Peter Desberg and Jeffrey Davis are the authors of Now That’s Funny! The Art and Craft of Comedy Writing, a new book that provides an intimate look into the minds of twenty-nine of Hollywood’s funniest comedy writers from movies and TV shows like: Saturday Night Live; Frasier; The Simpsons; Everybody Loves Raymond; Monk; Modern Family; The Honeymooners; Cheers; Home Improvement; and many more. The writers were asked to develop a generic comedy premise created by the authors, giving readers a window into their writing process. There were no rules, no boundaries, and no limits. What emerges is an entertaining look—illuminating and hilarious—at the creative process behind hit comedy TV shows and movies. Learn more by visiting www.nowthatsfunny.lol and follow them on Twitter: @nowthatsfunnybk.
If you are writing comedy, or drama, and want to get a laugh, it’s tough to avoid jokes. There is both craft and talent involved in joke creation. To make this article more interesting, we sat down to write without a specific joke in mind. Instead, everything you read here was created without forethought using the steps we’ve described (This ...