Comedy Writing Step by Step: How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor [Paperback]

Gene Perret (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback: 281 pages
• Publisher: Samuel French; 2nd edition (March 1990)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0573606056
• ISBN-13: 978-0573606052
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.4 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #672,143 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Gene Perret has been a comedy writer since the early 1960's working for comedians such as Slappy White and Phyllis Diller. He's been a television comedy writer and producer since 1968. Perret has earned 7 Emmy nominations, including one for original music, and 2 Writer's Guild Award nominations. He has captured three Emmy awards and one Writer's Guild Award as part of the Carol Burnett Show writing staff. Gene produced "Welcome Back, Kotter," "Three's Company," and "The Tim Conway Show."
Gene also worked on Bob Hope's writing staff for 28 years, from 1969 until the comic's retirement -many of those years as Hope's head writer. During that time, Gene wrote for all of Bob's personal appearances and TV Specials. traveling with the Bob Hope troupe to the war zones of Beirut, the Persian Gulf, Saudi Arabia, and on a peace time military jaunt around the world that featured stops at the Berlin Wall and in Moscow.
Besides his humorous books and how-to books on the craft of comedy, Gene teaches comedy writing through various avenues, including via e-mail.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To write great one liners, take this book... please, September 16, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Comedy Writing Step by Step: How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor (Paperback)

Mr. Perret teaches traditional comedy writing through word association exercises. Reading this book won't make you funny, but doing the excercises might. The best beginner book I've seen.

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best book on writing stand up comedy I've read, March 29, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Comedy Writing Step by Step: How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor (Paperback)

This is probably the best book about writing stand up comedy I've read. It really explains to you in detail not only how to write stand up comedy material, but how to write for sketch comedy and sitcoms. You can also get more jokes per topic with Gene Perret's method than any other joke writing method I've seen. This book in my opinion even surpasses Stand up Comedy the book by Judy Carter, because you can get more jokes with Perret's mehod and it tells you how to prepare and overcome the dreaded writer's block, even though I do reccomend Judy Carter's book, I suggest you read Comedy Writing Step by Step first.

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must read for anyone wishing to write comedy., March 11, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Dallas, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Comedy Writing Step by Step: How to Write and Sell Your Sense of Humor (Paperback)

I have just gone through the book "Comedy Writing Step By Step", and I have to say that it is truly one of the best "how to" books I have ever had the pleasure to read.

Speaking as a professional ventriloquist of 22 years, I have always struggled to write my own material, and after finishing Perret's book I not only have renewed confidence in my comedy-writing abilities, I'm also producing fabulous results!

Perret makes the reader feel as though they knew him personally, and I highly recommend this wonderful work to anyone with aspiring hopes as a comedy writer.