WRITING HUMOR is a detailed analysis of how many famous writers have used humor in their books. There are interviews with John Cleese, Fannie Flagg, Larry Gelbart, Cherie Eichen and Bill Steinkellner ( Cheers) Jennifer Crittenden: Steinfield and Everybody Loves Raymond)..
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About the Author
Ian Bernard has been a jazz musician, a playwrite, a screenplay writer, an author and a college professor. He was also a writer and music director for Laugh In. One of his screenplay credits is Oh Dad POor Dad Mama's Hung You In The Closet and I'm Feeling So Sad.
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PREFACE
Undertakers and preachers call it levity, but it doesn't matter what you call it, there is a way, a technique, to write humor so that even your best friend wont have to lie to you anymore after dutifully reading your pages. My workshop on humor at the Santa Barbara Writer's conference is always filled with serious writers who wonder why their work inspires coma or a stultifying silence in their readers. Most suffer from a myopia that prevents them from recognizing that most of the world isn't really interested in a forty- page description of their beloved parakeet, even though the bird quotes Goethe in High German. The first step is the recognition of the need for some, make that any, hint of humor. This book will show you in a kind and gentle way to recognize the succor of humor, the sweetness of brevity, and the joy of wit. Or maybe that should be the joy of brevity and the sweetness of wit.
Most writers know when they have a problem, but are unable to solve it: that is in a way that does no bodily harm. There also seems to be an unwritten law that says the more serious you are, the longer you can go on about it. Erudition can be a heady wine that leads the writer to state his case with endless variations. It's easier to know when you're hurting someone's feelings then when you're boring them. I also discovered the more serious the book, the less the author recognizes the boredom factor. Most of the writers in the workshop do solve the problem and do so without injuring themselves or their work. With the possible exception of Herman Hesse, I can't think of any authors who have not employed a modicum of humor in their writing.
This book will unlock those furrowed brows and present techniques, examples and insights that will lighten the load, and give both friends and strangers, fresh incentive to read on and on and on. "What I want to do is make people laugh so they'll see things seriously," William Zinsser.
The following paragraph is from an article in Punch, the English humor magazine. It was written in the late eighteen hundreds by William Swift
"If humor only meant laughter, you would scarcely feel more interest about a humorous writer than about poor Harlequin. ( The author mentions earlier that Harlequin without his mask was quite a somber person.) The humorous writer professes to awaken and direct your love, your pity, your kindness; your scorn for untruth, pretension, imposture; your tenderness for the weak, the poor, the oppressed, the unhappy."
It was evident even then the writer of humor was a very serious person. Then why, you ask, didn't they write serious works instead of humor? I think it best if we leave that question to Freud. You don't have to be funny to write funny. You just have to think funny. Dave Barry’s Greatest Hits Why Humor Is Funny .... Ever since prehistoric times, wise men have tried to understand what makes people laugh. That’s why they were called wise men. All the other prehistoric people were out puncturing each other with spears, and the wise men were back in their caves saying: "How about: Here’s my wife, please take her right now. No. How about: Would you like to take something? my wife is available. No How about. . . Mankind didn’t develop a logical sense of humor until thousands of year later when Aristotle discovered, while shaving, the famous Humor Syllogism, which states, " If A is equal to B, and B is equal to C, then it would not be particularly amusing if the three of them went around poking each other in the eyes and going ‘ Nyuk nyuk nyuk.’ At least I don’t think it would be." There are no guarantees when you write humor. It is like any other craft. You get better by learning how to get better. The book will teach you techniques and show examples of how to make people smile, so in the future, when they pick up your book, your play or screenplay, they will keep it in hand for a good while and eagerly turn the page to see what happens next. Speaking of that, turn the page.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Humor Will Set You Free; This Book is the Key,
By Elizabeth Medway (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Writing Humor: Giving a Comedic Touch to All Forms of Writing (Paperback)
Trying to teach somebody how to be funny is like trying to teach somebody how to be TALL. You can't. I dare you. The great thing about Ian Bernard's bouyant examination of humor is the clever way he deconstructs the eternally elusive phenomenon of: FUNNY. He does it by being a smart, witty writer who is, simultaneously, a huge fan of other smart, witty writers. The material he has chosen to analyze is hysterical. He also has famous funny friends who happily show-up in his book as if they were attending a fabulous party in his living room. As a writer of comedy myself, as well as a teacher of comedy writing at UCLA EXTENSION, I intend to force my colleagues and studentia to buy, own & read this book. Its somewhat clunky title is the only thing I feel could use a re-write. I'd call it something like... "CHERISHING HUMOR" because it's not just for writers -- it's for readers and other smart, clever people (like the author).
11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Clear, well-written and enjoyable advice for writers,
By A Customer
This review is from: Writing Humor: Giving a Comedic Touch to All Forms of Writing (Paperback)
I was impressed with the writing and the range of literary knowledge (as a professor of English, I am familiar with a range of writing skills). But more important was the clarity of the instruction; in detail, examples, and demonstrations, it is a wonderful tool for writers. The interviews are excellent--particularly the one with Larry Gelbart.
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Lacking any Real Instruction or Guidance,
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Writing Humor: Giving a Comedic Touch to All Forms of Writing (Paperback)
Writing Humor is a guide for those seeking to implement humor into their writing. Ian Bernard uses examples from several genres to illustrate the use of humor and the style of techniques used to illicit comedic reactions.
Although the examples are abundant and comprehensive, I was disappointed to discover how little instruction the book contained. Detailing types of humor is useful only to the extent that one might be able to recognize forms of humor in writing, but to produce humor something significantly more is required. I recommend to any writer seeking ways to add humor into their writing to look elsewhere.
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