Writing Comedy

Saul Rothman · Nov 6, 2013

Comedy is a strange thing -- often rooted in tragedy. Since I've just written a dramedy, I've become more aware of how difficult it is to present a scenario in a way which shows its humor rather than its drama.

Let me illustrate with an example. The following is the opening of an actual film which could be dubbed either a comedy or a dramedy. It's actually one of those films which sort of defies genre identity. It's main stream, but I don't want to identify it just yet.

I don't have access to the actual script, so I'll just give the bare bones as it could be written:

FADE IN:

INT. COLLEGE OFFICE - DAY

ADMINISTRATORS pour over college applications.

APPLICANT ONE (V.O.)
My hero is Ghandi. I've never had to starve myself, so...

ADMINISTRATOR ONE tosses the application aside and reaches for another.

APPLICANT TWO (V.O.)
Einstein is my hero. Having won the Einstein grant...

ADMINISTRATOR TWO mimics her colleague's action.

DAUGHTER (V.O.)
My hero, hands down, is my mother...

INT. KITCHEN IN MEXICO - DAY (13 YEARS EARLIER)

MOTHER sets food in front of her five-year-old DAUGHTER.

DAUGHTER (V.O.)
My father left us when I was young.

Mother catches her breath.

MOTHER
Un momento.

Mother exits through the front door.

EXT. FRONT PORCH IN MEXICO

Mother cries. Fights to pull herself together. Succeeds. Turns to the door, but the tears come again. Stops, fights, overcomes the tears. Moves to door. Cries.

Fights, wins, the door, the tears. Fights still again. Ultimate victory. She goes in to her daughter.

I've done my best to reproduce the essence of the opening as it appears on film. But my point is this: so far, everything that has happened could be viewed solely as drama. But in the film, it is all mild character comedy. I mean, the porch scene could be written this way:

INT. FRONT PORCH IN MEXICO

Mother cries. She fights back the tears. Turns to the door, but the tears come again.

Again she fights, and again the tears come. She takes a deep breath and turns back to the door.

But she is once more overwhelmed. Gathering her strength, she triumphs over her emotions and returns to the house.

So, what am I on about? This: does anyone have any advice about how a writer can best emphasize the comedic aspects of a scene that is rooted in tragedy?

Also, a gold star to the first person who can identify the film I just described (it's one of my faves).

Saulisa

cornflake · Nov 6, 2013

Saul Rothman said:
Comedy is a strange thing -- often rooted in tragedy. Since I've just written a dramedy, I've become more aware of how difficult it is to present a scenario in a way which shows its humor rather than its drama.

Let me illustrate with an example. The following is the opening of an actual film which could be dubbed either a comedy or a dramedy. It's actually one of those films which sort of defies genre identity. It's main stream, but I don't want to identify it just yet.

I don't have access to the actual script, so I'll just give the bare bones as it could be written:

FADE IN:

INT. COLLEGE OFFICE - DAY

ADMINISTRATORS pour over college applications.

APPLICANT ONE (V.O.)
My hero is Ghandi. I've never had to starve myself, so...

ADMINISTRATOR ONE tosses the application aside and reaches for another.

APPLICANT TWO (V.O.)
Einstein is my hero. Having won the Einstein grant...

ADMINISTRATOR TWO mimics her colleague's action.

DAUGHTER (V.O.)
My hero, hands down, is my mother...

INT. KITCHEN IN MEXICO - DAY (13 YEARS EARLIER)

MOTHER sets food in front of her five-year-old DAUGHTER.

DAUGHTER (V.O.)
My father left us when I was young.

Mother catches her breath.

MOTHER
Un momento.

Mother exits through the front door.

EXT. FRONT PORCH IN MEXICO

Mother cries. Fights to pull herself together. Succeeds. Turns to the door, but the tears come again. Stops, fights, overcomes the tears. Moves to door. Cries.

Fights, wins, the door, the tears. Fights still again. Ultimate victory. She goes in to her daughter.

I've done my best to reproduce the essence of the opening as it appears on film. But my point is this: so far, everything that has happened could be viewed solely as drama. But in the film, it is all mild character comedy. I mean, the porch scene could be written this way:

INT. FRONT PORCH IN MEXICO

Mother cries. She fights back the tears. Turns to the door, but the tears come again.

Again she fights, and again the tears come. She takes a deep breath and turns back to the door.

But she is once more overwhelmed. Gathering her strength, she triumphs over her emotions and returns to the house.

So, what am I on about? This: does anyone have any advice about how a writer can best emphasize the comedic aspects of a scene that is rooted in tragedy?

Also, a gold star to the first person who can identify the film I just described (it's one of my faves).

Saulisa

I may be misinterpreting your question, but from what I gather you mean - I don't think you do. Personally, I think it is what it is. Dialogue is funny or it isn't and the way a scene and entire plot is set will determine how something comes off in coordination with the acting.

Look at Carrie. It's meant to be horror, but it's notoriously hard to script parts of it in a way that don't end up silly, because it's not so much the words, but the action. I don't think they really ever got the B'way audience not to laugh at the blood scene.

Did you see the documentary about taking Everybody Loves Raymond to Russia? There's a scene in that in which the producer there is in love with this actor who does not get it. They're using a scene pretty much word-for-word from the original, but he just stomps it dead because he doesn't get how to escalate it and make it funny. The dialogue is the same. It's the way the scene is set, the way the actor playing his wife reacts to him and the way he portrays the character. He plays it and it's angry and kind of uncomfortable. Another actor takes over and it's funny.

I thought it was Admission until the Mexico thing; I suspect Spanglish, which I've never actually seen the beginning of, but have seen pieces of on cable (and wondered why I didn't change the channel).

Ken · Nov 6, 2013

... once again my shoddy reading comprehension strikes.
Cannot make sense of that script snippet.

Saul Rothman · Nov 6, 2013

cornflake said:
I may be misinterpreting your question, but from what I gather you mean - I don't think you do. Personally, I think it is what it is.

It is what it is, yes. However, I think that what it is depends on the presentation -- and the presentation transcends the written word.

cornflake said:
Dialogue is funny or it isn't

Most of the time, I agree that it's that simple. But sometimes it's not. I remember reading Catch 22 as a teen and falling down on my bed in laughter, tears coming out of my eyes, when I read the part where Yossarian is charged with a bunch of crimes. The first crime is half-way understandable, but it's followed by a string of nonsensical charges -- the one that really got me was "listening to classical music." I was so impressed with the humor that I trotted the book out to my Dad and read him the passage. He didn't find it to be funny at all. That floored me because we were usually on the same page. His explanation was that, if I'd ever been in the military, I'd know how true to life it was and wouldn't be amused.

cornflake said:
and the way a scene and entire plot is set will determine how something comes off in coordination with the acting.

Exactly! Coordination with the acting. But how does a writer best indicate what path the acting should follow?

cornflake said:
Did you see the documentary about taking Everybody Loves Raymond to Russia? There's a scene in that in which the producer there is in love with this actor who does not get it. They're using a scene pretty much word-for-word from the original, but he just stomps it dead because he doesn't get how to escalate it and make it funny. The dialogue is the same. It's the way the scene is set, the way the actor playing his wife reacts to him and the way he portrays the character. He plays it and it's angry and kind of uncomfortable. Another actor takes over and it's funny.

Sounds like a really interesting documentary. I'm a fan of Everybody Loves Raymond, so I'd love to see this. It reminds me of a moment in my favorite episode, Bad Moon Rising, which centers on Debra's PMS. For the most part, the audience laughs at everything, but there's a moment where Debra pushes Ray against a bookcase (which I found funny) but a large part of the audience gasps in horror -- they felt things had gone too far.

Humor/comedy (imo) is much more subjective than any other genre. Some people like Jackass; others prefer Pride and Prejudice. Still others think both suck and would rather watch Three's Company.

cornflake said:
I thought it was Admission until the Mexico thing; I suspect Spanglish, which I've never actually seen the beginning of, but have seen pieces of on cable (and wondered why I didn't change the channel).

Ding ding ding! Gold star. Yes, it's from Spanglish.

Do you really wish you'd changed the channel? How much of it did you see?

See -- this is what I mean. Comedy is so personal. I consider Spanglish to be one of the best movies around, yet you regret not changing the channel. I don't think there's a right or wrong, just opinion.

However, that's not entirely my point, lol. I think what I'm talking about is tone. Take a given situation (i.e., the one I described with a mother trying to shield her daughter from the tears she's shedding due to being abandoned) -- tone makes all the difference as to whether the scene is tragic or comic.

So, for anyone who wants to tackle this, my re-stated question is "How, in the bare bones of screenwriting, would one present the correct tone in a tragic/comic situation?"

Btw, any comments on the way I presented the scene might be very enlightening to me.

Saulisa

Saul Rothman · Nov 6, 2013

Ken said:
... once again my shoddy reading comprehension strikes.
Cannot make sense of that script snippet.

What is it that you find lacking? I really want to know -- the more info, the more I'll learn.

Saulisa

cornflake · Nov 6, 2013

Saul Rothman said:
It is what it is, yes. However, I think that what it is depends on the presentation -- and the presentation transcends the written word.

Most of the time, I agree that it's that simple. But sometimes it's not. I remember reading Catch 22 as a teen and falling down on my bed in laughter, tears coming out of my eyes, when I read the part where Yossarian is charged with a bunch of crimes. The first crime is half-way understandable, but it's followed by a string of nonsensical charges -- the one that really got me was "listening to classical music." I was so impressed with the humor that I trotted the book out to my Dad and read him the passage. He didn't find it to be funny at all. That floored me because we were usually on the same page. His explanation was that, if I'd ever been in the military, I'd know how true to life it was and wouldn't be amused.

Exactly! Coordination with the acting. But how does a writer best indicate what path the acting should follow?

He or she writes in a way that's clear. Shakespeare didn't have a lot of 'glares at' 'raises an eyebrow' 'smiles' and yet here we are, hundreds of years later, not confused.

That, I suppose, is where I come down on this. That the goal is that it's clear what it is through the writing. The acting is another layer, hence the Raymond thing (I didn't watch the show but the doc is really amusing and interesting), but in a general sense, I don't think you're meant or should have to explain.

Humor/comedy (imo) is much more subjective than any other genre. Some people like Jackass; others prefer Pride and Prejudice. Still others think both suck and would rather watch Three's Company.

Ding ding ding! Gold star. Yes, it's from Spanglish.

Do you really wish you'd changed the channel? How much of it did you see?

See -- this is what I mean. Comedy is so personal. I consider Spanglish to be one of the best movies around, yet you regret not changing the channel. I don't think there's a right or wrong, just opinion.

However, that's not entirely my point, lol. I think what I'm talking about is tone. Take a given situation (i.e., the one I described with a mother trying to shield her daughter from the tears she's shedding due to being abandoned) -- tone makes all the difference as to whether the scene is tragic or comic.

So, for anyone who wants to tackle this, my re-stated question is "How, in the bare bones of screenwriting, would one present the correct tone in a tragic/comic situation?"

Btw, any comments on the way I presented the scene might be very enlightening to me.

Saulisa

It's definitely personal, because I think Spanglish is kind of godawful. Funny is certainly not an adjective I'd apply to it. I've probably seen most of it here and there - hence I could figure that out, I think, because I guessed it was the beginning of the recurring vo.

How does one present the tone in fiction? It just is.

I think it just is and while someone can read it wrong, I suppose I hold to that if it's written right, it'll come through correctly to most people.

Saul Rothman · Nov 6, 2013

cornflake said:
How does one present the tone in fiction? It just is.

I think it just is and while someone can read it wrong, I suppose I hold to that if it's written right, it'll come through correctly to most people.

Good point. Some may not get it, but the target audience will.

Saulisa

cornflake · Nov 6, 2013

Oh, this is the documentary, btw. Probably on Netflix and such too.

Saul Rothman · Nov 6, 2013

Cool! Thanks so much. I have a feeling I'll really enjoy it.

Saulisa

Ken · Nov 6, 2013

Saul Rothman said:
What is it that you find lacking? I really want to know -- the more info, the more I'll learn.

Saulisa

... the transition from the first two applications.
I get that they're applying to a school.
But what about the third? Is that also an applicant?
Does the scene switch from the office to the applicant's home?
Am really confused. Again, that is most certainly just me.
My reading comprehension really is poor.

dpaterso · Nov 6, 2013

I can remember reading the Spanglish screenplay long before I finally caught the film, and I'm pretty sure I enjoyed the screenplay. Not sure why it's in a writing comedy thread, though.

-Derek

Saul Rothman · Nov 7, 2013

Derek -- you don't consider Spanglish to be a comedy (or probably more accurately, a dramedy)?

P.S. I checked out the link -- boy, oh, boy is that opening completely different from the film's opening, lol!

Saulisa

Saul Rothman · Nov 7, 2013

Ken said:
... the transition from the first two applications.
I get that they're applying to a school.
But what about the third? Is that also an applicant

Yes.

Ken said:
Does the scene switch from the office to the applicant's home?

Yes.

Ken said:
Am really confused. Again, that is most certainly just me.
My reading comprehension really is poor.

But you did accurately assume the correct things. I think it's clear that the Daughter is a third applicant because her VO is in the same scene, and directly after the VO's of the other applicants. And the switch to the home is clear, I think, from the fact that it follows the Daughter's first VO and is immediately followed by the Daughter's second VO.

I mean, maybe someone can show me where it's wrong, but it seems to me that it's clear and that you accurately read it. Imo, you need to have more faith in yourself!

Saulisa

Ken · Nov 8, 2013

Saul Rothman said:
Yes.

Imo, you need to have more faith in yourself!

... quite possibly true.

ps Personally, I would have selected applicant two.
Seemed like a nice, reasonable, chap.

Saul Rothman · Nov 8, 2013

Ken said:
ps Personally, I would have selected applicant two.
Seemed like a nice, reasonable, chap.

I've always wondered about that scene myself -- I mean, what else would one expect from college applicants? I've reconciled myself to thinking that the applicants weren't automatically rejected but that the readers only tossed them for the moment because they were sick of the same old same old.

As to Applicant Two, I think the thing with that is that the writer didn't necessarily admire Einstein but simply used his name as a springboard to brag about herself.

Saulisa

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