Comedy Writing Toolbox: "Three Steps" to Success
Writing comedy is a "very simple" three-step process. If I can do it, so can you.
I think a lot about comedy writing. That might be fairly obvious and only needs to be stated for people who are new here or those who haven’t been paying attention. It’s one of the main things I discuss here in my writing. My podcast started (and continues) as a way for me to talk to other comedians about their writing process, and join in on the fun.
“Fun” is the key word. I try to latch on to the fun in the creative process instead of banging my head against a table in frustration. Sometimes, that’s easier said than done. Making the process a collaborative effort has always helped me focus on the fun.
So I might as well write about it too.
Part of my writing process is always analyzing my writing process. It can be a vicious cycle where I spend more time thinking about writing than actually writing. I think a lot of “writers” do this. If you poke around on Substack, many publications are about writing instead of just writing.
But I do see the benefit of documenting my writing process and tools here. It’s a way to start a conversation with readers, attract new readers (and listeners; this is also a podcast), and remind myself of the tools I use when I need them.
So, I’m going to take all my little notes, reminders, tips, and tricks and turn them into posts here. This is for my own future reference and for anybody out there who might want to know about my comedy writing process or pick up some tools that could work for them as well.
So, here’s the good news: as I see it, writing comedy comes down to a three-step process.
The bad news? Are you sure you want the bad news?
The bad news is that each of those three steps has about a zillion potential steps, pathways, questions to figure out, and ways to doubt yourself within them. Infinite timelines, baby! And only one leads to creating a “perfect” joke. OK, more good news, that’s a lie! Many ways lead to great jokes, and no joke is perfect.
I guess there’s even more good news: any one of those zillion potential steps, pathways, questions, and ways to doubt yourself can be discussed in a piece here. So I’ll have a lot of things to write about. But, for now, let me break down what I see as the “three steps” to writing comedy.
Step One: Generate
Step Two: Understand
Step Three: Create
There. We’re done here.
Oh, you want me to explain more? OK. Here.
Step One: Generate
“Where do your ideas come from?” This is a classic question asked to many comedians and other creators. Step one in my “simple, three-step process” is recognizing ideas, topics, premises, and subjects you’d like to discuss in your comedy. My comedy? Should I write like I’m talking to you or myself? I’m really talking to both of us. Our comedy?
Anyways, generating ideas is the first step on our way to creating comedy.
Sometimes, an idea that is seemingly fully formed will come to me. The joke will be complete and ready to do on stage. I hope this happens to you, too. Because it is great. I used to think this was just some moment of divine inspiration but I realized after years of doing comedy that most likely, it’s something that I have already spent a lot of time thinking about, either in the front or back of my brain. It could have been inspired by a conversation I had with someone days ago and already forgot about, an article I read, or something somewhere that kickstarted that thought that eventually turned into a fully formed idea.
My goal is to recreate that process on purpose to manufacture those moments of “divine inspiration.”
When I taught a comedy writing class (yes, I used to teach a comedy writing class) the first thing I told students in the class was to get a notebook. I still believe in the “pen and paper” notebook although I also use a notepad app on my phone. For many reasons, I go back and forth from one note-capturing tool to another. The phone is often quicker, but I find that writing by hand allows my brain to process ideas at a speed that works better for creating. You’ll want to have a “notebook” to keep your ideas, capture your thoughts, and organize your bullshit for later.
The next best thing is something that strikes you as “funny.” You see something or say something or think about something that’s basically “oh, that’s funny” or “oh, that’s weird.” Great. Write that shit down. Work on it later. That’s one of the next two steps.
Other times you’ll have to work on generating topics you want to write about. You can try tons of writing exercises and lists and all kinds of tricks to help generate ideas. We’ll get to them in other pieces. This is just an intro.
Step Two: Understand
Once I’ve generated an idea, I try to understand it. I try to figure out why I want to talk about this *thing* why I think an audience might want to hear it, what I think is funny about it, and what the best way to convey that to an audience might be. I think about what I’m telling an audience about myself when I tell this joke — about what I want to say and what I want to avoid saying (on purpose or by accident.) If there’s something I want to avoid saying I’ll ask myself “Why?” and then wonder if that’s what I actually should be saying because it could be the most raw, funny, and true option of all. I think about what an audience might need to know to be on board with the premise. I think about a lot of stuff. I ask myself “Why?” a lot! I go down a neverending hole of asking “Why?” to get to bizarre places. Because that’s where the fun comedy lives.
I really try to fully understand the idea, myself, how it fits my voice and my act, and how I can move forward. This kind of stuff might not be for everybody. You might not care about this part at all. You might only care about how you can be funny, and I guess that’s fine. But this is my own comedy writing toolbox, so I’m telling you what I think works for me.
Sometimes I’ll be watching a comedian on stage and they’ll be funny, and I’ll be laughing, but somewhere inside I think “So what.” Like, they’re making me laugh but there’s nothing else behind it. I’m not learning anything about the person, or their point of view, or thinking about the world in a new way — and it’s also not absurdist weirdo stuff, I like that too, there is artistry and fun in that — it’s just somebody who seems to be going through the motions of stand-up comedy. They’ve figured out how to do it like a robot. I guess that’s fine and works for some people, but not me. It’s not my favorite type of comedy to watch and it’s not the type of comedian I want to be. That’s why I take so long in Step Two to understand the idea before I move forward.
Step Three: Create
Oh, baby, now we are cooking.
We have our idea and we know all about it. Now we just have to write it. If you took your time step two a lot of the work is most likely complete. Once I feel like I understand an idea and my relation to the idea most of the process is done, I just need to put it into the final format.
I guess there’s not much else to say here in my introduction piece. But there are a lot of different tools I use to help do this. Like I said before, each can (and will, eventually) be a stand-alone article here.
