Chapter one in Comedy Writing Secrets was a basic overview and guide on what comedy is and how to carry comedy through writing, while being successful at it. There are basically two views on comedy and how it is present in the world today. One is that “funny” people are naturally good at it, with some being more “gifted” than others. This book offers up a new theory: that anyone can be funny, there are just a few keys things that can be practiced in their writing to make them good at writing with humor. Basically, this chapter breaks down a few of the important things about what exactly makes things funny. The material of which the jokes are on is very important, but not the only important thing concerning humor. The audience to which the material is presented is a major factor. The audience has to find common ground with the material in order for them to relate to a particular joke being funny. Also, the way the presenter of the material puts the joke out is very important to the success of the joke.
The reading on pages 2-12 in Laughing Matters helped to discern what exactly humor is and why some things are funny and others are not. Laughing and humor is only present in human beings and thus greatly separates us from animals. Humor requires an extra bit of intelligence than just plain old everyday life. Also, this excerpt goes into how comedy isn’t an organized idea, it is composed of many different ideas that are all over the place, there is no one thing that is funny, it is a combination of many different things that makes something humorous. That is what I got from this excerpt, it was a very in-depth analysis of humor and comedy. This selection went much deeper than someone’s everyday idea of comedy.
The last selection set a fine line between comedy and tragedy. Similar situations can mean totally different things in humor. A certain situation could be funny, but when one small thing about it is changed, it can just as easily be a tragic situation. The secrets to comedy are just as random as comedy itself. There is no set formula either, certain things present together just make comedy funny.
I enjoyed this reading. The theory that people are just naturally talented with humor and others just are not funny is the best theory I believe. I thought about it and I just can’t see some people being funny at all. And what makes a person funny cannot be taught, it just has to be innate in their brains upon birth. People cannot “try” to be funny, you either are or you aren’t. I just do not see how it can be a learned behavior. Maybe this class can prove me otherwise. I did find that these two pieces may have analyzed a little bit too much, which was somewhat humorous.
How can humor be taught to a person?
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