A Master Class in Comedy
Artwork from Pixabay with LOL! added.
By Lois Winston
Someone recently asked me which author would I most want to take a master class from? Hmm…here’s the thing: I don’t get much out of long workshops. I find that an hour is my limit. Maybe I have too short an attention span, but I find that after an hour, my mind begins to wander, and my eyelids grow heavy. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that most of the time, these workshops are held in exceedingly warm conference rooms. If there’s a PowerPoint presentation, it’s worse because the lights are dimmed to perfect nodding-off conditions. And if the presenter isn’t all that great a public speaker, no matter how fabulous a writer, that’s the Trifecta of Snooze.
So chances of me ever taking a master class from someone are slim to never-gonna-happen. I’d learn more by reading their books and any books and articles they may have written on the craft of writing.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t authors I’d love to hear speak. Just not for more than an hour at a time.
I write the humorous Anastasia Pollack Mysteries. Writing any humorous genre is hard, but adding humor to something as serious as murder is a real challenge. I’ve sat through talks by various humorous mystery authors, many of whom I greatly admire, but their talks are generally more about their journey to publication and less about the art of writing the humorous mystery.
I think I’d gain more knowledge from attending a workshop given by someone who makes a living writing humor as opposed to humorous mysteries. Years ago I watched Mo Rocca interview Kathy Griffin on CBS Sunday Morning. I learned more about humor from that interview than I’d ever learned listening to my favorite humorous mystery authors.
I’d love to have the chance to sit down with Tina Fey for an hour. Just me and Tina. No cameras. No audience. What I wouldn’t give to pick her brain about writing humor. Not to mention, I’d also like to convince her to option my series. Wouldn’t Tina be the perfect actress to play Anastasia? Still…if anyone reading this happens to know Tina…Hey, a girl can dream, can’t she?
But the person I’d most like to spend time with is Alan Alda. Disclaimer: I think M*A*S*H is the best sitcom ever shown on TV. I own the complete eleven season DVD set. Every few months I’ll watch a season. I’ve watched each episode so many times, that I have all the dialogue memorized.
The episodes that Alan Alda wrote are my favorites. The man had an incredible knack for taking something as serious as war and adding humor while still maintaining the seriousness of the subject. He showed how humor can help get people through difficult situations. And he did it brilliantly. That’s what I try to do in writing my humorous mysteries.
If Alan Alda were to give a master class on writing humor, there’s no way I’d start nodding off, no matter how hot the room.
Breaking News! I’m thrilled to announce that A Crafty Collage of Crime, the 12th book in my Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mysteries, is a Killer Nashville Silver Falchion finalist for best Comedy.
Who are your favorite comedy writers/actors? Post a comment for a chance to win a promo code for a free audiobook of any one of the first ten Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery.
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USA Today and Amazon bestselling and award-winning author Lois Winston writes mystery, romance, romantic suspense, chick lit, women’s fiction, children’s chapter books, and nonfiction. Kirkus Reviews dubbed her critically acclaimed Anastasia Pollack Crafting Mystery series, “North Jersey’s more mature answer to Stephanie Plum.” In addition, Lois is a former literary agent and an award-winning craft and needlework designer who often draws much of her source material for both her characters and plots from her experiences in the crafts industry. Learn more about Lois and her books at her website where can also sign up for her newsletter and find links to her other social media: www.loiswinston.com
Though I’ve picked up bits of information from various writers, when it comes to writing, I need solitude, not workshops. You’ve picked a great example in M*A*S*H* to emulate. As I think back, it’s the old classic movies I watched over the years on TV that have inspired whatever sense I have of romantic banter and somewhat fraught relationships. I’d watch those films again and again, films like Bringing Up Baby, Pat & Mike, It Happened One Night, and so many more.
Gay, my go-to when it comes to classic movies is The Thin Man series with William Powell and Myrna Loy. I love the banter between the two of them.
The Thin Man! I love.
Tina Fey and Alan Alda are excellent choices. Writing humor is very hard, because you have to strike a perfect balance. What amuses one reader may fall flat with another. Or worse, offend. Humor can also be culture and time-bound. That’s one of the reasons M*A*S*H is so amazing–its depiction of life during the Korean War lasted longer than the actual war. The humor in that show is evergreen.
Saralyn, not only is humor subjective, but so is all writing. We have to learn to accept that none of us will ever please everyone, no matter how much we wish otherwise.
I think part of writing humor is organic. Part is picking the correct words and phrases, without pushing it. Too often writers go overboard trying to come up with a funny idea or line when something simple makes the point or evokes humor. For example, anytime the mother-in-law in your books comes into a scene, I know something will make me chuckle. Same with manifesto. Interestingly, I feel the same way when the grandmother comes into a scene in a Janet Evanovich book. Whether the author can feel the character or the scene or these characters are so funny in their own right, I don’t know. But I know they add a texture to the writing. BTW, sorry, I don’t know Tina Fey.
Thanks for the lovely complements, Debra! I’m sure you do know Tina Fey without realizing it. She’s written some of the most iconic comedies for decades, including both the movie and musical version of Mean Girls. She was head writer at SNL for many years and wrote and starred in 30 Rock. My most fervent wish is that she discovers my series and wants to option it. She’d be perfect as Anastasia.
What a perfect analogy including Mash as a comedy when dealing with something so tragic as incoming wounded and Vietnam. Definitely NOT funny. Alan Alda is (thank goodness) still with us, and I would love for you to do a sit down with him because I can’t imagine all you’d learn from him.
BTW, I am a Mel Brooks and Buck Henry fan through and through. Where you can recite Mash, I can recite Maxwell Smart and his zany, ridiculous antics… shoe phone, secret agent in the mailbox, KAOS, the cone of silence. One of the funniest episodes to me was when Maxwell Smart (Don Adams) and Sigfried (Bernie Kopell) were sword fighting over a lava pit. Max drops his sword in the pit and a Lurch-like character nearby says, “I’ll get it.” Timing is everything in comedy, and, unfortunately, I don’t find sitcoms near as funny these days.
Great post, Lois. I hope Tina Fey is reading this blog.
Donnell, I’m with you regarding sit-coms not being as funny as they once were. I can’t tell you how many I’ve given up on within the first few minutes over the last 20 years or so. And Mel Brooks? Genius! Blazing Saddles is a masterpiece.
I’m with you, Lois. I learn better by reading or listening to short lessons. I’ve had people question how I could write humorously about murder. My emphasis is on the characters rather than the crime.
Kathleen, I’m a firm believer in using humor to get us through the worst that life dishes us. That’s what I try to convey in my books. The humor comes from how Anastasia handles all the problems I’ve saddled her with.