogy, comparison, and reversal; humor involving language such as puns, wordplay, sarcasm, and satire; and finally, chase, slapstick, and speed, or humor involving action. Berger claims that if you want to know how writers or comedians create humor study and analysis of their humorous works can be immensely insightful. This book is a unique analytical offering for those interested in humor. It provides writers and critics with a sizable repertoire of techniques for use in their own future comic creations. As such, this book will be of interest to people inspired by humor and the creative process—professionals in the comedy field and students of creative writing, comedy, literary humor, communications, broadcast/media, and the humanities. |
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Page v
... : The School for Scandal 5. The Devices of Absurdity: The Bald Soprano 6. Beyond Devices Bibliography Name Index Subject Index vii ix 51 65 83 97 111 119 123 125 Preface This little book is not designed to take the Contents.
... : The School for Scandal 5. The Devices of Absurdity: The Bald Soprano 6. Beyond Devices Bibliography Name Index Subject Index vii ix 51 65 83 97 111 119 123 125 Preface This little book is not designed to take the Contents.
Page viii
... absurdities of life, if you don't have a comic sensibility—I don't think this book will help you learn how to write good comedy or analyze humor very well. But if you do have a sense of the ridiculous, you can learn how some of the ...
... absurdities of life, if you don't have a comic sensibility—I don't think this book will help you learn how to write good comedy or analyze humor very well. But if you do have a sense of the ridiculous, you can learn how some of the ...
Page 3
... Absurdity Before/After Chase Bombast Accident Burlesque Slapstick Definition Analogy Caricature Speed Exaggeration Catalogue Eccentricity Facetiousness Coincidence Embarrassment Insults Comparison Exposure Infantilism Disappointment ...
... Absurdity Before/After Chase Bombast Accident Burlesque Slapstick Definition Analogy Caricature Speed Exaggeration Catalogue Eccentricity Facetiousness Coincidence Embarrassment Insults Comparison Exposure Infantilism Disappointment ...
Page 5
... Absurdity 16. Embarrassment 31. Parody 2. Accident 17. Exaggeration 32. Puns 3. Allusion 18. Exposure 33. Repartee 4. Analogy 19. Facetiousness 34. Repetition 5. Before/After 20. Grotesque 35. Reversal 6. Bombast 21. Ignorance 36 ...
... Absurdity 16. Embarrassment 31. Parody 2. Accident 17. Exaggeration 32. Puns 3. Allusion 18. Exposure 33. Repartee 4. Analogy 19. Facetiousness 34. Repetition 5. Before/After 20. Grotesque 35. Reversal 6. Bombast 21. Ignorance 36 ...
Page 6
... absurdity as a technique of humor. I see a difference between absurdity and infantilism, which I see as involving sounds of words and which sometimes is used to help generate absurdity. 2. Accident (logic) Accidents involve things like ...
... absurdity as a technique of humor. I see a difference between absurdity and infantilism, which I see as involving sounds of words and which sometimes is used to help generate absurdity. 2. Accident (logic) Accidents involve things like ...
Contents
1 | |
Miles Gloriosus | 51 |
Twelfth Night | 65 |
The School for Scandal | 83 |
The Bald Soprano | 97 |
Beyond Devices | 111 |
A General Bibliography of Humor | 119 |
Name Index | 123 |
Subject Index | 125 |
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Common terms and phrases
absurdity Alazon ALGERNON Artotrogus audience Bald Soprano Bobby Watson BRACKNELL brother captain CARR cascades of cacas Cecily Cesario characters Charles CLOWN cockatoos create humor dada dada dada discrepant awareness doorbell rings eiron Eugene Ionesco exaggeration example Fabian Falstaff Feste fool forty-five techniques Glycera gossip GWEN Gwendolyn identity ignorance impersonation insults involves Ionesco Jack joke Joseph Surface JOYCE Lady Sneerwell Lady Teazle language laughter letter logic Malvolio Maria married MARTIN Miles Gloriosus mistake Mosca Olivia Orsino Palaestrio parody PERIP Periplectomenus Philocomasium Plautus play playwrights plot pretending PYRGO Pyrgopolinices reveal ridiculous satire says SCEL Sceledrus scene School for Scandal servant Shakespeare Sheridan’s The School Sir Andrew Sir Oliver Sir Toby Sir Topas SMITH social someone stereotypes Stoppard Stoppard’s Travesties style suggest talking techniques of humor tells thee there’s things thou Tristan Tzara Twelfth Night TZARA Unmasking Viola Volpone what’s wife woman wordplay words