Monday, November 06, 2006
Creating Material on Current Events
I've decided to teach a workshop in writing current event material at the California Comedy Conference. Having jokes about current topics tells the audience that your act is fresh and that you're on top of what's going on.
Here are some tips for creating current event material:
-When doing personal material, try bringing a current topic or person into the "mix." i.e: "My mother hates her neighbors. She's become the Al Qaeda of the condo unit." (Then add act-out.)
-A list of three is a great way to bring current events into your act. "We live in a scary world, terrorists, the war in Iraq… (Then add the funny one which can change as the news changes) i.e: "Our vice-president is shooting people, Britany Spears is a mother…" This list of three structure gives you an easy way to plug up to date material into your act.
-If your current event joke is no longer current – let it go! Current jokes usually only have a shelf life of a few days. Oh, all those great Cheney shooting jokes, gone. ("Oh it WAS an accident. Cheney thought it was a gay cowboy.") It's hard to throw good jokes away, but you're a hack if you're still doing Clinton "cigar" jokes. It's long over – let it go.
-Sometimes you prepare some current events jokes and get to the comedy club and all the comics before you have beaten the topic to death – let your jokes go.
-Watch Leno and see if you jokes are as good as his. If they are, you might want to start submitting jokes to TV and Radio. If you've never submitted jokes before, don't start at the top, but start with your local radio DJ's.
At the California Comedy Conference, you'll learn how to make money by submitting to TV and Radio.
See you at the conference! Info at
http://www.comedyworkshops.com/ccc.html
Judy Carter
Here are some tips for creating current event material:
-When doing personal material, try bringing a current topic or person into the "mix." i.e: "My mother hates her neighbors. She's become the Al Qaeda of the condo unit." (Then add act-out.)
-A list of three is a great way to bring current events into your act. "We live in a scary world, terrorists, the war in Iraq… (Then add the funny one which can change as the news changes) i.e: "Our vice-president is shooting people, Britany Spears is a mother…" This list of three structure gives you an easy way to plug up to date material into your act.
-If your current event joke is no longer current – let it go! Current jokes usually only have a shelf life of a few days. Oh, all those great Cheney shooting jokes, gone. ("Oh it WAS an accident. Cheney thought it was a gay cowboy.") It's hard to throw good jokes away, but you're a hack if you're still doing Clinton "cigar" jokes. It's long over – let it go.
-Sometimes you prepare some current events jokes and get to the comedy club and all the comics before you have beaten the topic to death – let your jokes go.
-Watch Leno and see if you jokes are as good as his. If they are, you might want to start submitting jokes to TV and Radio. If you've never submitted jokes before, don't start at the top, but start with your local radio DJ's.
At the California Comedy Conference, you'll learn how to make money by submitting to TV and Radio.
See you at the conference! Info at
http://www.comedyworkshops.com/ccc.html
Judy Carter
