Comedy?

[Angeline]

I admit to guilty pleasure in watching Seinfeld reruns on tv lately. It's just so damn funny to me, and I've been thinking it would be lots of fun to write comedy. Hard but fun. I was thinking more about writing short stories, but then I started thinking about poems.

Is it harder to write and be funny than serious and/or tragic? I think it's harder, at least for me. The poets here at Lit that I most admire (Wicked Eve, Annaswirls, Dora, Tzara, Tristesse, Lauren, Liar, Senna Jawa uh it's a long list; I'll stop there) either have written poems that are both good and funny or good and pretty serious. Usually though people here seem to write poems that are either serious or a balance of humor and gravitas, not flat-out comic.

Whaddaya think? I think smithpeter could be deadly funny in his poems but in an absurd, existentialist way. And karmadog wrote a poem here once that really made me laugh, and it was funny and erotic.

Hmmnmm's poems can be really funny. He is good at writing funny, sorta reminds me of smithpeter. Champagne and Judo can do funny.

 

[champagne1982]

You merely think what I write is funny. I'm deadly serious.:caning:

 

[hmmnmm]

I recall a list? About movies? After making mine I saw they were all comedies, and was frankly astounded, because I'd never really given it all a second thought. I'll suppose that's part of the reason I flunked Literotica's serious erotica classes. Just can't do it. But this is not the place for life stories. Except the problem with the funny stuff... nah.

 

[Angeline]

You merely think what I write is funny. I'm deadly serious.:caning:

This from a woman who wrote a ho-ku and boob-ku's?

I recall a list? About movies? After making mine I saw they were all comedies, and was frankly astounded, because I'd never really given it all a second thought. I'll suppose that's part of the reason I flunked Literotica's serious erotica classes. Just can't do it. But this is not the place for life stories. Except the problem with the funny stuff... nah.

I can either write erotica and be silly or so metaphoric you might need a dictionary (like I used "obdurate" in a poem once because I didn't want to just say "hard").

My movie list contains The Godfather and To Kill a Mockingbird, but also Radio Days and True Stories, so I know what you mean.

I wish Judo were around. I'd like to hear her opinion, too. I'm pretty sure she has written lots of comedy scripts, and she's one smart cookie.

 

[CharleyH]

Is it harder to write and be funny than serious and/or tragic?

I'm with you on Seinfeld and just recently discovered The New Adventures of Old Christine with Seinfeld alumnus Julia Dreyfus and Worst Week with Kurtwood Smith. Hilarious! You might enjoy them.

Generally, whether author or poet, I think comedy is harder to write. Hm, how to word ...

I think there are certain people that are just beautifully talented in their ability to look at human nature and life from a different angle than the rest of us. I adore Shereads (a persona in the AH) for her natural talents in that arena. We laugh, I think, more often because what the comic points out to us (or shares with us) are the absurdities or the ridiculousness commonly true in our own experiences. This being said, not all of our experiences are the same and therefore not all of us will react in the same way to the same joke or same comic. Comedy tends to be more, mm, I'll say cultural, but I truly mean something more narrow than that.

Tragedy and romance are more universal experiences, which is why they may be easier to write (not for all, but I'd posit for most).

Great query!

 

[Angeline]

I'm with you on Seinfeld and just recently discovered The New Adventures of Old Christine with Seinfeld alumnus Julia Dreyfus and Worst Week with Kurtwood Smith. Hilarious! You might enjoy them.

Generally, whether author or poet, I think comedy is harder to write. Hm, how to word ...

I think there are certain people that are just beautifully talented in their ability to look at human nature and life from a different angle than the rest of us. I adore Shereads (a persona in the AH) for her natural talents in that arena. We laugh, I think, more often because what the comic points out to us (or shares with us) are the absurdities or the ridiculousness commonly true in our own experiences. This being said, not all of our experiences are the same and therefore not all of us will react in the same way to the same joke or same comic. Comedy tends to be more, mm, I'll say cultural, but I truly mean something more narrow than that.

Tragedy and romance are more universal experiences, which is why they may be easier to write (not for all, but I'd posit for most).

Great query!

Well said (even if you did sort of agree with me lol). I see all the time why Lauren loves you so much. Her poetry can be over the top absurd at times (in a good way--she knows what I mean). And I do love Julia-Louis Dreyfuss. My daughter told me I should watch that and also The Office. Oh, are you familiar with The Birdcage (the Robin Williams/Nathan Lane flick, not Au Cage)? I think that is one of the funniest movies I've ever seen--the writing is just so effin funny.

And someone (actually lots of someones) say there is a thin line between comedy and tragedy, and if you look at examples of gallows humor, you see how true that is.

If anyone knows a good link or two to forums/sites about comedy writing, tell me! I could google it, but people here always know the good places.

 

[cyravance]

I enjoy writing comedy, but you have to be in the mood for it. I went through a phase where I loved writing spoof news stories, but the mood passed, and now I like writing erotic stuff...Here's a link to some of my spoof stuff, if you want to check it out. The site is easy and fun to write for, too, so sign up and give it a shot...

http://www.thespoof.com/profile.cfm?uID=9123

 

[Angeline]

I enjoy writing comedy, but you have to be in the mood for it. I went through a phase where I loved writing spoof news stories, but the mood passed, and now I like writing erotic stuff...Here's a link to some of my spoof stuff, if you want to check it out. The site is easy and fun to write for, too, so sign up and give it a shot...

http://www.thespoof.com/profile.cfm?uID=9123

I will! Thank you very much. (And thank you for your answer, too. I am fascinated by what people think on this topic.)

How's Pennsylvania doing? I lived there for many years (and drove through a whole lot of it over the past few weeks--it was raining and the drivers were as horrible as I remember. But Massholes are definitely the worst!)

 

[cyravance]

PA's not too bad where we are, the NE part. We did get hammered with snow last month. I'm actually dreaming of a move further South to get away from these winters!

 

[hmmnmm]

Remember when National Lampoon did that Sunday Newspaper. Sitting there on the magazine rack with everything else. If you didn't know any better you'd pick it up thinking it was just another newspaper. Humor through and through.

 

[hmmnmm]

A few more thoughts came. But I fear there's danger in overanalyzing or overthinking. Many a time after getting my Literotica Fiction homework back with a big ol' F on it, and nursing sore knuckles because of such things as purple prose or overwriting or implausibility, among many other infractions, I'd crawl into the shell of sulk, and strike out on another inner quest adventure, and when taking up the thingamajig of brutal honesty, and assessing and dividing and all that, it always ended up that the more natural bent was the humorous, but not so overt. So then I say, So how about just doing that then? And I say, Yeah, you're right. Just do that. But then when I go to do that, meaning a sitdown for the express intention of writing somehing 'funny', it refuses to cooperate, like some hand reached down and shut off the faucet. So I wonder if the solutioin is something like go ahead and try to write serious with a straight face, which means an automatic and continual stream of conflict, which create tangential distortions, spatial fuckups, and the like. Yeah. It's tough.

 

[butters]

i readily admire writers who are able to pull off comedy, be it in prose or poetry. Shakey had his wicked bent and the writers of South Park, Two and a Half men, Krod Mandoon, Monty Python, Last of the Summer Wine and other assorted wits all have been responsible for my laughter. It has to be hard, and some just have that special funny bone.

the only time i seem to be able to write anthing remotely 'amusing' is with limericks. for me, the form instantly lends itself to humour. apart from that, i pretty much sucketh donkey balls.

 

[hmmnmm]

We have a few DVDs of the Dean Martin Variety Show, featuring guests like Peter Sellers, Newhart, Jimmy Stewart... the best parts are the mistakes. Johnny Carson was funniest when he failed at being funny. Whatever that all means.

 

[champagne1982]

This from a woman who wrote a ho-ku and boob-ku's?

Did I write a boob-ku? I don't remember (lol it was likely so awful I've blocked it).

I was going to edit my earlier post but I couldn't find the poem, Little Missy Protege... It was sparked by the discussion about little Jonbenet's homicide and how parents live vicariously through the success of their kids.

One other time I delved into cynical satire was when everyone came down on the poor fella who stepped over the (LOL really loud) pobo's incest poems and good taste line. Remember?

Alphabet Seuss

There once was a bowl of alphabet soup
That hung out and posted in a poetry group
Whose words were chock full of meaning and punny
They even were quippish and sometimes, quite funny.

The creatures that were close to the alphabet soup
Lived far removed from the crass durty storeez group
Their weather was always warmish and sunny
A haven from sub-poems and thoughts about money.

A citizen of the darker side the forum,
Made a visit to the high-minded quorum,
And said, "Now look here!"
His mouth tied in a sneer,
"You're literary codswollop.
"I'll be rude to you and call you, Trollop.
"If I so wish,
"I'll even jump in this dish.
"This hot, yummy scoop,
"of alphabet soup."

The poets leapt high.
They jumped through the hoop
Held high aloft
By the alphabet soup
And said, "Hey now! That's not what we're all about.
"Your message is garbled. Please, sir, don't shout.

"We understand that you think we're as naughty
"As you, nasty boy, who thinks Sis is a hotty.
"We've got news for you, you silly brother,
"We're all even worse, 'cos we wanna fuck mother!"

Thus, did this battle of wits rage for days.
The poets were trapped in an incestuous haze.
And the bowl of alphabet soup, you inquire?
Well, the letters were all trampled, into the mire.

Alas! What was left to nourish the muse
When her worshippers sought to demean and confuse?
They'd forgot what it was that tied them up tight
They were mistaken about, what it was, they should fight.

It's not your ideals and dogma we battle
Not even trite comment and idle prattle.
Our enemy has always been right over here
Our enemy is ignorance and yes, we should fear
The grip that it holds tight 'round our throats
Squishing our voice, turning men into goats.

Bleating our cries into the dark night,
Tear off the blinders and see the bright light
Of knowledge as it waits over there in the dish
Of alphabet soup. There's more, if you wish.

 

[hmmnmm]

i readily admire writers who are able to pull off comedy, be it in prose or poetry. Shakey had his wicked bent and the writers of South Park, Two and a Half men, Krod Mandoon, Monty Python, Last of the Summer Wine and other assorted wits all have been responsible for my laughter. It has to be hard, and some just have that special funny bone.

the only time i seem to be able to write anthing remotely 'amusing' is with lyrics. for me, the form instantly lends itself to humour. apart from that, i pretty much sucketh donkey balls.

Can't think any sitcoms since Seinfeld that do much for me, but Seinfeld will still be watchable twenty-thirty years from now, I think.

God I hate those South Park guys.
Genius, pure genius, South Park.
They claimed quite a lot of territory.
Anyone who seeks to do something near comparable has their work cut out for them.

 

[Angeline]

PA's not too bad where we are, the NE part. We did get hammered with snow last month. I'm actually dreaming of a move further South to get away from these winters!

My sweetheart and I are actually in the process of moving south now, from northern Maine to western North Carolina. I think I will be supremely happy next winter.

Remember when National Lampoon did that Sunday Newspaper. Sitting there on the magazine rack with everything else. If you didn't know any better you'd pick it up thinking it was just another newspaper. Humor through and through.

Yes I do! And for years I had a copy of the National Lampoon High School Yearbook, which I didn't even think about until you mentioned the Sunday paper. Dacron, Ohio as I recall lol. That yearbook made me pee myself laughing. I will admit it here.

A few more thoughts came. But I fear there's danger in overanalyzing or overthinking. Many a time after getting my Literotica Fiction homework back with a big ol' F on it, and nursing sore knuckles because of such things as purple prose or overwriting or implausibility, among many other infractions, I'd crawl into the shell of sulk, and strike out on another inner quest adventure, and when taking up the thingamajig of brutal honesty, and assessing and dividing and all that, it always ended up that the more natural bent was the humorous, but not so overt. So then I say, So how about just doing that then? And I say, Yeah, you're right. Just do that. But then when I go to do that, meaning a sitdown for the express intention of writing somehing 'funny', it refuses to cooperate, like some hand reached down and shut off the faucet. So I wonder if the solutioin is something like go ahead and try to write serious with a straight face, which means an automatic and continual stream of conflict, which create tangential distortions, spatial fuckups, and the like. Yeah. It's tough.

I don't think we have quite the same process lol. I cannot write funny unless I try, or unless my natural sarcasm and cynicism start seeping through. Maybe. And my natural state is so darn earnest and sincere, what I need to work most on in my poems is not to start moralizing.

i readily admire writers who are able to pull off comedy, be it in prose or poetry. Shakey had his wicked bent and the writers of South Park, Two and a Half men, Krod Mandoon, Monty Python, Last of the Summer Wine and other assorted wits all have been responsible for my laughter. It has to be hard, and some just have that special funny bone.

the only time i seem to be able to write anthing remotely 'amusing' is with limericks. for me, the form instantly lends itself to humour. apart from that, i pretty much sucketh donkey balls.

Should we have a comedy challenge? I think it would be difficult, especially if you couldn't write about just anything. For example, given a situation (I dunno, maybe a nun and a plumber stuck in an elevator, er lift to you. ). Take that situation and write a funny poem about it--that would be tough for me, prolly not just me.

Did I write a boob-ku? I don't remember (lol it was likely so awful I've blocked it).

I was going to edit my earlier post but I couldn't find the poem, Little Missy Protege... It was sparked by the discussion about little Jonbenet's homicide and how parents live vicariously through the success of their kids.

One other time I delved into cynical satire was when everyone came down on the poor fella who stepped over the (LOL really loud) pobo's incest poems and good taste line. Remember?

Alphabet Seuss

There once was a bowl of alphabet soup
That hung out and posted in a poetry group
Whose words were chock full of meaning and punny
They even were quippish and sometimes, quite funny.

The creatures that were close to the alphabet soup
Lived far removed from the crass durty storeez group
Their weather was always warmish and sunny
A haven from sub-poems and thoughts about money.

A citizen of the darker side the forum,
Made a visit to the high-minded quorum,
And said, "Now look here!"
His mouth tied in a sneer,
"You're literary codswollop.
"I'll be rude to you and call you, Trollop.
"If I so wish,
"I'll even jump in this dish.
"This hot, yummy scoop,
"of alphabet soup."

The poets leapt high.
They jumped through the hoop
Held high aloft
By the alphabet soup
And said, "Hey now! That's not what we're all about.
"Your message is garbled. Please, sir, don't shout.

"We understand that you think we're as naughty
"As you, nasty boy, who thinks Sis is a hotty.
"We've got news for you, you silly brother,
"We're all even worse, 'cos we wanna fuck mother!"

Thus, did this battle of wits rage for days.
The poets were trapped in an incestuous haze.
And the bowl of alphabet soup, you inquire?
Well, the letters were all trampled, into the mire.

Alas! What was left to nourish the muse
When her worshippers sought to demean and confuse?
They'd forgot what it was that tied them up tight
They were mistaken about, what it was, they should fight.

It's not your ideals and dogma we battle
Not even trite comment and idle prattle.
Our enemy has always been right over here
Our enemy is ignorance and yes, we should fear
The grip that it holds tight 'round our throats
Squishing our voice, turning men into goats.

Bleating our cries into the dark night,
Tear off the blinders and see the bright light
Of knowledge as it waits over there in the dish
Of alphabet soup. There's more, if you wish.

Lol, I can't remember who this is about, but I can think of a few candidates. Remember Scotty and his "wonton woman"?

You sound like you are channeling a mix of Seuss, Silverstein and Jack Prelutesky. I like it AND I laughed.

 

[bflagsst]

I don't know if this is on topic, but a few months ago me and my buddy decided we were going to write and perform in a late 80's, early 90's sitcom. The jokes we wrote were full of that laugh track cheese factor, ala Perfect Strangers. We filmed four 6-8 minutes episodes. I like writing jokes and scenes, the downfall of our program was probably the fact that we were shit actors.

 

[Angeline]

I don't know if this is on topic, but a few months ago me and my buddy decided we were going to write and perform in a late 80's, early 90's sitcom. The jokes we wrote were full of that laugh track cheese factor, ala Perfect Strangers. We filmed four 6-8 minutes episodes. I like writing jokes and scenes, the downfall of our program was probably the fact that we were shit actors.

It's on topic because it seems like it would be fun but difficult, at least to me. And I'd put up with it being difficult because it would make me laugh a lot. (At the risk of sounding like Uncle Albert from Disney's Mary Poppins, I love to laugh.)

I used to be known by my employer for writing a great parody. I'd always get asked to write something for the annual holiday party. I wrote a parody of A Christmas Carol one year that everyone really got into--the president of the company had me write a part for him because it was cool to be in the parody show at the party that year. (Ugh, I made it all his nightmare so I could just write him a few lines at the beginning and end.) And another year I wrote a totally vicious song parody to Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer that everyone in my divison sang with gusto. And yes it was very fun, a whole lot moreso than editing.

 

[EroticOrogeny]

I appreciate humor, but may not be that good at it. A few of my poems have given people laughs, but most of my humor is oral, and generally brief. I'm one of those folks who don't remember jokes to retell (but I recognize them when I hear them again).
I do enjoy some TV comedies and funny movies (Woody Allen is a favorite of mine).
Among other things, I find Alice in Woderland/Through the Looking Glass amusing.

 

[butters]

Should we have a comedy challenge? I think it would be difficult, especially if you couldn't write about just anything. For example, given a situation (I dunno, maybe a nun and a plumber stuck in an elevator, er lift to you. ). Take that situation and write a funny poem about it--that would be tough for me, prolly not just me.

you are an evil woman, Angeline

 

[Angeline]

you are an evil woman, Angeline

People who know me well would agree with you.

It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. And I say that as someone who has been totally humiliated here in the past by being talked into writing things like sonnets about disco zombies. Just so you understand.

 

[butters]

People who know me well would agree with you.

It was just too good an opportunity to pass up. And I say that as someone who has been totally humiliated here in the past by being talked into writing things like sonnets about disco zombies. Just so you understand.

*smirks*

sonnets and disco zombies?

link

 

[Angeline]

*smirks*

sonnets and disco zombies?

link

Hang on. It's somewhere on my hard drive. I'll come back and edit this post and paste it here. (Damn it's a crap piece of writing, too, but I don't really mind).

But stop that smirking!

 

[Angeline]

Hang on. It's somewhere on my hard drive. I'll come back and edit this post and paste it here. (Damn it's a crap piece of writing, too, but I don't really mind).

But stop that smirking!

Sigh. I can't find the zombie one. But I wrote this one for the same challenge:

Back in the day when we were young and lithe
we danced like mad to turn the beat around
spoon up the nose, lucite heels, spandex blithe
now we limp, wheeze, groan--

Hey! Turn down the sound!

What's that up my nose? A lil Vasiline
My left nostril's been fucked since eighty-four
Slow that boogie down, this old disco queen
has hips that don't move so good anymore.

My brickhouse done crumbled like cheap plywood.
I used to be young but now I'm learnin
When you're out late not eating like you should,
your heart and feet will be burnin, burnin

Damn I used to be one glittering fox.
Whadja say sonny? Oh. Make mine Maalox.

 

[PandoraGlitters]

Great topic, Ange. Here's another moustache poem (better than mine in dirty 30 I think).