What Are You Laughing At?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, and More [Paperback]

Brad Schreiber (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 15, 2003

At last. A how-to book by someone who actually knows how to. -- Larry Gelbart

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Michael Wiese Productions (December 15, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0941188833
• ISBN-13: 978-0941188838
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (19 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #573,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brad Schreiber has written not only books but also journalism, film, television, radio and theatre. He has also served as a producer, actor, director, literary consultant and instructor. Born in New York City, Schreiber grew up in Rockland County, NY, Santa Monica, CA and throughout the San Francisco Bay Area, where he attended San Francisco State University and studied with, among others, Leonard Wolf and Kay Boyle. Schreiber was Vice President of Storytech Literary Consulting for 12 years, for Christopher Vogler, author of THE WRITER'S JOURNEY, where Schreiber analyzed prose and screenwriting for clients all over the world, including Jim Henson's Creature Shop in London and film director-producer Timur Bekmambetov. He has received awards and fellowships from the National Press Foundation, Los Angeles Press Club, National Audio Theatre Festivals, Edward Albee Foundation and California Writers Club, among others.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars A waste of money if you know anything about writing, January 15, 2010

By 

Natalie Mootz (Huntington Beach, CA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: What Are You Laughing At?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, and More (Paperback)

Wow, I got ripped off by this book. Only pages 1-14 had anything to do with "how to write comedy." The rest of the book (pp. 15-262) is basic how-to stuff about writing in general: what are the different genres, character, dialog, etc. If you are any kind of writer at all, or have read other books or taken classes on writing, then 95 percent of this book will be repetition for you. And even the humor writing parts are very basic: I found out the same information by doing Google searches. Wish I could get my money back.

14 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A must-have primer for comedy writers and performers, December 23, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: What Are You Laughing At?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, and More (Paperback)

For anyone who has ever dreamed of being funnier, especially in the writing field, WHAT ARE YOU LAUGHING AT? by Brad Schreiber is a wonderful resource and the definitive how-to book on learning to write with humor. Whether fiction or non-fiction, for stage, TV or film, there is a lot of material in this book for the aspiring writer to sink their teeth into, including enlightening excerpts in prose and screenwriting from the top authors and scribes, writing exercises to bring out the funny person hiding deep within, and plenty of advise on what to do, and more importantly, what NOT to do to make the reader laugh...preferably out loud. By the time you finish this book, you will no longer believe that being funny is a matter of nature vs. nurture. Not a born comedian? Sit back, relax, and learn from the masters.

The author is himself a journalist, screenwriter and consultant, and with that kind of background, he really knows his stuff. Schreiber teaches humor writing for major Los Angeles writer's programs, and much of what he has developed in those classes is offered here in this book. From the first chapter, where he introduces comedic structure and the nature of humor, to differing forms of humor such as jokes and insults and short stories and aphorisms, to finding ways to inject humor into non-fiction formats, this book covers every aspect of comedic writing for those who are serious enough to want to be funny and improve their craft.

Other chapters cover humor in dialogue, writing quirky and memorable characters, grasping the importance of the rhythm and sound of good humor writing, using other forms of writing such as poetry, songs, letters and more to convey humor, and making the best of themes and settings to bring out humor in certain situations. We learn the power of juxtaposition, embarrassment, shock and surprise and other elements that bring out humor in characters. We get a first-hand glimpse at some of the ways the great humor writers play upon themes of commonality, and individuality, to turn simple dialog between two people into hilarious insight into the human condition.

This is really not just a screenwriting book, although the emphasis does seem to be on visual forms of writing such as scripts and stage plays. There is so much wisdom, and wit, and good common sense advise that this book finally convinced me that having a great sense of what is funny is not something you must be born with. It is something you can learn.
MARIE JONES, BOOK REVIEWER, ABSOLUTEWRITE.COM

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Over 70 excerpts from top screenwriters, February 10, 2005

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: What Are You Laughing At?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, and More (Paperback)

Produce winning comedic screenplays using fiction and nonfiction alike with Brad Schreiber's What Are You Laughing At?: How To Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, & More. Included are over 70 excerpts from top screenwriters and pairing them with writing exercises and details on the differences between writing comedy for TV versus stage. There are eleven modes of comedic dialogue, 13 common problems screenwriters encounter and valuable insights into the rhythm and sound of words in What Are You Laughing At? Brad is himself a L.A. screenwriter, so his tips come from an insider's hand.