There are several reasons I love comedy. Laughter prohibits grumbling, complaining, and physical assault. You can’t easily do harm while belly laughing. In between rounds, boxing coaches NEVER tell their fighters, “A priest, a rabbi, and a duck walked into a bar…”
Comedy is a shortcut to thoughtfulness. Ideas are complex things that require mental effort to understand. Thinking is hard work, so most people rarely do it. A joke is wisdom in its simplest form. Humor puts thoughts into the heads of people who never think, and they’re not angry about it.
Laughter makes stubborn people less resistant to learning. There is a certain type of character who is insulted by new ideas. Introducing them to new information is a painful reminder that they don’t know everything. A clever bit of comedy lets them avoid admitting ignorance. Laughing at the joke proves they “get it” without confessing they’ve just learned it.
Effective communication is the most important skill a human can develop. Words are the primary method of moving ideas from my brain into yours. Words are literally magic. A joke is a series of invisible words that convey an intangible idea which causes a tangible, physical response. Sorcery of the purest kind. This mystical power is available to everybody, but very few people care to learn it.
I’m writing for those few.
Along with my regular blog (which you’re reading now), I’m going to be writing a brand new blog focused exclusively on the craft of creating humor.
This is a new Substack series in which I’ll belabor the process of creating comedy for the tiny group of interested individuals. I’ll drone about the philosophy of humor. I’ll go into intricate detail about structures, methods, mechanisms, and myriad other topics that will cause the majority of readers to say, “Hey! This isn’t funny! I thought you were supposed to be a comedian!”
I’m calling this series “Comedy Round Table.” It’s likely going to be a scattered affair since inspiration often seems random. The ad-hoc nature of comedy writing is daunting when you’re used to spreadsheets and nested outlines. Humor requires leaving the safety of established processes and wandering off the beaten path.
If you’d like to come along, subscribe!
One Response
What a great opener. “Laughter prohibits grumbling, complaining, and physical assault. You can’t easily do harm while belly laughing.” And there you have it, folks. We need to laugh more. It’s really good for us. It does ‘good like a medicine’.