Rich emotions are like humor fertilizer: they provide a fertile (if sometimes disgusting) breeding ground for beautiful flowers of laughter to blossom. Whenever writing a joke or funny story, remember that emotional conflict is good for comedy.
In fact, every joke is basically a short story — even one-liners — and our strongest, most visceral reactions come when we relate to the emotions behind the story. That’s why puns and other straight-up wordplay merely makes us chuckle, while someone making an absurd fool of themselves can unleash our bladder. Try to heighten the emotional conflict wherever possible.
I was recently in a brainstorming meeting with a group of talented local comedy writers and actors, preparing for an upcoming comedy show that will include live sketches. Eventually the time came for the writers to divvy up rough draft assignments from the sketch ideas on the whiteboard.
The premise for one of the sketches was Parents fighting at a toddler’s birthday party and using silly euphemisms instead of curse words. The writer who volunteered to write it made a comment that assumed the parents would be divorced. “Oh, I didn’t think they’re necessarily divorced…” said the person who originally pitched the idea, and we proceeded to have an interesting back-and-forth about whether or not the parents were, for the purposes of this sketch, divorced.
To me the answer was blindingly obvious: of course the parents are divorced! Think of all the emotional shorthand you get to cram into the setup with just that simple detail — the seething resentment, the bitter history with the extended family, the conflicting prerogatives for the future1. There are so many jokes and insults available for a divorced couple who hate each other that simply wouldn’t work for a married couple who has to go home together at night. It might not be pretty, but it sure can be funny.
- Yes, there are plenty of perfectly amicable divorces that don’t involve any of this — believe me, I know — but we’re painting with a broad brush, here. [↩]
There’s something to be said for the ongoing bitter emotional shorthand of a loveless marriage. There’s just as much in-law hatred, resentment, and power issues as a divorced couple. In my opinion, the seething resentment is worse exactly *because* you have to go home with this person.
God I hated being married to that bitch.
Crispin
March 30th, 2010