How to Write Comedy, by Brad Ashton

A book so old, the author witnessed the big bang.

I bet you laughed. I bet you did. If you didn’t, where’s your sense of humour?

Waiting for something funny, of course.

Or you believe in God. If you do, there’s no such thing as the big bag, which means it isn’t a funny remark, or meaningful in any way.

And since that’s now explained, you realise how funny I am.

Which means this review can turn to the book.

But first.

The author, Brad Ashton, a man who’s written comedy for… well I don’t know who he’s written comedy for, but he’s been in the business a pretty long time.

That’s the business of life and the business of comedy.

This book has a copyright date of 1983. If the author was 40 when he wrote this, now in 2021, that would make him, well, really pretty old.

To give you an idea, my copy has fully yellow pages. So does that make this as funny as an old British phone book?

It’s not about the laughs, but it does have some inside.

Without padding, the book gets straight to Gag Writing and Gag Switching.

You’ll see how word lists can be used to come up with ideas. Then with the techniques that follow, try and create jokes from them.

With those techniques come examples.

Some are cheesy, some are funny, while others might be deemed racist, sexist, or fattist.

And with several jokes about the overweight, you’ll wonder how he fitted them all in.

Going back to the examples. Topics include; cars, doctors, automation, flying, Christmas. You’re given the subject of children, plus 39 associated words, to see if what you just read can help you craft your own jokes.

So get on with it. The time’s ticking, and with a watch that’s been running since 1983, it means he’s very old, and can’t be kept waiting.

It also means he’s got some fantastic batteries.

When it comes to writing your own, you’ll be able to have a pretty good try, as Ashton’s text is plenty actionable. The numerous examples give you a great place to start.

The part of switching gags also has many examples — both funny and unfunny — to see how it’s done. While you have a lot to look at, the book, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to The Boardroom, gives a more instructive guide (if that’s your thing).

Routining and Tailoring Gags does what it says. It shows you how to arrange individual jokes and put them together to form a routine. If you’ve read some Perret or Greg Dean’s work, this is the same style.

The tailoring part of the chapter should also fit you.

No, I’m not sorry.

Ashton talks about past comedians and how their styles influence the kind of jokes that work for them. It’s an opportunity to think how your own writing might be personalised, either to yourself or for others.

Moving on to Sketches, Quickies, Black-Outs and Cross-Overs.

Again, it’s straight in, no beating around the bush.

But if you see any feet sticking out…

Each item in the chapter has examples, with the author coming along to explain. It’s all concise and easy to follow, apart from maybe example 7, which doesn’t properly get across how it would translate to screen.

Satire is a relatively short chapter. The information’s still engaging and useful, while the example sketch, which may have been funny one time, may not be so much today (dated terminology aside).

Have a read and decide for yourself.

You can tell the author’s been around a while when he mentions Sid Caesar. Then again, Ashton’s so old, he’s written for Julius Caesar.

Bdum ti -ck- kkk.

Oops, the symbol’s cracked. It was rusted through.

Writing for foreign markets is well covered.

But, as a warning, you may find an example or two that was acceptable at the time, a bit unsavoury now.

Despite that, the ideas are incredibly helpful to how you can style your material, should you want to target a foreign market.

It’s possible this is a somewhat lesser concern in the 21st century (than when the book was published). With a lot of western culture — particularly American — embraced worldwide since, overseas audiences grasp many more ‘home’ references than they did in the past.

Even so, it’s useful to keep these pointers in mind, so anything you create is accessible to any market.

Situation Comedy is broken down into two parts.

Chapter 6 on characterisation is very well done. Plenty to think about, amusing and well chosen examples, with interesting information.

After that is the chapter on storylines.

You’re shown how to go about basic ideas and how plots build from those. The help continues as Ashton works through the beginnings of an imaginary sitcom.

In between, there’s talk of classic sitcoms, and how recognisable characters might behave in hypothetical plot situations. A few paragraphs are devoted to Some Like it Hot, while other famous tv series get looked at, to show how they work.

Again, the ideas are well presented, and without fluff.

To round out the book, a shortish chapter on Selling Your Work.

You get guidelines on British and US shows. That’s a little bit on running time, and accepted script format either side of the pond, along with addresses you can submit your work to.

Some will be obsolete, some might still work, most will be digital.

So not so useful today, unless you don’t want to hear back.

Although it’s a nice get out if you can’t face rejection.

Verdict

An enjoyable read. The book provides a useful cross section of advice on scripted comedy.

If you accept the date it was printed and the type of jokes which were allowed, the information for writing comedy still works well today.

Recommended for:

- Getting started with writing. This will help you choose from writing for stand-up, sketch shows, tv shows and sitcoms.

Not for:

- Performance. There’s nothing in it on actually performing jokes themselves, if that’s your thing.

- If you feel you might be offended. Some things in the book are not acceptable in today’s world.

Other thoughts

I like the way this book goes into its subject. If you want an example of a book with minimal padding, this is a great example.

Bonus

6 jokes on the subject of children and some associated words:

Kids toys are so cheap these days. They come with plastic thinner than a book on the health benefits of sugar.

And the amount of toys in a gift set. One or two. What’s it trying to match? The amount of retained promises in a government manifesto?

Then you pick up a kid’s cars. Really futuristic looking — no wheels. That’s because they’re so flimsy they fell off before it came out the box.

They’re safer than they used to be. It was a long time since they used led paint. Now you can’t trip over them either, because they disintegrate from the air of your feet moving towards them.

Kids’ bedtimes are so late, when your teenage ones stagger back in from town, the younger ones are still up watching Teletubbies.

Modern school is so traumatic, child psychologists are common place. They’re the 5 year olds helping the broken down teachers.

Plus, some jokes from Greg Dean’s Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy system

I say from. So far, I’ve struggled with the system. While thinking my way through it, this is what I came up with. Many here are simply what I thought of while trying to work through or around the steps.

These from the UK news of the weekend 4/5 September ’21, which talks of a plumber, Kev Crane. He got an album deal when he was heard singing along to the radio at work.

Anyway, here they are:

Singing Leicestershire plumber Kev Crane lands record deal on job. The producers heard him at the end of a pipe.

Kev made his own studio. He has microphones made from pipes and sings atop a radiator.

He’s on an album with different trades people. It’s called, Can we fix it? No. We’re busy singing.

The album producers picked him up when they heard him singing karaoke into a burst water pipe.

Singing Leicestershire plumber Kev Crane lands record deal on job. While the singing was good, the flooding was a real shame.

Kev intends to leave plumbing behind, for good. Or for bad, if you expect him to finish the job.

Kev said he’d built his own music studio during lockdown. But he’s not a builder, so it’s open air, and the only things working are the pipes.

He’s kept not just his lungs in shape. The album art shows off his fantastic plumber’s bum.

Kev’s go a good set of lungs, and an even more fantastic plumber’s bum.

Kev has now released an 80s-influenced album. Lyrics include walking stick, zimmer frame and hot water bottle.