Rule #1 if you want to be a comedy writer

My recent post on all the schlock direct-to-video movies elicited this comment from “Dave”: What's even sadder about these is that you took the time to write down all the cover copy.

Not only did I take the time to do that, when I first went into Blockbuster I didn’t have a pen & paper so made a special trip back to jot down the info.

Rule #1 if you want to be a comedy writer: learn to think funny.

Always be on the lookout for absurdity or irony or just general goofiness. So when you’re browsing through the shelves of Blockbuster and you happen upon WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? it strikes your eye. My guess is two hundred people before me read the title and just moved on.

There are websites where people report funny snatches of dialogue they overhear on the street of big cities. Do you pay attention to that when you’re out for a stroll? I bet funny things were said within your earshot just as good or better than what’s listed on those sites. But you have to listen, develop a comic radar. As an experiment go to a crowded mall, just take a seat in the courtyard, and listen as people walk by.

When George Lucas told Carrie Fisher she couldn’t wear a bra during STAR WARS because there is “no underwear in space”, how many other actors would have taken that at face value?

Comedy is all around you. It’s misspelled tattoos, it’s CELEBRITY FIT CLUB, Bank of America commercials offering “risk free” bonds, Speedos, Golden Globes, KFC meals in a bowl, beauty pageants, THE VIEW, life lessons from Teri Hatcher, Rush Limbaugh drug problems, and movie titles like ZOMBIE STRIPPERS.

Watch for them. You’ll become a much better comedy writer (or stand up comic) and if nothing else, you’ll go through life damn entertained.