Truby Comedy Flashcards
Explain: Creating a comedy that develops
(Moral weakness) Since laughter happens in a moment, most comic ideas for stories remain small, stretching one to three scenes. The best comic ideas explore a moral weakness of the hero.
What are the 5 unique problems of comedy ?
- Creating a comedy that develops (moral weakness)
- Getting the audience to care about the characters (care then drop)
- Leading with a single hero
- Keeping the story momentum strong (goal)
- Retaining the basic comic opposition (contrast)
Explain: Getting the audience to care about the characters
Comedy, by making fun, tends to distance the audience from the characters and put the audience in a superior position. The best comedies work to make the audience care about the characters up front before making fun.
Explain: Leading with a single hero
Comedies usually have more characters than serious writing and they tend to emphasize the society. This can lead to a slow or circular story unless you choose one character within the group to drive the action.
Explain: Keeping the story momentum strong
Strong Goal- Comedies tend to stop the story to set up and pay off a gag or a joke. Without a strong goal by the hero, the comedy will often bog down and even good jokes are not funny.
Explain: Retaining the basic comic opposition
Opposition Contrast- The basic comic opposition that fuels the story often disappears once the audience has seen the contrast for a few scenes. The trick is to choose an opposition that cannot disappear.
What are the 10 keys to great comedy?
- premise is not a single line gag.
- Create a comic hero with a gap
- steps of the classic structure.
- hero has specific and active goal.
- distinct 4-point opposition.
- comic nightmare that is the worst thing imaginable
- Know precisely who is going to be dropped
- Reduce the character to animal, child or machine.
- Make the key word in the gag the last word.
- Make sure your comedy expresses your personal vision of how the world works and what is a valuable way to live.
Explain the negative comic view of life (6)
- (clueless) believes that individuals are part of a larger social whole and are mostly unaware of how everyone is affecting them
- (phony) everyone is a collection of roles (need); we have a true self and a true value but also a public image that we project to get power and popularity with others
- (silly desire) what people strive for (desire) is relatively silly and not nearly as valuable as they think at the time
- (incompetent) people are often incompetent in action (drive)
- ( extreme incompetence ) action often does not lead to success and occasionally leads to the opposite of what the person intended
- (repeat mistakes) people only think they learn but actually remain the same and repeat the same mistakes throughout their lives (self-revelation)
Explain the positive comic view of life (4)
- (people good) there is a common humanity under the surface of roles and pretension that makes people good and valuable
- (laugh) there is no problem that can’t be solved, if only by laughing at it
- (questioning is good) questioning and attacking the system is ultimately creative and valuable; in other words, the value of the iconoclast or devil
- (we will survive) the group will endure and life will go on, no matter how much we do to screw it up
Name the three basic comedy forms
Animal
Child
Machine
What is animal comedy?
Showing people doing or discussing basic bodily functions
For example, any dirty joke or bathroom humor
Characters/Actors: Bluto (John Belushi), Blues Brothers
Stories: Animal House, Porky’s, Caddyshack, Blues Brothers
What is child comedy
Someone acting as a child; more generally, someone reacting with more emotion than the situation would normally require
For example, panic, crying, screaming, fighting
Characters/Actors: Lucy, Jerry Lewis, Pee Wee Herman
Stories: I Love Lucy, The Nutty Professor
What is machine comedy
Someone acting like a thing or a machine; more generally, reacting with less emotion than the situation requires
For example, deadpan, understatement, sarcasm
Characters/Actors: Buster Keaton, Bill Murray, Bob Newhart, Eddie Murphy
Stories: Ghostbusters, Meatballs, The Blues Brothers
First rule of comedy: If the audience cannot immediately identify someone who is being dropped, the comedy will be less or will not exist at all.
Name the 9 most common comedy characters.
Clown/klutz Everyman Know-it-all Show business type Princess Aristocrat Gross out king Trickster Traveling angel
Explain the comic gap
The drop from high to low of a character which should produce a laugh.
Explain the high in the comic gap
Pretense or puffery in a character that reflects his need
Explain the low in the comic gap
Shows the reality of the character when the pretense is exposed
Clown/Klutz desire
Desire- romance or success
Clutz clown - high
High - illusion of being romantic or successful
Clutz clown low
Low-actually a nerd, incompetent , unattractive or bumbling
Clutz clown psych need
Psych need- learn self confidence and overcome loneliness
Clutz clown moral need
Moral need- rarely present, victim
Clutz clown examples
Examples- ghostbusters Rick moranis, Annie hall, Arthur
Everyman/everywoman desire
Desire- climb social ladder, American dream
Know it all desire
Desire- hero wants to impress others
Show business type desire
Desire - to fool people
Princess -desire
Desire - to be taken cared of , pampered, center of attention
Aristocrat desire
Desire. Wants to impose a rich, cultivated and higher class image
Gross out king desire
Desire. Tear down thin veneer of upper class propriety
Trickster desire
Desire. To defeat authority to get what he wants
Traveling angel desire
Desire. Being fun altruistically to middle class world of stress routine and self doubt
What is the biggest weakness in most comedies?
Lack of theme
What is theme?
Theme is the issues and choices the character faces along the way. It is the ultimate purpose of the story, what makes the story explode and really hit home. And it is what differentiates the great from the average writer.
What are the 4 major thematic areas of comedy?
Male v female
Individual vs family
Individual vs society
Individual vs institution
Male/female theme characteristics
Characteristics: The male/female comedy is the most focused of theme areas in comedy.
Male/Female theme - moral need
Moral need: learning how to love and live with a lover
Male/female theme
What is the hero typically doing that relates to his/her moral need
The hero is self-involved, using others for his own ends. He sweet-talks to get what he wants.
Male/ female theme moral need
What must the writer give each lead
Must establish this moral need for both characters at the beginning of the story.
Male/female theme predicament
Predicament: how to create a relationship with another person that preserves individual freedom and helps both people grow.
Male/ female theme problems
Problems throughout the middle of the story: balancing power, playing or not playing roles. The lovers fight for power until they learn that they must work and choose together.
Also, the characters play roles to please the other. This comes to haunt the character because he must live up to those roles and the other character finds he/she got someone they didn’t plan on in the beginning.
Male/female theme moral argument
Moral Argument: 1. the hero tries to use power and play roles to control the other person 2. the hero is criticized 3. the hero justifies it as good for the other person
Male/female theme - key
Key: Look for how each character helps the other grow: how does the act of being in love give fulfillment, and what must they leave behind to experience that fulfillment?
Everyman high
High- optimistic , good work ethic
Everyman low
Low-lacks confidence, no respect in the world
Everyman psych need
Psych need- self confidence, esteem from others
Everyman moral need
Moral need- stop using others for gain
Everyman examples
Examples- Michael in tootsie, ben in the graduate
Know it all high
High-speaks in pompous tone with big or jargon words
Know it all low
Low- is completely wrong
Know it all psych need
Psych need- lose superiority complex
Know it all moral need
Moral need- stop forcing others to live the way he lives
Know it All examples
Examples- akroyd and rambis in ghostbusters
Show business type high
High-apparent sincerity , love, high sense of own ability
Show business type low
Low-insincere, in situations that require no emotions , no talent
Show business type psych need
Psych need- to become authentic
Show business type moral need
Moral need- stop lying to others
Princess high
High-thinks she is perfect , world revolves around her, above toil and dirt of life
Princess low
Low-cam get dirty abused and ignored like everyone else
Princess psych need
Psych need -see other people’s perspective , see her own faults
Princess moral need
Moral need -learn to help others especially the poor
Aristocrat high
High. Rich appearance with nose in the air because he is rich and powerful
Aristocrat low
Low. Looks silly when in underwear, or when confronted with sex or mess
Aristocrat psych need
Psych need. To see oneself as equal to others, to see value in other people
Aristocrat moral need
Moral need. To allow others to live freely and spontaneously
Gross out king high
High. High class surroundings, being an adult
Gross out king low
Low. Dirty , lewd, boisterous
Gross out king psych need
Psych need. Overcome sense of inferiority
Gross out king moral need
Moral need. Stop imposing boorishness on others
Trickster high
High. Pretends to be high class, important , knowledgable
Trickster low
Low. Average class , knowledge. Out for himself
Trickster psych need
Psych need. Overcome fear of commitment
Trickster moral need
Moral need. Stop lying and using others for own gain
Traveling angel high
High. Surrounded by routine, bureaucracy, pretense
Traveling angel low
Low. Knows true priorities of life, have fun
Traveling angel psych need
Rarely has a psych or moral need
Ind vs society theme
Characteristics
Characteristics: This is a bigger arena, a factor that has strengths and weaknesses.
The hero or heroes live in a world of competition and commercialism, with values of fame, money, and sex. The great goal is the American Dream.
Ind v society moral need
Moral need: The hero needs to learn to stop going after the material dream and choose the harder road of love and political commitment. He must become a leader and learn how to help others have a better life.
Ind vs family theme- characteristics
Characteristics: the hero lives in a family that is oppressive, traditional, full of rules, usually with an authoritarian father. The hero tries to create a new kind of family life that allows freedom, growth, and fun.
This is how people live in an essential way. These stories show an entire life philosophy brought down to a microcosm. This is also the most popular form of comedy.
Ind vs family theme- moral need
Moral need: the leader of the family needs to learn to let others live their own life and make mistakes. This is a classic problem: as you grow older you feel you know how things work best.
Ind vs family theme - predicament
Predicament: choosing between control, role-playing, and security vs. equality, fun, and chaotic freedom. Notice two powerful visions here of how to live.
Ind vs family theme- moral argument
Moral argument: The hero argues that everyone should be allowed to do what they please, even if they make no money, and that the family should rule together.
The opponent (the family leader) argues that success of everyone, especially money, depends on one person deciding and everyone else playing their proper role.
Ind vs family theme- key
Key: In better stories, the leader is right, but by making others live his way he is wrong. If people can’t make their own mistakes they can’t grow and learn who they are.
