The Hidden Tools of Comedy: The Serious Business of Being Funny

I bought this book for myself (early birthday present!) because I am working at making the transition from amateur comedian to professional. I’ve spent the last year reading books to help me grow in my writing and performing. I’ve done stand up, improv, sketches, short films and tons of writing. I even sold a couple of short web episodes to a major cable network. Hands down, ‘The Hidden Tools of Comedy’ has done more to help me grow as a writer and performer than anything else I’ve read.My previous career had an emphasis on academic study and I can tell you that this book should be the primary text for anyone learning comedy. The book is well researched, extremely well written and structured to make the learning as easy as it is fun. Kaplan shows a tremendous respect for comedy and his knowledge and experience make this book a unique and essential offering for those who are serious about making people laugh.What makes this book so essential? First, I would say the experience. Kaplan has put in his 10,000 hours and it shows. This book contains years of experience in film, theater and T.V. and close intentional study of comedy condensed into eight easy to understand tools for making better comedy. You could spend your whole life studying comedy or you can take a massive short cut and read this book. The tools found in the book apply to comedy writers, performers, directors and producers in theater, T.V. and film.Second, the tools are easy to use. Kaplan makes the eight tools easy to apply to what you are working on right now. I took his straight/line wavy line tool and applied it to a skit I was working about a snake bit cowboy. The skit went from getting chuckles at rehearsal to the actors laughing so hard they couldn’t get through the skit. On a sitcom pilot I’m working on I got stuck at the start of act three. I used the positive action to get my protagonist moving and the rest of the episode pretty much wrote itself. The tools come from experience and they just plain work.Third, the focus is on the true nature of comedy. What’s the difference between funny and comedic? Why does it matter to those who want to make people laugh? What are the myths of comedy and why are they myths? How is comedy different from drama? Why does it matter? Kaplan asks questions I didn’t even know I should be asking. He shows the importance of comedy in telling the human story and shows the beauty of telling the truth. This book isn’t about tricks to get laughs. It’s about celebrating the artistry comedy and becoming better artists.If you are building a comedy library to further yourself as an artist, or if you just want to get better at getting people to laugh, I would build it in this order to form the foundation.The Hidden Tools of Comedy - Steve Kaplan (Comedy)Improvisation for Theater - Viola Spin (Writing, Acting)Step by Step - Greg Dean (Stand Up, Jokes)Days and Nights at The Second City - Bernard Sahlins (Review Theater, Irony)Growth takes both theory and practice. Great musicians continue to practice their scales, they don’t just show up and play symphonies on the weekend. Do your work. Learn your theory and and perform! Learning the theory has helped me grow tremendously as an artist. And I get lots more laughs too. Don’t make this the only book you read on comedy but certainly make it the first.

If your comedic skill isn't broken, you don't need a tool to fix it. But nobody reading these reviews is a laugh-genius, so the tools listed here will come in handy for 99% of those who are pursuing careers in comedic writing, acting, or directing.First, these tools have all been used to make you laugh before - hundreds of times. For the most of you, the chapters will be littered with "Aha!" moments and the sort of "the scales have fallen from my eyes" game changers that can really up your skill when it comes to creating realistic and effective scenes. Notable examples are: a paradigm shift away from Straight Man/Funny Man to He Who Sees/He Who Doesn't See, the idea of the truly funny characters being realistic people who just lack skills, and the use of overlying metaphors to help further illustrate and give added effectiveness to character relationships (like two roommates acting as a married couple, etc.).Second, Steve Kaplan goes out of his way to emphasize that these are just tools. You shouldn't use this excellent book to build your house upon. You should use its advice when things go wrong, and while it seems like a footnote I think this is the most important part of the mix. You're given excellent advice on every page along with scenes and clips that illustrate the advice, but you're never told, "You must do this or your comedy will crash and burn." These are simply good ideas that have been proven in the past and while you might be able to get around using them in certain situations, if something doesn't get a laugh (or as good a laugh as you want), you can probably find an example in this book that will tell you why.Third, Steve goes out of his way early on to debunk the notion that comedy is entirely dependent upon talent and that somehow comedians don't work to hone their skills like everyone else. So a solid part of the book acts as motivation to those who might think, "I'm just not funny enough and I never will be." Steve emphasizes the simple truth (that I and most comedians have found at one point or another, but maybe didn't put into words as well as Mr. Kaplan has):If you can react realistically to an absurd situation, you can get a laugh.Overall I think this "do the work - here are some good tools" approach to comedy is the most refreshing and eye-opening one anybody can ask for. There are absolutely zero gimmick tools, no appeals to blue or shock humor, and all the recommendations are backed up with loads of thoroughly explained examples. If you want to get more laughs and better laughs, read this book.

I bought this book thinking I would get tips on how to make my blog funnier and more engaging. That's not what this is about at all. His focus is on writing funny stories for movies, sitcoms and theater. How to create an engaging character in a funny situation. I can now articulate why I think some tv shows are funnier than others, but I don think I'm going to write a funnier blog as a result of this read.

Lo compre por curiosidad para saber lo que envuelve una buena película de comedía y si pudiera utilizar algo como creatividad en la vida para expresarme.Ya que últimamente parece que esta censurado o hay escasez de algo tan vital para la vida que es reír.Me estoy llevando la sorpresa de encontrar algo como una especie de filosofía ya que puedo ver no solo las películas si no la vida desde una forma mas humana.Solo dire que creo es muy útil para la gente en esta profesión.Voy a la mitad del libro en 2 dias

One of the best books not only on comedy screenwriting but on screenwriting in general. Highly recommended!

Hola, me gustaría hacerles una sugerencia que creo que sería bastante útil para los clientes de Amazon que hacen pedidos de libros.Me ocurre que cuando pido un libro de dimensiones estándar, me llega en un paquete de cartón bastante fino y sin refuerzo de protección; me estoy refiriendo al embalaje estándar para envío de un libro de dimensiones normales. Como consecuencia, el libro me llega con las puntas ligeramente dobladas; o dobladas; o con el filo del lomo picado. La mayoría de mis pedidos llegan así, a excepción de cuando lo hago a Blackwell, que ellos sí envían un libro estándar con un embalaje de cartón reforzado y más grueso con el sello de Blackwell. En cambio, Amazon solo usa embalajes de cartón reforzado y más grueso cuando hago un pedido mínimo de dos libros o cuando el libro ocupa unas dimensiones mayores a la estándar.No he querido dañar la valoración de mis pedidos porque entiendo que no tienen la culpa, pero si Amazon incorporara el know-how de Blackwell (es decir, si usarais el embalaje de cartón reforzado y más grueso para cualquier pedido de libros, como el caso de un solo libro) en vuestro protocolo estándar de envíos de libros, tendríais clientes muy satisfechos como yo, a quienes nos llegan los libros con las puntas dobladas o el lomo picoteado a consecuencia de un embalaje de cartón con escasa protección y muy fino.Un saludo y muy agradecido por el libro.

Not a step by step "how to", but an entertaining and insightful exploration of foundational concepts. A great starting point for those new to comedy writing, or those who'd like a refresher on some of the fundamentals. The ideas are presented clearly and concisely. Steve Kaplan is an excellent communicator. Highly recommended.

Un livre clair, efficace… et drôle. L'ouvrage dévoile les arcanes technique du rire au cinéma. Essentiel pour les auteurs intéressés par le ce genre.