Comedy Writing Self-Taught Workbook

Gene Perret taught himself to write comedy in the early 1960s by studying the technique and the writing style of the great comedians of the day, especially Bob Hope. This led to his writing comedy material for many nightclub performers, including Phyllis Diller and Slappy White. In 1968, Gene was signed to contribute to "The Beautiful Phyllis Diller Show." That led to a television career writing for "The Jim Nabors Hour," "Laugh-In," "The New Bill Cosby Show," "The Carol Burnett Show" and others. Later, he produced such hits as "Welcome Back Kotter," "Three's Company," and "The Tim Conway Show." Gene also worked with Bob Hope on all of his personal appearances and TV specials for 38 years, the last 12 of which he served as Hope's head-writer. Perret has won three Emmys and one Writer's Guild Award. He is also a well respected teacher of comedy writing and is the author of over 45 books, including "The New Comedy Writing Step by Step" and "The Ten Commandments of Comedy."

"Can you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?" "Practice, practice, practice". That is more than a joke; it's solid advice. Consider world-class performers in any field -- golf, figure skating, music, whatever. One thing you can safely say about each is that they achieved their level of skill through practice. To excel in any endeavor, you must work on and perfect your technique. Comedy writing is no exception. In this book, Emmy-winning TV writer and producer Gene Perret and professional writer Linda Perret have compiled a collection of over 100 comedy writing workouts that will challenge your joke writing skills and develop your sketch and sitcom writing abilities. This book suggests that talent is earned through observation, study, analysis, and repetition. The authors also encourage you to analyze your writing, discover where improvement is required, and create your own skill-creating exercises. The work can be demanding, but that's what it takes to become a success in any field, including comedy writing. If you study "Comedy Writing Self-Taught Workbook" -- with or without the companion volume, "Comedy Writing Self-Taught" -- when your break comes, you will be ready.

INTRODUCTION - 9
HOW TO USE THIS BOOK - 12

PART ONE - General Joke Writing - Exercises 1 to 24 - 19

EXERCISE 1 - COLLECT 50 GREAT ONE-LINERS - 20; EXERCISE 2 - CAPTIONING - 22; EXERCISE 3 - A LITTLE TOUGHER CAPTIONING - 24; EXERCISE 4 - CAPTIONING WORDS - 25; EXERCISE 5 - GATHERING REFERENCES - 27; EXERCISE 6 - IN THE NEWS - 29; EXERCISE 7 - TURN IDEAS INTO JOKES - 31; EXERCISE 8 - THE ALMOST RIGHT WORD - 33; EXERCISE 9 - IT'S ALL AROUND US - 36; EXERCISE 10 - INSPIRED BY LEGENDS -37; EXERCISE 11 - THAT MAKES PERFECT NONSENSE - 39; EXERCISE 12 - TAG THAT LINE - 40; EXERCISE 13 - SAY IT BY NOT SAYING IT - 42; EXERCISE 14 - OUTSIDE THE BOX - 44; EXERCISE 15 - SAME WORD - DIFFERENT MEANING - 47; EXERCISE 16 - IT MEANS WHAT YOU MEAN IT TO MEAN - 49; EXERCISE 17 - SAME OLD WORDS - BRAND NEW MEANING - 50; EXERCISE 18 - DON'T QUIT TOO SOON - 51; EXERCISE 19 - MERELY FILL IN THE BLANKS - 53; EXERCISE 20 - ON THE SHOULDERS OF GIANTS - 56; EXERCISE 21 - RELATIONSHIPS THAT AREN'T REALLY RELATED - 57; EXERCISE 22 - ONE JOKE BEGETS MANY - 60; EXERCISE 23 - READY, SET, WRITE - 62; EXERCISE 24 - ASSIGNMENT UNKNOWN - 63

PART TWO - General Stand-Up Writing Exercise 25 to 47 - 66

EXERCISE 25 - TAKE GOOD NOTES - 67; EXERCISE 26 - COMPACT THE ACT - 68; EXERCISE 27 - WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT? - 70; EXERCISE 28 - WRITING A CHUNK - 71; EXERCISE 29 - WRITING FOR A SPECIFIC PERSON - 73; EXERCISE 30 - WRITING IN BITE-SIZED CHUNKS - PART A - 73; EXERCISE 31 - WRITING IN BITE-SIZED CHUNKS - PART B - 75; EXERCISE 32 - WRITING IN BITE-SIZED CHUNKS - PART C - 76; EXERCISE 33 - NOW CUT YOUR PRECIOUS JOKES - 78; EXERCISE 34 - SMOOTH TRANSITIONS - 80; EXERCISE 35 - BAKING A MONOLOGUE - 81; EXERCISE 36 - WORKING TOWARDS THE FINISH LINE - 85; EXERCISE 37 - NOW WRITE - 86; EXERCISE 38 - ROAST A FRIEND - 86; EXERCISE 39 - WRITE WHATEVER SO-AND-SO WANTS - 88; EXERCISE 40 - THAT'S HANDY - 89; EXERCISE 41 - THERE ARE TWO SIDES TO EVERY TOPIC - 91; EXERCISE 42 - LATE NIGHT TV - 92; EXERCISE 43 - BE PREPARED - 94; EXERCISE 44 - LEARN TO OVERWRITE - 95; EXERCISE 45 - PICK YOUR BEST - 96; EXERCISE 46 - NOT DONE YET - 97; EXERCISE 47 - KILLING DEAD TIME - 98

PART THREE - Writing for your Mentor - Exercises 48 to 66 - 100

EXERCISE 48 - PICK YOUR MENTOR - 101; EXERCISE 49 - THE BEST OF YOUR MENTOR - 102; EXERCISE 50 - LET YOUR MENTOR MENTOR - 103; EXERCISE 51 - YOU'VE BEEN HIRED - 104; EXERCISE 52 - WASTE NOT WANT NOT - 105; EXERCISE 53 - FIND THE RIGHT FORMULA - 107; EXERCISE 54 - HELLO, GOODBYE - 108; EXERCISE 55 - TAILOR MADE - 109; EXERCISE 56 - DEDICATED CHUNK - 110; EXERCISE 57 - WHERE DID THAT COME FROM? - 111;

EXERCISE 58 - STRENGTHEN THE WEAKNESSES - 113; EXERCISE 59 - STRENGTHEN THE STRENGTHS - 113; EXERCISE 60 - LET IT SIT - 114; EXERCISE 61 - SPECIAL APPEARANCES - 115; EXERCISE 62 - ON THE COUCH - 117;

EXERCISE 63 - TALK SPOT - 117; EXERCISE 64 - BECOME YOUR MENTOR - 118; EXERCISE 65 - MAKE IT TIGHTER - 120; EXERCISE 66 - MAKE IT TIGHTER STILL - 121

PART FOUR - Sketch Writing -- Exercises 67 to 87 - 123

EXERCISE 67 - WHERE DID IT COME FROM? - 124; EXERCISE 68 - THAT'S WHERE IT CAME FROM - 125; EXERCISE 69 - MY LIFE IS MADE UP OF SKETCHES - 126; EXERCISE 70 - AT THE MOVIES - 127; EXERCISE 71 - AND THE STORY GOES - 128; EXERCISE 72 - CLASSIC JOKES - 129; EXERCISE 73 - WORDS OF WISDOM - 130; EXERCISE 74 - THAT REALLY BUGS ME - 131; EXERCISE 75 - DEVELOP ONE - 131; EXERCISE 76 - HOGTIED GUESTS - 132; EXERCISE 77 - BOOK YOUR OWN GUESTS - 133; EXERCISE 78 - BIGGER THAN LIFE - 134; EXERCISE 79 - BOOB TUBE - 134; EXERCISE 80 - COMMERCIAL WRITING - 135; EXERCISE 81 - THERE'S MORE TO IT THAN THAT - 136; EXERCISE 82 - OH THAT'S GOOD - 136; EXERCISE 83 - THE ROADRUNNER SKETCH - 138; EXERCISE 84 - THE SILENT SKETCH - 139; EXERCISE 85 - WORDS, WORDS, WORDS - 140; EXERCISE 86 - ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END - 141; EXERCISE 87 - CURTAIN AND APPLAUSE - 145

PART FIVE - Sitcom Writing --Exercise 88 to 114 - 147

EXERCISE 88 - POP QUIZ- 148; EXERCISE 89 - OPEN BOOK TEST - 153; EXERCISE 90 - WHO SAYS WHAT? - 154;

EXERCISE 91 - WHAT COULD POSSIBLY HAPPEN? - 154; EXERCISE 92 - SAME WITH SITCOMS - 156; EXERCISE 93 - GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT - 157; EXERCISE 94 - GET YOUR STORY CHANGED - 157; EXERCISE 95 - GET YOUR STORY STRAIGHT...AGAIN - 158; EXERCISE 96 - ANOTHER QUESTIONNAIRE - 159; EXERCISE 97 - ADD SOME FUNNY - 162; EXERCISE 98 - KEEP THAT STORY MOVING - 162; EXERCISE 99 - PUT ANOTHER BUMP IN THE ROAD - 163;

EXERCISE 100 - ON THE SET - 134; EXERCISE 101 - MAKE IT SHORTER - 165; EXERCISE 102 - WRITE THE "BIBLE" - 166; EXERCISE 103 - WRITE YOUR OWN "BIBLE" - 167; EXERCISE 104 - TURN THE TABLES ON YOUR CHARACTERS - 168; EXERCISE 105 - IT CAN'T GET ANY WORSE - 169; EXERCISE 106 - WHAT'D YOU SAY? - 170;

EXERCISE 107 - SWITCH - 173; EXERCISE 108 - A GOOD OLD STORY - 174; EXERCISE 109 - A GOOD JOKE - 175; EXERCISE 110 - A GOOD OLD CLICHE - 175; EXERCISE 111 - THAT REALLY IRKS ME - 176; EXERCISE 112 - FINISHED PROJECT - 177; EXERCISE 113 - "A MARTIAN WOULDN'T SAY THAT" - 177; EXERCISE 114 - "A DIFFERENT MARTIAN WOULDN'T SAY THAT EITHER" - 178; EXERCISE 115 - JUST DO IT - 179

THE END? NOT REALLY - 182