Creating a Comic

Last week I spent some time on why comedians get into comedy; the short version is that we have a strong need for the expressed approval of others.

There are many other reasons for creative expression, though, and one of my favorite takes on the subject is George Orwell’s essay Why I Write. It feels vaguely sacrilegious to excerpt him like this, but here’s an abridged summary.

Putting aside the need to earn a living, I think there are four great motives for writing, at any rate for writing prose. They exist in different degrees in every writer, and in any one writer the proportions will vary from time to time, according to the
atmosphere in which he is living. They are:

1. Sheer egoism – [snip]

2. Aesthetic enthusiasm – [snip]
3. Historical impulse – [snip]
4. Political purpose – [snip]

I think that pretty well sums it up, and certainly encourage checking out the whole thing to see all the good bits that I snipped out.

Comics are both writers and performers, so I guess the degree to which this resonates will depend upon how much you think of yourself as writer. I tend to identify that way, personally, but most successful comedians will tell you that performance is more important than writing in building a stand-up comedy career.

 — Posted by CJ under Creating a Comic. Please comment or trackback!