Funny Comedy Video Short
Apolito Ghosh
A story is the same. The characters need to be excellent, the plot gripping, the idea original and engaging, the presentation professional. The humour should simply complement the story, giving it style and making it more enjoyable to read.
Just because you have a handsome hero who can drive really fast without crashing, stand in the middle of gunfight without getting shot and blow shit up without hurting any innocent bystanders, does not mean you have an entertaining action thriller.
The danger here is making the situation slapstick in an unbelievable way, with characters acting out of character or a plot being manipulated to generate a laugh. This can feel unnatural and disengage a reader. While common in sketch shows, this is not appropriate for a short story. Readers expect more depth.
Despite the scythe, the rotting cloak and the distinct lack of flesh coating his crumbling bones, Death was a sensitive individual. He disliked causing upset. Most people found the experience of dying traumatic enough, without him being disagreeable.
If the situation is placed in the story to generate a laugh via bared willies in a busy shop and inappropriate torrents of urine, then no. The reader will not be able to suspend their disbelief. They will disengage from the story and ask questions like:
Clichs become clichs because they are commonly used. This means they are not original. They do not help a writer create a unique voice. They do not engage a reader. They are unlikely to help you become a published author. More often than not (I did it again, did you notice?) they will lead to stories being rejected.
Canadian author, Olivier Breuluex, recently took me up on the offer at the end of the previous paragraph. Our discussion was interesting, so I created a blog post from it. You can read it here.
I find watching funny scenes a second time allows me to appreciate the techniques used to make someone laugh. First time through, it makes you chuckle. Second time through, ask yourself why you found it funny. You can then apply the same techniques to your own writing.
There are a lot of comedy short stories available to read for free in the short stories section of the site. Many are written by me, but there are some by other authors. I am now publishing work from other writers. Please visit my submissions guideline page to learn more.
As a measure of quality control, every story featured on my website has been previously published, either through short story competitions, magazines or writing journals. So each story has been successful and deemed as being publishable by professional editors and competition judges.
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Chris D
Hey Chris, I have actually been thinking about the issue of comedy in the modern age a lot... there is an awful lot of political correctness out there and it is interesting to me to see that things that people of our age find (found?) funny severely disturb younger people. I have a number of different projects in various states of disarray no doubt some of which could get me tarred and feathered in certain quarters.
Jan D
Hello Chris. Humour, as you so rightly say, is subjective. Fantasy and Science Fiction attempts at humour leave me cold. As does resorting to foul language. Wee and poo jokes are hilarious to children and old boys.
I think humour should be used to break down political, cultural and religious barriers. Let's all laugh at ourselves and others. Beneath every successfully funny joke lurks something sad or serious. My interest (I'm 65 soon) is in comedy script writing.
I was working all weekend on a long story (10,000 words!) which I have been attempting since 2013 and will eventually finish. In your experience, is there any kind of market for stories of such a length? It has the same kind of realism as your story about the war vet - it's just much, much longer. I know it is sort of a grey area between the short story and novellette/novella family, so I don't want to waste my time sending out to magazines that don't consider that length of story. Any advice most appreciated!
Margaret M
Dear Chris, thank you for your writing advice. Do you like David Sedaris? I met him in Bournemouth and he was so... nice. I am a sad elderly (66) woman, with almost constant hip pain and MS. Husband has ME, so you can imagine the fun we have some days. I write most days and will enter your To Hull and Back Competition. At present have RSI, but what's life without whimsy? LOL
Nick B
Hi Chris. Brilliant article. I'll be coming back to refer a number of times. As it happens, 2 of my favourite authors are Douglas and Terry. I love the Discworld series - especially those involving the Night Watch characters. I've just started writing again after a 10 yr break. I'm doing fantasy and attempting comedy with it. Two firsts for me. Thank you. Hope I can produce something you would be proud of.
Christopher Fielden and all the other contributing authors published via this website have asserted their right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the authors of these works.
The actors you choose can make or break your comedy short film. Look for actors who have a knack for comedy and can deliver their lines with perfect timing and delivery. For Are We Doing This? we used Mandy, going through some 100+ showreels & selftapes to find the people that correctly embodied the characters.
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While slips, trips, and falls are no laughing matter when they really happen in one of your facilities, we can all agree that watching people stumble can be funny. Thanks to this video from Heerema Fabrication Group, we get a humerous reminder to be safe on the job and stay aware to avoid getting hurt.
We know you're busy -- the full film is a whopping 23 minutes long -- and in the spirit of taking shortcuts in the workplace, we are providing you with a condensed version (an unmoving still of the title track with the story of "Three Finger Joe" playing in the background).
In class: This is perfect for introducing a new genre to students. After reading, ask students to craft their own science-fiction short story. As a class, brainstorm a list of activities and events that take place all the time that we think are totally normal. Then, ask students to write their version of an alien race trying to figure out a birthday party, after-school detention, or lunch in the school cafeteria.
Satire is a tough genre for so many students. The popular satirical online news magazine The Onion comes to the rescue here with a hysterical piece that, while not a short story exactly, certainly tells a tale students will guffaw over. In the article, students learn the plight of a young man who almost received severe consequences for driving while under the influence. Some satirical pieces are almost too serious for students to see as satire, but this one does a great job of taking a serious subject and turning it on its head to make a point.
This short story caper takes on the classic detective trope and mocks it mercilessly. Over-the-top costumes, mistaken identities, and a ridiculous reveal make this a truly funny short story to share with your students.
In class: I wish I still taught the mystery unit I taught for many years so that I could add this funny short story to the mix. This is a perfect piece to introduce satire. It mocks many of the most common elements of typical detective stories in a truly hilarious fashion.
In class: Best suited for older middle school and high school students, I would love to use this as a mentor text. Imagine the creative writing pieces students could come up with if asked to personify something in their lives.
In class: Finding characters from the past that students can relate to is tricky. I like the idea of asking students to free-write or discuss what situations make them feel anxious or uncomfortable. They could write down feelings, descriptions, and images. After reading this story, they could create their own humorous (or serious) stories about their own scenario.
In class: While Dahl may not have meant this short story to be considered science fiction, it certainly could fit into that genre. This piece would be perfect to pair with nonfiction articles about how AI is affecting creative fields as well as an argumentative unit in which students discuss whether or not these stories are better or worse than those written by human authors.
Oh man, this play is hilarious. I had the fortune of being an usher in a Sydney theatre that had his show on for an entire month. Every single night I laughed so hard I had tears in my eyes. Following an ill-fated performance by an amateur theatre company of a fictitious murder-mystery play loosely based on The Mousetrap the amateur company putting it on must go through hell to complete their performance. Literally everything that could go wrong in a play, actors being knocked unconscious, the set falling down, tech crew finding themselves in onstage roles, all of it and more happens in this one disaster of a performance. Side-splittingly funny The Play That Goes Wrong is an absolute delight to watch, read or perform.
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