I saw a video about the struggles of stand-up comedians and saw how much they have to write and rewrite and struggle to get even 10 decent minutes of an act. For some reason, comedy writing fascinates me--the successful comedians make it look so effortless, but some of them might spend an entire day on just one joke. If I wanted to endure more punishment and even more self-loathing and rejection and doubt than fiction writing already offers, I would try my hand at stand-up. It requires a multitude of talents, including the ability to face scorn with dignity.
Below are some helpful and interesting
comedy writing tips I came across:
Understand that a joke occurs at the intersection of two ideas.
Connect ideas that go together or are wildly opposite.
Manipulate your audience. Take them down a particular road and then surprise them with something else.
Pull the rug out from under your audience. Employ good timing so that they don't step on the rug too early or get on it and then get off before you've had a chance to deliver the humor.
It could be helpful for a variety of writing, I think.
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