Comedy Writing Self-Taught Workbook. Gene Perret
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Exercise 63: Talk Spot
Exercise 64: Become Your Mentor
Exercise 65: Make It Tighter
Exercise 66: Make It Tighter Still
Part Four: Sketch Writing
Exercise 67: Where Did It Come From?
Exercise 68: That’s Where It Came From
Exercise 69: My Life Is Made Up of Sketches
Exercise 70: At the Movies
Exercise 71: And the Story Goes
Exercise 72: Classic Jokes
Exercise 73: Words of Wisdom
Exercise 74: That Really Bugs Me
Exercise 75: Develop One
Exercise 76: Hog-Tied Guests
Exercise 77: Book Your Guests
Exercise 78: Bigger Than Life
Exercise 79: Boob Tube
Exercise 80: Commercial Writing
Exercise 81: There’s More to It Than That
Exercise 82: Oh That’s Good
Exercise 83: The Road Runner Sketch
Exercise 84: The Silent Sketch
Exercise 85: Words, Words, Words
Exercise 86: All Good Things Must Come to an End
Exercise 87: Curtain and Applause
Part Five: Sitcom Writing
Exercise 88: Pop Quiz
Exercise 89: Open-Book Test
Exercise 90: Who Says What?
Exercise 91: What Could Possibly Happen?
Exercise 92: Same with Sitcoms
Exercise 93: Get Your Story Straight
Exercise 94: Get Your Story Changed
Exercise 95: Get Your Story Straight—Again
Exercise 96: Another Questionnaire
Exercise 97: Add Some Funny
Exercise 98: Keep That Story Moving
Exercise 99: Put Another Bump in the Road
Exercise 100: On the Set
Exercise 101: Make It Shorter
Exercise 102: Write the “Bible”
Exercise 103: Write Your Own “Bible”
Exercise 104: Turn the Tables on Your Characters
Exercise 105: It Can’t Get Any Worse
Exercise 106: What’d You Say?
Exercise 107: Switch
Exercise 108: A Good Old Story
Exercise 109: A Good Joke
Exercise 110: A Good Old Cliché
Exercise 111: That Really Irks Me
Exercise 112: Finished Project
Exercise 113: “A Martian Wouldn’t Say That”
Exercise 114: “A Different Martian Wouldn’t Say That, Either”
Exercise 115: Just Do It
There are no shortcuts to success. After I won America’s Got Talent in 2007, people kept describing me as an overnight success while conveniently forgetting to mention I had spent over twenty years on the road working on my ventriloquism, singing and comedy.
But trust me, I wasn’t born throwing my voice. It’s an ability I developed, but it took a long time. Luckily I had a master to learn from and a book he had written—it was Paul Winchell’s Ventriloquism for Fun and Profit. When I was ten years old I checked it out of the library and started learning about ventriloquism. So thanks to Paul I became a ventriloquist. But that’s only half the story. As I worked on my act I noticed that having the skill to throw your voice is one thing; having something funny to say is another. Luckily I found another book. I know what you’re thinking—someone in show business actually read two books! But it’s true. It was by Gene Perret and it was called Comedy Writing Step By Step. I started doing the exercises, learning from the master, and added comedy to my act.
Bottom line—I’m a headliner at the Mirage because I could rely on the two best teachers in the world in Paul and Gene. And Gene is still teaching. He and his daughter Linda, who is one of my writers, have come up with the one definitive guide comedy writers need, the book you’re holding in your hands or reading on your Kindle, Comedy Writing Self-Taught Workbook: More than 100 Practical Writing Exercises to Develop Your Comedy Writing Skills.
This is the book you need if you are a good comedy writer who wants to get better, a novice who wants to begin, or even an established performer who wants to learn from the best. Trust me, even though I’ve got a show at the Mirage, I’ll be using this as a guide to improve my act and make it better and funnier.
So I hope you enjoy the book and the Perrets’ brilliance as much as I do. Now start reading and keep writing!
—Terry Fator
Writers write. That’s what we do. As comedy writers, we generate funny material and receive a paycheck in return. It’s a great system. And it’s what makes us professionals. But like the skills of any pro, those needed to earn that paycheck have to be honed, sharpened, and perfected. Even then, once you develop those skills, you must keep them in shape. All that comes about by writing.
That’s the purpose of this book—to present exercises that you can use to keep your comedy muscles toned and, who knows, maybe even develop a few that you didn’t know you had.
Good comedy should appear spontaneous and natural—but don’t be deceived. Comedy writing is hard work. It would be terrific if you could spend an afternoon reading this book and then magically become a great professional writer. It just doesn’t happen that way, darn it. You have to devote time and effort to it. You have to work at it.
The exercises in this book are challenging. They’re designed to be. As they say in the world of physical exercise, “No pain; no gain.” We want you to huff and puff a little bit. We want to get you out of your comfort zone. Because “out of your comfort zone” is where you develop new skills. And the more you work at these unfamiliar techniques, the easier they become to you.
Comedy writing is fun, but it has its headaches at times. As a professional writer, you will be asked to supply material quickly, on topics you may not be familiar with and sometimes under less than desirable circumstances. Now is the time to prepare for that sort of pressure. After completing the exercises in this book, you’ll be ready to face these situations. You’ve already conquered the tough challenges here, so you know you can do it.
A pro golfer