Sophia
07-31-2010, 03:17 AM
Graham Linehan, writer of Black Books and Father Ted among others, is doing a live chat (http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/tvandradioblog/2010/jul/30/the-it-crowd-graham-linehan?showallcomments) at the moment, coinciding with tonight's showing of the last episode of season 4 of The IT Crowd.
I don't think you necessarily need to be a fan of his shows (although I am) to find his comments about comedy writing interesting. Here are some examples from the chat (and I'll edit this if this is too many):
Tips for making jokes flow.
1. act out the parts, speak them aloud, get into their character. When something sounds off, change it.
2. Read it coldly, not acting it out. Does it makes sense? Is it clear? Is the joke landing hard enough? If the answer is no to any of these questions, change it.
3. Put the script away for a bit. Forget about it, don't be tempted to read it, work on something else. Then, after, say, three weeks, read the script again. You'll see very clearly what works and what doesn't.
4. get people you trust to read the script and ask for notes. Use the notes to write a second draft.
If you disagree with the notes, say "Thank you, that's interesting" and leave it as it was. But don't tell them why their notes are wrong or explain what you were getting at. If you start doing that, you've already failed.
5. If more than one person has a problem with a bit, change it.
6. If more than one person has a problem with the premise, consider chucking the script and starting again with a new idea.
Plotting/rules.
I like to have a big setpiece moment lined up for every character. If I can't do that, I try and make up for it by giving lots of good lines to the characters with least to do. Actually, it's probably not that conscious. I just look for big moments and I worry about characters having good stuff to do. Not least because the actors get very unhappy when they think their story is undercooked.
I collect ideas for setpiece moments and transfer them to cards, and I play around with the cards and try to see the connections.
Was tonight's scene with Douglas playing with a ball, and Jen in a jumper, a reference to A Few Good Men?
Bloody hell! Yes! We didn't think anyone would spot that.
Answer to the question of how many 'idea cards' I have at any one time: as many as possible. Though I do think you have enough to start structuring if you have about a hundred.
These cards can have plot ideas, character ideas, lines of dialogue and setpiece moments.
Arthur is the greatest character-namer in the world. I suck at it.
I want to make more effort in that area because our genius script editor on this series pointed out that it was important and I was neglecting my characters by not giving them memorable names. Ben Genderson, as a name, came about because of Andrew's prodding.
I rely too much on plot and another thing Andrew gave this series in his notes was a plea to concentrate more on character. [...]
So the thing I'm aiming for s a nice marriage of both incident and character.
Oh, and if the situation is good, the gags will come. Gags are ten a penny, situations are gold.
I don't think you necessarily need to be a fan of his shows (although I am) to find his comments about comedy writing interesting. Here are some examples from the chat (and I'll edit this if this is too many):
Tips for making jokes flow.
1. act out the parts, speak them aloud, get into their character. When something sounds off, change it.
2. Read it coldly, not acting it out. Does it makes sense? Is it clear? Is the joke landing hard enough? If the answer is no to any of these questions, change it.
3. Put the script away for a bit. Forget about it, don't be tempted to read it, work on something else. Then, after, say, three weeks, read the script again. You'll see very clearly what works and what doesn't.
4. get people you trust to read the script and ask for notes. Use the notes to write a second draft.
If you disagree with the notes, say "Thank you, that's interesting" and leave it as it was. But don't tell them why their notes are wrong or explain what you were getting at. If you start doing that, you've already failed.
5. If more than one person has a problem with a bit, change it.
6. If more than one person has a problem with the premise, consider chucking the script and starting again with a new idea.
Plotting/rules.
I like to have a big setpiece moment lined up for every character. If I can't do that, I try and make up for it by giving lots of good lines to the characters with least to do. Actually, it's probably not that conscious. I just look for big moments and I worry about characters having good stuff to do. Not least because the actors get very unhappy when they think their story is undercooked.
I collect ideas for setpiece moments and transfer them to cards, and I play around with the cards and try to see the connections.
Was tonight's scene with Douglas playing with a ball, and Jen in a jumper, a reference to A Few Good Men?
Bloody hell! Yes! We didn't think anyone would spot that.
Answer to the question of how many 'idea cards' I have at any one time: as many as possible. Though I do think you have enough to start structuring if you have about a hundred.
These cards can have plot ideas, character ideas, lines of dialogue and setpiece moments.
Arthur is the greatest character-namer in the world. I suck at it.
I want to make more effort in that area because our genius script editor on this series pointed out that it was important and I was neglecting my characters by not giving them memorable names. Ben Genderson, as a name, came about because of Andrew's prodding.
I rely too much on plot and another thing Andrew gave this series in his notes was a plea to concentrate more on character. [...]
So the thing I'm aiming for s a nice marriage of both incident and character.
Oh, and if the situation is good, the gags will come. Gags are ten a penny, situations are gold.