Comedy writers. (meaning)

[Chowhound]

I was wondering recently. I've been called a funny and witty guy. I don't really have any writing experience under my belt other than 11th grade papers, and my college paper on transistor theory.

I see shows and movies and obviously there are comedy writers for those shows. The thing that kind of jumps out at me is how do they do it?? I find that, for me, funny or witty things usually just come out. It seems like if I have to work for a joke or a funny line, it doesn't seem to work out as well.

Just thinking out loud, or should I say writing out loud.

[harry chickpea]

If you are naturally witty, you might just need to develop your craft. Speed of delivery and pacing are important in comedy, and if you can do that you have a great start. Writing is more just a matter of editing and polishing to bring out the best.

When you are witty, you are catching the moment and utilizing it to build a construct. When working on a comedic routine for a movie or show, often the process is a bunch of writers and directors batting around ideas until a consensus is reached, and then testing those idea in focus groups. I avoid sitcoms because of the standardized pacing and unreality of the delivery mechanism, which both remove the spontaneity which is the part of comedy that you are good at.

IMO, REALLY good comedy sneaks in a purpose or double-meaning or exposition of puffery, and is not just a one-off joke. Once you start thinking along those lines, simple routines like the Monty Python dead parrot sketch take on more meaning and you can begin to see the underlying structure that makes such work funny.