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Printed from https://writing.com/main/newsletters/action/archives/id/1424-.html
Comedy: December 13, 2006 Issue [#1424]

Newsletter Header
Comedy


 This week:
  Edited by: Mavis Moog Author IconMail Icon
                             More Newsletters By This Editor  Open in new Window.

Table of Contents

1. About this Newsletter
2. A Word from our Sponsor
3. Letter from the Editor
4. Editor's Picks
5. A Word from Writing.Com
6. Ask & Answer
7. Removal instructions

About This Newsletter

This is my last Comedy Newsletter. In the Letter From The Editor I recap, very briefly, what I've learnt about writing funny stuff, with a special note about taste.

Editor's Picks brings you some wonderful humour from our own writers.

Find out what you get when you cross a hippy in Ask and Answer.


Word from our sponsor

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Letter from the editor

And the Frog Dies


This is my last Comedy Newsletter. I have been editing one a month since November 2005. It's only fair to let someone else have a go.

Writing about comedy is even more difficult than writing comedy. Victor Lewis-Smith summed it up when he said, "Analysing humour is like dissecting a frog - few people are interested, and the frog dies."

I've opened up that frog a little. I've looked at taboo-breaking, parody, satire, hyperbole, surprise, humility, punning, insult, malapropisms, and eggcorns, but in the end, I have to admit there is no golden recipe for humour. Everyone's sense of humour is different.

I am one of those strange people who likes puns. Many writers do, you know. It's because we have an interest in words. Someone once said, "Punning is the lowest form of wit," to which another replied, "Quite; that's why it's the foundation of all wit."

Some people prefer farce and absurdity while others enjoy the sophistication of slow-burning humour. The fact is, we can only appeal to some of the people some of the time. The trick is, to know yourself, and what makes you laugh, and hope there are others like you.

I asked a question a couple of months ago, about how excusable is it to steal jokes. The consensus seemed to be, it's ok amongst friends in idle chatter, but not acceptable in work produced for a paying audience. Many comic writers ignore this wisdom. A common method of joke writing is to use an established format, and adapt it for ones own purposes. Here are two jokes, one told by Bernard Manning and the other by Jimmy Carr. Can you see the similarity?

*Note5* "People accuse me of being a racist and a Jew-hater. But I'm not. I'm not anti-semitic. Something people don't realise is that my uncle died in a concentration camp.....Yes, he did...He fell from the machine-gun tower." ~ Bernard Manning

*Note5* "My grandfather never got over the war. He couldn't forgive the Germans for what they did to him. They passed him over for promotion, time and time again." ~ Jimmy Carr.

Now, I'm not saying Jimmy Carr stole Manning's joke. I think his is actually the better of the two, but I wouldn't be surprised to learn he'd heard the Manning joke, would you? This adaptation of other people's material seems to be acceptable, as long as something new, in terms of slickness (or should that be sickness?), timing or setting is injected. The basis of shock and dubious taste is shared by both jokes. If that's what makes you laugh, you'll probably find them both funny. If, on the other hand, you think such a subject is too shocking, you may feel a boundary of taste has been crossed.

In the Ask and Answer section of this newsletter you'll find the suggestions you made for the punchline to a joke I gave you last month. The original joke, written by a friend of mine, is certainly a taboo-breaker. Which punchline do you find funniest? Inevitably your answer will depend on your personal taste, and that's one of the secrets of humour. It's often a matter of taste.

__________________________________________________

As this is my last newsletter, I thought I'd finish with some famous last words. Try this little quiz. The answers are below.

Whose last words were......
*Bullet*"I'm half cra-zy o-ver the love of you. It won't be a sty-lish mar-riage. I can't afford a car-riage---"?
*Bullet* "The rest is silence."?
*Bullet* "Rosebud"?
*Bullet* "Applaud, my friends, the comedy is finished." ?
*Bullet* "I should never have switched from Scotch to Martinis. "?
*Bullet* "This is funny."?
*Bullet* "Die, my dear? Why that's the last thing I'll do!"?


Answers
Hal-9000, in 2001 A Space Odessy.
Hamlet.
Kane, in Citizen Kane.
Beethoven
Humphrey Bogart
Doc Holliday
Groucho Marx (adapted from those of Lord Palmerston)


_____________________________________________________



I hope everyone has a splendid holiday, and the new year is everything you want it to be. Good luck with all your writing, expecially your humorous endeavours.
Thank you for reading.
Good bye.

Mavis Moog Author IconMail Icon


Editor's Picks

All these items won an honorable mention in "Invalid Item" Open in new Window..


More pest control. This time it's raccoons.
 The Return of Mr. Gummy Open in new Window. (13+)
A True Tale of Man vs. Nature vs. Quarterstaff
#1164740 by ImpulseZip Author IconMail Icon


This funny story might teach us to keep quiet about our aspirations *Smile*.
 The Chicken Story Open in new Window. (18+)
This is a humorous anecdote.
#1176704 by Hillstreetblues Author IconMail Icon


These three are definitely in the taboo-breaking category.

 Clean, Dead Steve Open in new Window. (18+)
poor clean, dead steve. laura's got a heck of a mess to clean up.
#1089779 by Lauriemariepea Author IconMail Icon


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1183007 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#922810 by Not Available.


These were not entries for the contest.
 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1186176 by Not Available.


 Invalid Item Open in new Window.
This item number is not valid.
#1177303 by Not Available.

 
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Ask & Answer

Last month I asked you for punch-lines to this joke:
What do you get if you cross a hippy?
Here are some of your answers:


A thinker never sleeps Author Icon
A foot massage as you're crossing. Okay so I'm not so good at this. I thought I'd give it a shot

Big Mike 2humble2bragbut... Author Icon
Answer to question: He gives you a PEACE of his mind!
Peter Sellers as Inspector Clouseau was great at the self-effacing humor. Its even better when the character is a fool with an ego.

Pennie Author Icon
To cross a hippy will cause a dislocated disk *Smile*.

What is "malapropisms"? Yes! I can read. Yes! I can pronounce. But, pls define. Thks!
Malapropisms are mispronounced words or slips of the tongue. They are named after the character, Mrs. Malaprop, from Sheridan's play, The Rivals. For example, "My effluence over my nieces is very small." - meaning "influence." ~ MM*Flower5*

Satuawany Author Icon
What do you get if you cross a hippy?
First off, the chicken's going to be mad that the street's gone and I'm not sure he's going to care much about getting to the other side of the hippy.

Here's the punchline I have;
Q: What do you get if you cross a hippy?
A: 2000 years of Christianity.

~ Ouch! ~ MM*Flower5*

And the 1000 Gps prize for best punchline goes to, Big Mike 2humble2bragbut... Author Icon. Well done Mike, for your good taste and wit.

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