Writing Comedy

Halpern, C. & Close D. & Myers, M. (1994). Truth in comedy: The manual for improvisation. Pioneer Drama.

The 'Harold', an innovative improvisational tool, is described fully in this new book for would-be actors and comics.

Carter, J. (2001). The comedy bible: From stand-up to sit-com. Atria.

Carter helps readers first determine which genre of comedy writing or performing suits them best and then directs them in developing, refining, and selling their work.

Helitzer, M. and Shatz, M. (2016). Comedy writing secrets (3rd ed.). Writer's Digest.

Learn the basics of joke construction, as well as in-depth comedy-writing techniques that you can apply to a variety of print and online markets.

Holloway, S. (2010). The serious guide to joke writing. Bookshaker.

When you read this book you will discover insider tricks professionals use, where jokes really come from, techniques for creating simple wordplay, how to tap into a continuous stream of comedy consciousness, creative tools such as Joke-Webbing and the Hadron Joke Collider, how to mine newspapers and headlines for topical comedy gold, ways to take jokes in weird directions with surrealism, how to hone your jokes to minimize memorization.

Dikkers, S. (2014). How to write funny. CreateSpace.

You'll learn the three sure-fire ways to generate material, the 11 kinds of jokes and how to tell them, the secret to permanently overcoming writer's block, and many more tips, tricks and techniques.