Problems!
Concepts are a hard thing to come by.
In the process of struggling to begin my funny story I have discovered that,
while our speaker may have been right that the best things are written in ten minutes,
he was rather vague on WHICH ten minutes, and completely failed to mention the hours of unproductive writing that preceed it.
In an effort to incite the muses to action, I'm trying to find some sources of inspiration. So far the Onion and Mcsweeny's have failed to give me any cool concepts. Any suggestions?
Monday, March 30, 2009
Monday, March 23, 2009
I've been thinking about a couple Ideas for short stories in the past couple of days.
I find the notion of trying to formulate "funny" ideas really daunting. I initially though about doing a short film, but decided I would be more comfortable, ultimately, writing something.
In lieu of actually plotting out of ideas I did some exploritory outlining and writing on the two topics.
I had a couple notions:
The first was about what would happen if people started forgetting how to read. It doesn't immediatly leap out as funny but I started writing some pieces and its has funny bits.
The other thing I was writing about was to do with a student. I found it somewhat trite.
I'm having trouble writing something the sole purpose of which is humor rather than which is incidentally humorous.
I find the notion of trying to formulate "funny" ideas really daunting. I initially though about doing a short film, but decided I would be more comfortable, ultimately, writing something.
In lieu of actually plotting out of ideas I did some exploritory outlining and writing on the two topics.
I had a couple notions:
The first was about what would happen if people started forgetting how to read. It doesn't immediatly leap out as funny but I started writing some pieces and its has funny bits.
The other thing I was writing about was to do with a student. I found it somewhat trite.
I'm having trouble writing something the sole purpose of which is humor rather than which is incidentally humorous.
Friday, March 20, 2009
On Sitcoms
So, I don't know about what sitcoms do to create humor.
I've never found them very funny. If anything I feel like Three and A Half Men and things of that ilk are grating and painful to watch-- like nails on a chalkboard, but for your eyes as well as your ears.
Anyway, there are definately some recurring motifs in sticom's I noticed.
1) The laugh track/audience, always laughs uproriously at the slightest provocation to inform the viewer that "YOUR SUPPOSED TO LAUGH NOW!"
2) People converse in witty and often stilted banter instead of normal conversation. This banter is often vaguley suggestive, is always very simple and accessible, even though characters who partake of it do not always understand the jokes.
3) For whatever reason the funny characters in the show tell jokes, but no one ever laughs at them except the audience. This is particularly true for the Chandler character on friends who is supposed to be the funny one yet his friends apparantly cannot even hear his sarcastic remarks and certainly dont laugh at him.
4) Sitcoms love pregnant pauses during which time characters look meaningfully or askance at eachother. This is another way they inform the viewer that something funny is happening.
I've never found them very funny. If anything I feel like Three and A Half Men and things of that ilk are grating and painful to watch-- like nails on a chalkboard, but for your eyes as well as your ears.
Anyway, there are definately some recurring motifs in sticom's I noticed.
1) The laugh track/audience, always laughs uproriously at the slightest provocation to inform the viewer that "YOUR SUPPOSED TO LAUGH NOW!"
2) People converse in witty and often stilted banter instead of normal conversation. This banter is often vaguley suggestive, is always very simple and accessible, even though characters who partake of it do not always understand the jokes.
3) For whatever reason the funny characters in the show tell jokes, but no one ever laughs at them except the audience. This is particularly true for the Chandler character on friends who is supposed to be the funny one yet his friends apparantly cannot even hear his sarcastic remarks and certainly dont laugh at him.
4) Sitcoms love pregnant pauses during which time characters look meaningfully or askance at eachother. This is another way they inform the viewer that something funny is happening.
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Humor Idea
So I'm thinking I'll probably end up doing a short story of some kind.
The details of it escape me.
I had this idea for a parody of a movie advertisment where The captions that were Dramatically narrarated were not fitting with what was on the screen. For isntance the raspy anouncer voice might say "This summer, get ready for more excitment" while the screen might display something more mundane. Etc... It doesn't translate written.
Anyway. I'd either do that or some kind of short story.
Depending on my mood and whether I feel up to Final Cut Pro-ing,
which I hate doing because my computer loves to crash at critical moments while its running.
And now I digress.
And digress further.
Still digressing.
Best!
The details of it escape me.
I had this idea for a parody of a movie advertisment where The captions that were Dramatically narrarated were not fitting with what was on the screen. For isntance the raspy anouncer voice might say "This summer, get ready for more excitment" while the screen might display something more mundane. Etc... It doesn't translate written.
Anyway. I'd either do that or some kind of short story.
Depending on my mood and whether I feel up to Final Cut Pro-ing,
which I hate doing because my computer loves to crash at critical moments while its running.
And now I digress.
And digress further.
Still digressing.
Best!
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Expanded Outline
Topic: A great deal of today's humorists employ a method of delivery that inoperates, to varrying degrees, an unmodulated (or aytpically modulated) tone of voice, a sort of nervous, deadpan, or otherwise naturalistic stage presence, and humor which delves more into absurdity of everyday life or skewed perceptions of mundane objects or events. It could be said that these trends were always extant in the realm of humor, and, to be sure, this is probably true. Therefore, while it may be unfair to say he was the progenitor of all these things, it is certainly true that he brought them all together in a winning combination that has been recycled and re-used, to varying degrees, by a number of the most famous american comedians from will ferrel to jon stewart. Mitch Hedberg might not be the father of 21st century comedy, but he was certainly its firstborn son. With mannerisms, a persona, and style all his own Mitch Hedberg, in his own way, revolutionized standup comedy. Praised, at his death in 2005, by entertainment weekly as "Comedy's Kurt Cobain," Mitch Hedberg was, if nothing else, a true innovator and a peerless comic.
What made him, and those who followed his examples, such savvy entertainers?
Yes the jokes were funny, yes his timing was good, but beyond these technical aspects there is another quality he displayed, quite plainly. That Quality is vulnerability. On stage he was as uncomfortable as you or I might be. His jokes, though light hearted, carried a tone of sadness. And of course there were the dark rumors about his heroine addiction. All these things lend a sense of vulnerability and humanity to him. They make him relatable and transform his joke from mere comedy to commentary o the human condition. This is not to say that he is wholly responsible for this human-comic, but it is distinct from previous trends of comics as mere joke tellers. It adds a compelling added dimension to a performance. IN my paper I will explore, and seek to prove, that certain types of comedy are appealing, not just for their jokes, but also for the insight into the human condition and catharsis that laughing at these follies offers. Finally, I wil seek to assert that, Mitch Hedberg’s work helped to establish this new comedic trend.
Similar Comedians
Dimitri Martin
Robin Williams (earlier)
Flight of the Conchords
Ricky Gervais
Previous trends, chatagorized by an emphasis on Jokes rather than on the Joke Teller.
Clownery- Charley Chaplin
Satire (Irony and Wry Commentary)- Jon Stewart, the onion
Slapstik/Gimmicky- Monty Python
What made him, and those who followed his examples, such savvy entertainers?
Yes the jokes were funny, yes his timing was good, but beyond these technical aspects there is another quality he displayed, quite plainly. That Quality is vulnerability. On stage he was as uncomfortable as you or I might be. His jokes, though light hearted, carried a tone of sadness. And of course there were the dark rumors about his heroine addiction. All these things lend a sense of vulnerability and humanity to him. They make him relatable and transform his joke from mere comedy to commentary o the human condition. This is not to say that he is wholly responsible for this human-comic, but it is distinct from previous trends of comics as mere joke tellers. It adds a compelling added dimension to a performance. IN my paper I will explore, and seek to prove, that certain types of comedy are appealing, not just for their jokes, but also for the insight into the human condition and catharsis that laughing at these follies offers. Finally, I wil seek to assert that, Mitch Hedberg’s work helped to establish this new comedic trend.
Similar Comedians
Dimitri Martin
Robin Williams (earlier)
Flight of the Conchords
Ricky Gervais
Previous trends, chatagorized by an emphasis on Jokes rather than on the Joke Teller.
Clownery- Charley Chaplin
Satire (Irony and Wry Commentary)- Jon Stewart, the onion
Slapstik/Gimmicky- Monty Python
Monday, March 2, 2009
Humorous? I hope So! That guy was totally right. It is utterly impossible to be funny on command.
I've been straining at it for the better part of the day. I formed a research team comprised of the best minds the world had to offer,
we logged a total of 100 man hours observing various instances of this so called 'humor.' We created all manner of data-studies, pie-charts, and ven diagrams. We compiled a cross referenced database of all our sources and empirical data, took every measure we could to achieve perfect accuracy. Meanwhile, a cohort of chemists, working in a multi-million dollar labratory complex, endeavored to distill the essence of humor from a pile of Tom Swift novels and a copy of 'Animal House.' The final members of our research initiative, expert biologists all, vivisected the five best jokes in the world, endeavoring to probe their anatomies and see what made them work. Unfortunately, none of the jokes survived this procedure. At the end of the expirament we were forced to admit defeat, both because it had become clear that humor was neither objectively quantifiable or possible to synthesize through sheer force of will, and because we had gone well over budget and now owed several significant debts to a cadre of shady Scientific Research Fellowships, who had sent men of questionable character and prodigious size to 'convince us' (through cunning argumentation and hitting us very hard) to pay back all our grant money.
I do hope you will, therefore, excuse the fact, that I have been unable to write for you a funny story. Clearly, such a thing is not only scientifically impossible, but potentially dangerous to attempt.
I've been straining at it for the better part of the day. I formed a research team comprised of the best minds the world had to offer,
we logged a total of 100 man hours observing various instances of this so called 'humor.' We created all manner of data-studies, pie-charts, and ven diagrams. We compiled a cross referenced database of all our sources and empirical data, took every measure we could to achieve perfect accuracy. Meanwhile, a cohort of chemists, working in a multi-million dollar labratory complex, endeavored to distill the essence of humor from a pile of Tom Swift novels and a copy of 'Animal House.' The final members of our research initiative, expert biologists all, vivisected the five best jokes in the world, endeavoring to probe their anatomies and see what made them work. Unfortunately, none of the jokes survived this procedure. At the end of the expirament we were forced to admit defeat, both because it had become clear that humor was neither objectively quantifiable or possible to synthesize through sheer force of will, and because we had gone well over budget and now owed several significant debts to a cadre of shady Scientific Research Fellowships, who had sent men of questionable character and prodigious size to 'convince us' (through cunning argumentation and hitting us very hard) to pay back all our grant money.
I do hope you will, therefore, excuse the fact, that I have been unable to write for you a funny story. Clearly, such a thing is not only scientifically impossible, but potentially dangerous to attempt.
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