Comedy instructional — book review — Writing Humor, by Ian Bernard

The cover photo shows joke false teeth. Perhaps the book will help add bite to your writing

What an amazing line that was.

And on to the book.

It took me a little bit of time to get into this one. I know, it’s a relatively thin book, but each page has a large fill of text in it… I’m a power reader.

Before you start, a run down the table of contents.

Most chapters, you know what they’ll be about; Dialogue, Narrative, Sitcom (take a good guess at the contents, go ahead.) While the first two chapters — The Elusive Muse, The Human Condition — might make you wonder.

Some of the chapters are barely a few pages long, while a couple stretch to over twenty. That means if you’re a chapter a day person, then you’re a rubbish reader.

But keep up, because — barring chapter 5 — chapters 2–7 contain some exercises to play with (see my effort below this review).

Diving in, things quickly become analytical, but never over the top. Bernard’s style also makes for decent enough reading. The flow of the book is largely the same from chapter to chapter; introduce a topic, give examples, close.

It works.

As previously mentioned, the chapters vary in length. After a very brief Chapter 1, Chapter 2 meanders a bit.

It looks at news headlines and why some things can be funny despite their subject matter. A passage from Mark Twain and some from a few others are inserted with brief analysis. A few exercises for the reader to complete drop in the middle of this, before a further book excerpt.

This could have been broken up better. But it quickly improves.

From chapter 3 onwards, things get far more focussed. Each title’s chapter makes sense for its content (unlike the broader strokes used for chapter 2).

Since his photo isn’t in the book, here’s an expanded image of the photo on the cover. The joke is that these are the author’s real teeth.

Also, a side note critique, so hear the below.

For a writer, getting things confused — words like affected or effected — is part of the game (actually it’s unacceptable, which is why my output is unacceptable). But Ian Barnard does the unthinkable. He twice mentions something being ‘very’ unique. For writers worldwide, I hang my head in shame. Not that I’m a writer. I’m more a struggler. Still I have to point this out. You can’t qualify uniqueness.

And then you get into it.

The book reads well with its short and to the point chapters, analysing and discussing with works from a variety of authors.

By chapter 7 of 11, I was really enjoying things. The presented ideas made me smile or laugh, with the author’s discussion being unobtrusive, which lets the comedy bits do the work.

Getting on to the sitcom chapter; it has 3 ½ pages introducing it, 14 ½ of an actual script, and 2 ½ worth of closing thoughts. The Script is from Cheers. Barnard inserts the occasional line or two to explains something necessary, without interrupting the flow of text. By studying it, you learn a lot. Funny, and a great read.

Further on, apart from a 2 and a 10th worth of pages, on the final chapter about rejection, the feel of the book really ends in the preceding one.

That happens to be the author’s interviews with 4 comedy writers.

These are the short, but not too short. Ian Bernard has done a fine job of asking the questions, then standing aside while each interviewee answers. You hear them talk about plotting, structure, developing ideas and more.

It’s nice* to read the professionals reach the same outcome — an accepted finished script — while having different ways to get there (the difference between John Cleese’s and Fannie Flagg’s approach to plot could be called opposites, yet they’ve both achieved amazing success).

Once you’re done with the book, you might have noticed a very small percentage of repeated material in it. A line earlier in the book may appear later on, too. Maybe this happens once, maybe twice. But it’s a small criticism and isn’t worth mentioning (whoops.)

Overall, as an offering in the humour/comedy writing section, this book is truly unique.

*Not just nice, it’s motivational, possibly inspirational. Get to the end of what you’re working on, and if it’s of high quality, it doesn’t matter how you achieve that.

Verdict

A nice enough book that distinguishes itself from many others with a distinct feel. It never gets demanding ,while its frequently amusing with its numerous examples to show off the talked of techniques.

Recommended for:

If you like analysing others’ work, with a guide to describe how it’s done.

If you like doing exercises as a follow along with the text, this also includes a number for you to try out.

Not for:

Chapter 2 — this might have better received in two separate chapters.

Writing jokes. This is all about character and its a recurring theme.

Other thoughts

Due to its analytical nature and exercises, the book warrants more than one read. The excerpts in the book are pretty good, and offer a fair amount to study (and when done, you’ll know which writers work you enjoy, if you want to investigate further).

Length

Medium, 123 pages.

For the slower, dedicated readers, give about a week to read this.

It won’t take more than a day or two for the faster reader.

Extra — from page 26, 2nd exercise in Chapter 2: The Human Condition

Your character’s inner thoughts on life’s dirty tricks. Can comment on another character’s behaviour.

Why is my computer not logging in again? I’ve talked to IT about this before. They’re not in ’til 9. Got to give a restart a try. Come on, please work.

This chair feels like it’s been adjusted and someone needs it higher than me. Or my colleague’s acting up again. Great practical joke. There, the proper height. That’s much better. Now I can stretch my legs out.

Computer still loading. Time for a coffee. Where’s my cup? Where is it? This isn’t fair. Oh, there it is. What’s it doing over there? Why is there sticky tape covering the top? Bloody colleague. Of course I’ll notice. Tape. That can go in the bin. Now for some coffee.

None in there. Or that cupboard. Under the sink. Everyone’s playing tricks. Come on, it’s not even 7. A few spoonfuls and a sugar. Now I’ll be proper awake. Add some hot water. The hot water. Come on, the hot water isn’t working. Great. I’ll take this to the toilets. Wait. The switch isn’t on. Now it’s working.

Lovely and hot. Boiling away those black balls to something wonderful. Ahh, that feels good. Ahh, that feels like I’ve spilled some down my top. Great. White top with a mess on it. I’ll have to wear my jacket over it. Temperature’s only going to hit 30 Celsius today, and with the rubbish air con, today will be fabulous.

I’ll have to hit the shops for a clean top. That should be fabulous. I bet the queues are horrendous today.

Time to sit down and do some work. That guy’s in. Misbehaving, obviously. There he comes from the printer with that little smirk on his face. What’s he hiding now? He’s obviously up to something. A stack of papers with what printed on them. Are they necessary?

Finally I can log in. That took ages. How do they expect me to do any work when I can’t log in for 10 minutes.