Customer Reviews

How to Write Funny Lyrics: The Comedy Songwriting Manual

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is hardly a 'book'. It's merely a handful of worthwhile ideas and insights, with a good number of exercises attached to them. By all means have a look at it if you're interested in the subject, but personally I'd hoped for something better. I particularly find the coverage of humorous techniques very scanty. In a word, it's okay, but value for money it isn't.

I'm a musical comic who's been searching for the courage to move away from parody songs, to writing fully original numbers: this book lays it out so simply I'm kicking myself for having put it off for so long.

From the technical aspects of structure to just plain old coming up with ideas, Michael Pollock goes through the how-to of writing funny songs in a way that is logical, practical and...shock of shocks...fun to read! The writing exercises are a particularly good inclusion, making sure that you take the leap and just get in and do it right away!

This is - with no exaggeration - the most treasured item on my book-shelf.

Jenny Wynter

As owner and artistic director of a Los Angeles based comedy troupe, I have the blessing and the hurdle of writing six, full length, satirical plays a year. As if that were not enough, I am called upon by several major entertainment companies to produce scads of comedic material for a wide variety of projects. All of these projects require musical moments filled with (hopefully) clever lyrics. These moments can be a simple three chorus song or a not so simple full score. They also always seem to come with a quicker than expected DEADLINE!
When faced with a musical task, I become my inner fourth grader and put off "the hard stuff" until the end of the project. This can be a very scary thing in a "down and dirty" writing environment.
A friend suggested that I pick up a copy of Michael Pollock's book and I am so thankful I did. This quick, easy to follow guide offers so many wonderful hints and tips. Following the book's advice, I have made what was once an arduous task into a game. A lifelong crossword fan, I have converted my songwriting struggles into a puzzle. I have found that by using several of the ideas expressed in the book, my word play and productivity have increased greatly.
A bonus: It is FUNNY! I have read many books and guides on the subject of writing comedy, only to find the examples to be trite or smile inducing. How refreshing to find a book that lives up to its title. I found myself laughing out loud at the witty and clever song samples. Refreshing to learn new techniques from a writer who knows what they are doing.
I have always believed that observing artists, who are exemplary in their craft, opens my eyes and thoughts to new ideas and serves to make me a better creative.
Michael Pollock's book has done this for me.
Thanks!

I've been an internationally recording artist for too many years to mention, and have written, produced and starred in a Rock Opera with Rod McKuen & Mary Jo Catlett. After moving my musical to Las Vegas, I became an assistant musical director of Second City here and was inspired to take my songwriting into the comedy world. Michael's book, "HOW TO WRITE FUNNY LYRICS" has opened up my approach to taking a larger story, breaking it down and pinpointing the truly ironic and funny aspects and then intelligently putting them to music. His systems and ideas have speeded up the learning curve and I am already writing and producing parodies of movies and books. From one professional musician/composer to another, I want to say to Michael Pollock, thank you for helping me to open up my creative funny brain cells and for saving me so much time in putting the ideas to music.

Michael's previous two books were great, but somehow "how to write funny lyrics" missed the mark for me. Maybe it's because I already knew that comedy should be unexpected, or maybe it's because I already knew how to pick rhyming words. Either way, I didn't learn much from this book.

The book spends a lot of time presenting exercises to try, which is great, but spends too long presenting (a few) song structures. There is no CD in this one, which was one of the most valuable parts of the previous books.

Can you learn how to write funny lyrics from this book? Probably, if you didn't know already. I suppose I was really looking for a book called "How to write FUNNIER lyrics".

As the head of the Music Program at The Second City in Chicago, I've read a lot of books on songwriting. This is the simplest, most effective and inspiring text on the fundamentals of comedic lyric writing available. Michael's approach is dead-on. So dead-on, in fact, that "How to Write Funny Lyrics" is required reading for all students in our Comedic Songwriting Program.

Michael has done it again with The Comedy Songwriting Manual. The rhyming word banks alone are worth getting the book.
Going about writing for the very specific area of sketch comedy can be quite a task, and it is unlike writing for anything else.
This book cuts out everything you don't need to waste time on and gets to the point. Anyone working in theater should check
it out!

This is really an amazing book! It breaks songwriting down in a fun and logical way. It addresses the basics of songwriting, but also how to make a song funny. I also found ideas that helped me write more effectively and quickly when I'm not feeling inspired. Everyone who wants to start writing funny songs should have this book. I totally recommend it.