Essential Tools of Comedy Writing Course (on Zoom)
- Chris Head
- Sep 3, 2021
- 5 min read
Updated: Aug 15
ESSENTIAL TOOLS OF COMEDY WRITING COURSE (ON ZOOM)
3rd November - 1st December 2026 (5 x Tuesday nights) 7pm-9pm UK time
8pm-10pm European time
11am-1pm Pacific time (PDT)
2pm-4pm Eastern time (EDT)
The course has spawned a book! The Complete Comedy Script Toolkit
"I can't speak highly enough of how positive I've found the sessions with Chris. The sessions have changed how I view comedy and have given me real insight into how to better turn ideas and funny thoughts into character driven narrative comedy. It's also great to learn remotely and know I can ask questions through the online group and rewatch sessions. If you've ever wondered should I give it a go the answer is yes and do it!" SM
Essential Tools of Comedy Writing Course (on Zoom)
Whether you’re writing SKETCHES, SITCOMS, COMEDY DRAMAS, SCREENPLAYS, COMEDY PLAYS, or frankly anything else funny, this course gives you the tools you need to write your sharpest and funniest work.
The best comedy looks effortless, but behind every rollicking joke and every frolicsome scene (thanks Thesaurus.com) is a whole toolkit of techniques. Often these are used unconsciously, but over many years of working with writers, I’ve developed ways of making these tools consciously accessible and usable.
This long running Tools Zoom course (began in lockdown) has now been refreshed to tie in with my latest book, The Complete Comedy Script Toolkit. Like the book, the course is a lively and practical guide packed with creative techniques and exercises to help you craft sharper, funnier, and more original comedy scripts, whether that's sketch comedy, sitcom or comedy drama (also applicable to comedy plays and basically anything funny).
Here are all the Tools we'll work with (yes all of these!):
As if
Big/small:
- Small-to-big
- Small-in-big
- Big-in-small
Character development
- Boss, striver, fool, foil characters
- Reasonable/unreasonable character dynamic
Dramatic Irony
- A character pretends they didn’t do something
- A character pretends they did something
- A character pretends to have knowledge or
qualifications
- A character pretends to be someone
- A character pretends something happened
- The big secret
False dawns
Misdirection
Rule-of-three
Undercutting
- Undercutting a dramatic moment
- A character undercuts themselves
- One character is undercut by another
- Undercutting jokes
Unsaid-said
Variations
“His understanding of comedy is captivating, encyclopaedic.” — Will Gompertz,
former BBC Arts Editor
Drawing on my years of experience teaching comedy for BBC Writers, the British Library, Bath Spa University, and mentoring writers with former BBC Head of Comedy Commissioning Lucy Lumsden, I'll distill for everything you need into a series of inspiring, accessible tools which you get to put into practice straight away in inspirational creative exercises.
The Complete Comedy Script Toolkit course (and book) takes a “profound plunge” (as I like to put it) into what makes comedy tick: creating flawed and compelling characters, crafting punchlines and comic dialogue, building hilarious scenes, and structuring stories.
Be inspired by watching, analysing and discussing short excerpts showing the tools in action from Fleabag, Key & Peele, IT Crowd, Seinfeld, Succession, Fry & Laurie, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Fawlty Towers, Blackadder, Atlanta, Royle Family, White Lotus, Modern Family, Detectorists, Amandaland, Brooklyn Nine-Nine and more. Watching clips that illustrate the tools in action from classic and contemporary comedies, along with writing exercises, it helps you not just understand comedy but actually do it better.
While focused on writing for screen — from social media and YouTube to short films, TV, and movies — the insights here are just as useful for any kind of comic writing.
And it's not only for beginners. More experienced writers (and two TV comedy producers!) have done the course and have appreciated the fresh perspectives and also the greater clarity on tools they had been using but without such a clear understanding of what they are and why they work. And, whether new or not, it will get you writing a whole load of new scenes and creating situations and comic scenarios that you wouldn't have thought of without the stimulus of the course.
So, whether you’re an aspiring writer or an experienced one looking to expand your
comedy toolkit, this course offers a cornucopia of practical inspiration and expert
guidance. Come and see how I demystify comedy without killing the frog.
"This course was so useful for guiding me through the process of developing a comedy script for television. Each week we were set different homeworks that got me into the rhythm of writing much more regularly. Chris has a great manner and clearly many years of invaluable experience in the industry. The fact that it was online made it much more accessible, as we were able to all be in different cities, countries even and share our ideas. I highly recommend this for anyone serious about developing a treatment and script for TV. " JM
“Head’s style is refreshingly breezy and simultaneously substantial.” — Choice, USA
“The ideal person to nurture new talent.” — The Guardian
ESSENTIAL TOOLS OF COMEDY WRITING COURSE (ON ZOOM)
3rd November - 1st December 2026 (5 x Tuesday nights) 7pm-9pm UK time
8pm-10pm European time
11am-1pm Pacific time (PDT)
2pm-4pm Eastern time (EDT)
"This course was so useful for guiding me through the process of developing a comedy script for television. Each week we were set different homeworks that got me into the rhythm of writing much more regularly. Chris has a great manner and clearly many years of invaluable experience in the industry. The fact that it was online made it much more accessible, as we were able to all be in different cities, countries even and share our ideas. I highly recommend this for anyone serious about developing a treatment and script for TV. " JM
FREE VIDEO COURSE I also offer a FREE video course to get you started with your 30 mins TV comedy scripts that you can do in an hour. I recorded the videos a few years ago, and it's a great precursor to my live and interactive Write Your TV Script and this Essential Tools of Comedy Writing courses. FREE VIDEO COURSE - ONE HOUR TO GET SET TO WRITE YOUR TV SCRIPT With clips from This Country, Fawlty Towers, The Thick of It and Raised by Wolves.
"I came to Chris's course knowing how to write but never having written comedy. I've been stretched, challenged and had crushing moments of self-doubt but his sitcom writing courses have been the highlight of my year. The courses are well-structured, clear and packed full of useful tips and Chris provides insightful feedback on weekly homework assignments which helped me progress. Looking forward to more!" KP
Any queries let me know:
chris@chrishead.com
