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This is a classic comedy writing tool. Misdirection and Sudden Twist

• Sudden Twist: The greatest impact comes from a big build-up leading to a sudden, surprising twist, hitting the audience all at once ("boom here's the twist").

• Establish Reality First: For a twist to work, you must "establish some kind of reality at the start that's then flipped."

• Expectations: The set-up often creates an expectation of what is going to happen next which is then subverted.

Here's a video with two examples involving cars! This is an edited extract of my Tools of Comedy Writing Zoom course which stars again on Tuesday!

Course info and booking: https://www.chrishead.com/post/my-online-sitcom-comedy-drama-courses

Hope you had a good Xmas. In this slightly late festive blog and video I explore using the 'as if' and 'undercutting' tools in comedy writing plus I look at the comedy of characters behaving out of character. All illustrated by a Christmas Peep Show Clip but the techniques can be used all year round! Watch and read

The video is an edited excerpt from a comedy scriptwriting course I did on Zoom leading up to Christmas. If you’d like to do a comedy writing course on Zoom with me here’s what’s coming up in the new year.

In my Xmas/ New year comedy writing course, one of the group nominated this scene from Bridesmaids which led to us working on one-upping as a technique.

Bridesmaids (Engagement Toast Scene)

• Comedy Technique: The scene is a prime example of the comedy tool one-upping or one-upmanship, where two characters try to outdo each other, in this case, through their wedding toasts.

• Scene Structure:

  • The back-and-forth competition is allowed to build pace towards the climax.

  • While economy and tightness is typically prized, on the other hand comedy scenes can benefit from being long enough to breathe and allow the awkwardness to build, based around one very clear game.

Last night was the first session in my Xmas-New Year comedy writing course. A member of the group nominated this Derry Girls clip for us to have a look at.

Here is my analysis of Dramatic Irony, Comic Problem-Solving, and Undercutting in the scenes.

Here's a dining scene from the movie Date Night: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aspBKFz2dBI

So you want to create a comedy character. Perhaps it’s a character for you to perform or for a sitcom/comedy drama script. In this post I am particularly thinking of narrative comedy script characters, but these thoughts can be equally useful for sketch characters and so on. Here are some ways you can explore and develop your characters to make them as rich and comedic as possible.

Base your characters on real people

Characters are fleshed out and made individual by drawing on the qualities of real people you know or have encountered. Whether they’re neighbours, bosses, colleagues, friends, family members or even spouses, real life offers up an abundance of eccentric and dysfunctional people who can become comedy characters. When you have a real model behind the character they become more individual, believable and idiosyncratic.

You might base a character on someone close to you, your nearest and dearest, however,…

Write TV Script Zoom Course: Week 1

In the first week of the Write Your TV script course, at the outset I set out the shape of the script we will be following. Here are the key points from the opening session:

Three act-structure

The significant beats across the three acts of a story are as follows:

Act One:

• Setup: Introduces the characters, setting, and situation. Establishes the "who, when, where, what" of the story.

This is the public group for comedy writers who have completed a course with me or are thinking about joining a course. In this group I will share notes from classes I am currently running so you can pick up some tips and see the kinds of things we are working on. It's also a place to share any useful comedy writing tips and to ask questions.

Welcome to our group Comedy Writing Group! A space for us to connect and share with each other. Start by introducing youself, sharing media, or creating a post.