What is Reddit's opinion of How To Write Funny: Your Serious, Step-By-Step Blueprint For Creating Incredibly, Irresistibly, Successfully Hilarious Writing?

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Still not that funny. Just kind of sad. I would say you’re not really using any classic comedic tools here. You’re just describing the way things are instead of using subtext to make things funny.

You can take anything in here though and use it for the basis of a joke. So take you not being able to understand your mom because she yells at you in another language. That is a perfect jumping off point for joke writing. Sit on that and play with it. What does it sound like to you? More than just grunts. Push it WAY farther out. Then push it more. That’s hyperbole. Extremes are funny. “Almost extreme” is not.

Have a read of How To Write Funny. Then break this down into observations and run those observations through a few funny filters to see what pops out.

So my main process is one I took from a book called How To Write Funny, written by the founding editor of The Onion. In the book he describes how most humour is created after passing something (a news story, in the case of The Onion and BS) through what he calls 'funny filters', of which there are 11: irony, character, shock, wordplay, hyperbole, madcap (basically surreal humour), reference, parody, analogy, misplaced focus and meta humour. So what I do is that I get a real headline and see what filter(s) I can apply to it.

I don't always do this - sometimes a headline just comes naturally - but the funny filters are really useful, especially when I'm stuck.

It's also important that the article has some kind of message or opinion (most of the time). So for example - 'Narnia, Wakanda and Endor added to Covid-19 amber list' - I'm using madcap and reference to highlight how the government putting Romania and Bulgaria on the list is pointless. The thing I've always loved about satire is that it allows you to say something without saying it.

Another exercise from the book, one which I really need to do more, is to write stream-of-consciousness for half an hour straight. No thought, just pen to paper. 90% of what you write will be garbage but you occasionally find a nugget of gold that makes the slog worthwhile.

If that video is the style you're going to continue working on, I'd recommend reading this book. It's geared towards written humor, but I'd consider the style of video you linked to be very similar.

I mention my new favorite because no one else has:

How to Write Funny by Scott Dikkers.

Scott was an editor of The Onion (they know a thing or two about being funny). In the book, he really breaks down what makes things funny. It's helped my comedy writing a lot (you're probably having trouble finishing this because you're too busy laughing right?).

One thing I liked is that how he breaks down the different types of humor and provides a lot of examples of each. And it's not just Onion style stuff either. I found the whole book invaluable and have re-read it a bunch.

It won't automatically make you a funny writer, but it offers some great tools and insights into how to generate funny material. Spoiler: it will require writing. Lots of it.

http://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Funny-Step-By-Step-Irresistibly/dp/1499196121

well hey! I've been thinking a lot about this too.

there was a study (don't have the cite, sorry) where subjects wrote funny captions for photos. they then rated the photo captions of the other subjects. as time went on, they got funnier!

There was another study. the biggest factor that predicted humor skill was how much practice that person had making jokes.

there's a scott dikkers book (he was a founding member of the onion) on how to write funny.

https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Funny-Step-Step/dp/1499196121
I have it. it's a great book - not magic, but it gives you a system to think about different kinds of humor, and how to layer them. I think having a mental organization goes a lot way towards collecting good humor.

I think the biggest thing tho is to liberate yourself. It's not your job to entertain people! and ironically, the more you expect that of yourself, the harder it can be to do that. Do the practice to improve your humor, but when it comes time to interact with people, rather than thinking of yourself on stage, just relax and come as you are. in the words of improv guru keith johnstone: Don't do your best. be average. playfulness is more about the relaxed flow between two people, and DISCOVERING what's funny, rather than only saying perfect things.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bz9mo4qW9bc

so, all in all:
gather humor, you like and memorize it

imitate your favorite jokes, write variations

write funny captions for images

be healthy! sleep and exercise will go a long way towards better humor

above all, when the time comes. focus more on relaxing, connecting, and being authentic, rather than being funny. do all the work to internalize the humor, but at game time just let it go.

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bonus: listen to comics being not funny. ESPECIALLY stand up comics. in interviews, or elsewhere. listen to them bomb. they're human! that'll probably take some pressure off your shoulders.

Hi there!

There are PLENTY of places that can help you hone your skills. I'd strongly recommend using Medium to post your work and get into the rhythm of writing.

In terms of wanting to learn The Onion style specifically, check out Scott Dikkers' book. He's The Onion's founder and takes you through a step-by-step process you can use to craft Onion-style headlines. There's also a condensed video of him explaining it on YouTube. https://www.amazon.com/How-Write-Funny-Step-Step/dp/1499196121/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1517194722&sr=8-1

My only comment on that is that The Onion / Clickhole do what they do so well, you don't find many other sites who want to use their style. It's definitely fun to use, but there's a whole world of humor writing out there.

There are also a number of sites you can submit your work to and increase your exposure.

There's a site called "Hard Times" which takes submissions of headline ideas: http://thehardtimes.net There's Slackjaw on Medium: There's The Belladonna on Medium (written by women for everyone):

There's McSweeney's which doesn't take "fake news" but you can submit satire too. Very tough to get accepted in McSweeney's but it's really a-list satire.

I just saw this amazing link /u/goatofthrones posted which is far better so, I'll stop rabbitting on. https://www.reddit.com/r/comedywriting/comments/7qokxz/list_of_humor_markets/

My suggestion would be to read this book; the author is one of the founders of The Onion.

Scott Dikkers How To Write Funny. Helped cofound The Onion. Definitely someone to help you learn satire.