How to write comedy:
Bamboozled by cattywampus?Comedy words from laugh-a-minute literature
Living in lockdown isn't easy and life has got a little too serious these days - don’t you agree? It’s time for some light relief! Comedy fiction is the fun escape we all need - reading bizarre tales and silly scenarios help us to laugh off our worries for a while.
But what makes comic literature so gosh darn funny? And how can we use these tools to write our own comic tale?
The Importance of Being Earnest, for example, pokes fun at the manners and behaviours of the upper class - which let’s face it, is still hilarious to this day. Take Katherine Tate’s ‘Posh Mum’ series or Bob Mortimer’s ‘Train Guy’ that went viral just a few months ago for example!
… and there’s plenty more literary humour where that came from! Buckle up for a tour of some modern comic classics...
Before you put pen to paper to write a comic story, you should first decide what type of comedy you’re going for...
Dark comedy?
Chic-lit-style light humour?
Absurd?
Satire?
Slapstick?
Or maybe a combination?
Let’s first have a look at dark comedy. A great example of this is from Oyinkan Braithwaite’s incredible 2018 novel My Sister, the Serial Killer:
“Have you heard this one before? Two girls walk into a room. The room is in a flat. The flat is on the third floor. In the room is the dead body of an adult male. How did they get the body to the ground floor without being seen?
First, they gather supplies.
“How many bedsheets do we need?”
“How many does he have?” Ayoola ran out of the bathroom and returned armed with the information that there were five sheets in his laundry cupboard. I bit my lip. We needed a lot, but I was afraid his family might notice if the only bedsheet he had was the one laid on his bed...
“Bring three.”
Second, they clean up the blood…
Third, they turn him into a mummy…
Ayoola huffed and puffed as she pushed his body onto the sheets. She wiped the sweat off her brow and left a trace of blood there. She tucked one side of the sheet over him, hiding him from view. Then I helped her roll him and wrap him firmly within the sheets. We stood and looked at him.
“What now?” she asked.
Fourth, they move the body.
We could have used the stairs, but I imagined us carrying what was clearly a crudely swaddled body and meeting someone on our way. I made up a couple of excuses –
“We are playing a prank on my brother. He is a deep sleeper and we are moving his sleeping body elsewhere.”
“No, no, it’s not a real man, what do you take us for? It’s a mannequin.”
“No ma, it is just a sack of potatoes.””
By setting up the murder as a riddle, Braithwaite is already signalling to the reader that, yes, you are allowed to find the absurdity of the situation funny. Death is not usually a barrel of laughs, but when the murder subverts the normal power dynamic and is conducted by two seemingly innocent and naive girls, it feels okay to find it amusing.
The exasperation expressed by the older sister at having to clean up the mess of the younger sister also adds to the hilarity of the situation - it will be such a familiar feeling for any older sisters reader this (on an entirely different scale of course - usually I was just clearing up some scribbles on the wall or a spilled drink - not the blood of a boyfriend!).
On the whole ‘My Sister, the Serial Killer’ moves like a thriller – pacy and punchy – but at the same time it's laced with buckets of dark comic energy.
What we can learn from this:
Subverting power dynamics and playing up the perceived innocence of characters can be funny
Setting up a situation in a classic riddle structure adds comic value
Playing on typical relationships (like sibling or parent bonds) and taking them to their extreme can really draw the reader into your dark comedy
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We’re printing 20 lucky winners in a beautifully illustrated coffee-table book that will be available to purchase in renowned London bookstores.
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And enter your best story for a chance to win!
Your story should be original and between 1000 and 1500 words, written in English
from among the following given topics：
Adventure/travel
Thriller/Dark
Romance
Science/Fantasy
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Light Comedy: Why epic fails can be funny
And there's no better example we could draw from than the iconic ‘Bridget Jones's Diary’ by Helen Fielding...
“Sunday 1 January
129 lbs. (but post-Christmas), alcohol units 14 (but effectively covers 2 days as 4 hours of party was on New Year's Day), cigarettes 22, calories 5424.
Food consumed today:
2 pkts Emmenthal cheese slices
14 cold new potatoes
2 Bloody Marys (count as food as contain Worcester sauce and tomatoes)
1/3 Ciabatta loaf with Brie
coriander leaves--1/2 packet
12 Milk Tray (best to get rid of all Christmas confectionery in one go and make fresh start tomorrow)
13 cocktail sticks securing cheese and pineapple
Portion Una Alconbury's turkey curry, peas and bananas
Portion Una Alconbury's Raspberry Surprise made with Bourbon biscuits, tinned raspberries, eight gallons of whipped cream, decorated with glacé cherries and angelica.”
The familiarity of this opening is what makes this so hilarious. Every New Year we tell ourselves that we will be better, do better, look better, and every year on the 1st January we emerge bleary eyed from a great party, spend most of the day in our PJs and consume so many leftovers, we are almost as full as we were on Christmas Day. No matter our intentions, we always wake up as Bridget Jones.
Helen Fielding has managed to create a character that combines all of the most embarrassing, screwed-up parts of ourselves - holding up a mirror to our lives and actively encouraging us to laugh at ourselves. It is silly and endearing in equal measures - an excellent example of light comedy.
What we can learn from this:
Failure is funny - it's even funnier and more endearing when we see relatable real-life failures
Encouraging your reader to see themselves in your character and therefore laugh at themselves is what can turn a protagonist into a comedy icon
Make a character that is charmingly silly - readers need to fall in love with the character rather than just see them as a complete moron. There is a fine line that should be trod carefully.
Comedy stories can come from anywhere and be about anything - from committing murders to scoffing Milk Tray - but they usually have a touch of the absurd about them. Characters are very often loveable but extremely flawed - making them endearing to the reader. Timing and pace are also to be considered - both of these pieces keep a fast pace by using short punchy sentences and lists. We, as readers of comedy, are hungry for jokes and don’t want to be bogged down in reams of setting description before we get to the punchline - get to the point as quickly as possible.
Here’s a little writing exercise to encourage you to flex your funny bone…
Come up with a character with an obvious flaw or foible. So far, so easy. Now your job is to discover what makes this person tick. Once you’ve got under their skin, write a piece of interior monologue from their perspective. Bear in mind that they are not aware of the flaw or foible you are exploring…
Happy writing jokesters! X
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