We all love humor, because it’s fun to laugh. But why do we laugh? And is there any way we can learn to write funny things so that other people will laugh? Is there some secret to it?
I’ve been fascinated by that question all my life. When I was ten years old, I stumbled onto my first funny cartoons. I was hooked. I’ve been studying humor ever since.
I once spent several months looking at 27,000 New Yorker cartoons! I’ve heard Lenny Bruce, in person, live, twice in one month; Friz Freleng, who directed many of the Bugs Bunny cartoons, and created the Pink Panther cartoon character, was a good friend of mine; and I went to Jack Benny’s 75th birthday party.
So, I’ve spent a lot of time around humor.
And there is a secret to what makes people laugh! It’s a very simple secret, and it’s one that I share in my teleseminar, with Stephanie Chandler, for the Nonfiction Authors Association.
In the teleseminar, I discuss how other people have used the secret, and how I’ve used it in different projects. I first started using this technique writing funny greeting cards; then later, when I was writing for The Monkees. And I’ve been using it ever since.
This secret was also the primary technique I used in my book, “THE GOOD BOOK…of Bible Cartoons.” The book was very popular and became a best seller. (It didn’t hurt that I had a great illustrator, Sherman Labby, to work with.)
I have used this technique once again, in my latest (and I think my funniest) project, “The Hooper Brothers: Who’s in front?” It’s a graphic novel, and once again I have wonderful illustrations from Sherman. I’m finishing it now, and It should be available before Christmas.
The heart and soul of each of these projects is the comedy technique I mentioned earlier. I explain what it is, and how to use it, to Stephanie Chandler in our up-coming teleseminar, November 7, 2018.
Come join us! Follow me on Twitter.
