The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing [Paperback]

James Mendrinos (Author)

Book Description

Series: The Complete Idiot's Guide | Publication Date: July 6, 2004

Comedy is serious business-and serious money. In this guide, comedian, writer, and teacher Jim Mendrinos explains the principles of comedy and how to apply them to forms from stand-up to sitcoms- including fiction, film, speeches, articles, essays, and more. He also includes exercises designed to hone the craft, break through writer's block, and tailor a piece to its intended audience.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

James Mendrinos is a New York-based writer and comedian and long time comedy writing teacher for the Gotham Writer's Workshops. He is a former touring stand-up comic, working with Chris Rock, Colin Quinn, and Sam Kinison, and has appeared on Comedy Central. He was the sole writer for USA Network Presents: The Problem Child, starring Gilbert Gottfried, and has written and contributed to numerous other network projects for MTV, NBC, and more. He is also an active writer for film and stage, including many film options and over 60 stage productions in New York City.

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Alpha (July 6, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1592572316
• ISBN-13: 978-1592572311
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #204,853 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

81 of 88 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Doesn't Deliver, August 16, 2004

By 

David Weston (Tempe, AZ USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing (Paperback)

Currently, I teach an improvisational comedy class in Arizona and I'm putting together material to teach a stand-up comedy class. In addition to performing stand-up, I've bought and read over a dozen books on stand-up. I've learned that the hardest part is writing funny jokes. If someone found the magic formula and published it, they would make serious money.

I bought this book before anyone reviewed it because it promised to help me write jokes. In addition, Colin Quinn, who is a very funny comedian, wrote the forward to the book. I own a number of Dummies books and I have been satisfied with their content and organization. I assumed that the Idiots people could also deliver. I'm an idiot for assuming so.

Written on the back cover of this book is the promise to give "Foolproof advice for writing scripts, feature films, plays, cartoons, stand-up jokes - even working humor into your presentations at work." If this book could do all that, I would expect it could also go to the bathroom for you.

Here are a few examples of this book's "foolproof advice":

"When you're writing comedy for the theater, keep the stage in mind. Theater writing is all about fitting the story onto the stage where the action will take place (page 9)." Except for about 8 pages later in the book, this is all the foolproof advice you are going to get for writing a play. That's not even enough advice to see a play much less write one.

"The Universal Joke Formula: Premise + Point of View + Twist = Joke (page 46)." Simple formula, but there's no information on how to write the twist, which is the punchline in a joke. The book lists 19 popular twists (e.g. Antonyms, Double entendres, Exaggeration) but no definitions, examples or detailed instructions are given on how to write the twist.

The worst advice was an A to Z list ". . . that could tell you if a piece was funny or not (page 174)." Are there really 26 points to evaluate funniness? And would 26 points be best organized alphabetically? Point "F" was pretty useless: "F is for Funny. The material has to be funny before someone will buy it."

If you are looking for good books on comedy writing, I recommend "The Comedy Bible" by Judy Carter, "How to Write Funny" by John B. Kachuba and "Comedy Writing Step By Step" by Gene Perret.

37 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Step by step advice on being funny, August 17, 2004

By 

Bear "Bear" (NYC) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing (Paperback)

Wow, it's amazing how different people can read the same thing and get different results. I'm a NYC writer (Theatre) and I picked up this book because I wanted to put more comedy into my writing.

I learned and then some!!!

The book layers information in the first part. Basically it is a deconstruction of humor -- what's funny and finding your own individual sense of humor. It's the roll up your sleeves part of comedy writing -- getting useable ideas, and seperating the rich concepts from the common ideas.

Part 2 is an overview on comedy construction -- not genre specific, but the universal components that every writer who uses humor must master in order to write something that's funny.

The "UJF" -- Universal Joke Formula is simple and easy to follow, and amazingly complete. As for the assertion from an earlier reviewer that the writer didn't cover "Twists," there's an entire chapter dedicated to twists. Anybody can understand the concepts and examples the writer used in the twist chapter,and it is simplified as much as possible -- after all, this is an idiot's guide!

Part 3 focuses on the artistic elements of comedy, from basic language to emotional exploration of a joke. This is the one section I wish was longer. I understand that an idiot's guide has to be basic knowledge in an easy reference form, but I do believe that the writer's opinions on art were wonderful and direct. I would have liked to have gone deeper in the artform with him.

The craft of comedy is the next section. The author does a wonderful job pushing the basics of comedy construction. This is basically polishing, editing, and revision before presentation to the buyer. It contains one of the best chapters on comedy editing I've ever read. As for the A to Z list being too simple -- again, it's an idiot's guide. The writer has to pack it with the simple rules. What the reviewer fails to point out is that the author also has complex information in the book as well. (Like the reason why most double entendres fail is that both possible meanings have to end in a punch line. If the "naughty" ending is funny, and the other ending isn't, the joke fails because the naughty joke becomes too direct.)

Part 5 goes for application. Here's how to do it for theatre, here's how to do it for stand-up, etc. Again, I wish it was longer, but as an overview it was perfect. Just to be clear - the pages on playwriting are very good. I can't judge the others because I don't work the mediums, but playwriting is on point.

Finally, don't overlook Appendix B -- "Something to do Every Day." Quite possibly the best tool I'ver ever seen to jump start the writing process.

Overall I loved the book. The subject matter was interesting, and the writer's style was effortless. I'd read more of his writing, and I believe I will be a better writer when I follow his advice.

And that's the reason why I purchased the book.

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't waste your time, March 19, 2005

By 

Jim in Oakland - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing (Paperback)

I've never been compelled to write a review on amazon, but I feel I must warn others from purchasing this book. It is a complete waste of time. It is an exercise on the part of the author to say absolutely nothing in so many words. There is nothing funny in the book. The examples of his writing and of others' writing are horribly not funny. Throughout the book are lame cartoons that are not funny. Save your time and money; there's nothing practical in this book.