Funny Top Ten Lists - Writing Tips From your List Master
Select a target audience and stay focused on it.
Although it would seem counter-intuitive, the more carefully you design your best lists to interest a rather narrowly defined audience, the larger your overall audience may become. You must face the point that a comedy writer simply should not be all things to all people.
If you might try to appeal to everyone, you're going to be appealing to no one for example. And that's the kiss of death to get a comedy writer. Your aim ought to be to develop a loyal following of readers which will sing your praises for their like-minded friends. Birds of an feather really do flock together.
Avoid the usage of obscenities.
It has become quite common for stand-up comedians to implement obscene language for its shock value. The truth is, there are many performers whose entire act is predicated upon their using foul, offensive language. However, this practice has reached takes place of diminishing returns. Obscenities have not only lost their shock value, but a majority of audiences realize that their use is just a lazy try to get unearned laughs.
Audiences should still laugh when watching a foul-mouthed stand-up comedian, but here's the important point: they are a lot less likely to seek out obscene material when shopping for humorous entertainment online. Majority of the women are unlikely to be amused by it, and men generally lose interest by the repetitive using written obscenities rather quickly.
Besides, there are several good substitutes for obscenities. Less costly become a bit more creative. Usually, such substitutes are far funnier compared to the obscenities themselves. If you refer to a man's penis as his "joystick" or "earth-mover," rather than resorting to an offensive street obscenity, you'll be rewarded with a larger and far more appreciative audience for your funny top ten lists.
Don't number your lists backward from 10 to a single.
If you use the David Letterman style best list, in which the list builds to an ultimate punch line, you are sending an exceptionally bad message: Namely, the first several entries will never be very good; the ones in the middle will be mediocre; simply the last few entries will tend to be very funny.
Instead, like the best novelists, you should start which has a great "hook," maintain a high level of excitement in the middle, and top off your list having an outstanding conclusion. Because of this you should put your best entries in the # 1, 2, 5, 9 and 10 positions. Then, the slightly less-than-hilarious entries may be placed in the 3, 4, 6, 7 and 8 slots, without causing any noticeable lack of momentum.
Develop a reliable system for locating new material.
A lack of new material within the pipeline is one of the greatest causes of anxiety for those of people who write humorous best lists. It's pretty challenging write something funny while you can't come up with an amusing topic, and punch it down with some relevant comical expressions.
Writing funny best lists is all about choosing a germ of truth that your particular audience will recognize, and instantly connect with, in their everyday lives. Fortunately, not just is truth stranger than fiction, it is equally much funnier than whatever you decide and could make up. And the ones amusing truths can consistently be found in everyday events.
News reports of current events, whether appear on television, in magazines and newspapers, or over the internet, are a never-ending mother lode of humorous material for the serious composer of funny best lists.
These reports may also be good sources of one-liners, currently popular expressions, and words that tickle the funny bone. Experienced comedy writers often compile computerized lists of these materials, because they can quickly be retrieved, and helpful to break through some very frustrating writer's blocks.
So there you might have them: Four important insights regarding the comedy writing craft that you will never have to learn by painful trial and error.
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