Great Comedy Writer? Who cares? Grow a thick skin.

A lot of the threads in the Writers Discussion focus upon what YOU can change in how you write comedy to improve your chances of success.

On the other hand, you (as comedy writers) are always advised to "write what you find funny".

These two pieces of advice are (mostly) incompatible and contradictory.

You can advance - and get your scripts noticed - by writing the comedy you find funny. However, this is a far slower route. Why not just write a pilot script along the lines of what is currently considered funny? Well, the problem is that commissioners' tastes change all the time. They want originality, something new. But they also want something that reminds them of another recent comedy show - but not so much as it's too similar.

What do network comedy people/indie producers want?

It might have been the question Freud should have asked.

My advice?

Write want you find funny, in the script structure you find funny. Try to follow the rules of a half-hour sitcom however. If you don't know what these are, you haven't watched enough sitcom - why do you even want to write it, FFS?

If you're not a funny writer, you won't succeed at all by this method. Go on some courses, read some books, workshop and leap towards every opportunity.

If you are a funny writer you'll still spend (probably) years waiting for your comedy to be realised. If you're not a naturally-talented comedy writer, then compromise, compromise, compromise. Feel no shame. You may still not make it. However, you may get ahead of the naturally talented comedy writer by compromising.

Here's the downside - neither the naturally-talented comedy writer nor the hack comedy writer are guaranteed success. There are a lot of both of you. But it's up to you to choose...

Do you want to be the (potentially never-successful) original comedy writer?

Or do you want to be the (potentially never-successful) mediocre, compromising comedy writer?

Not a great dilemma, is it?

Good luck, comedy writers! (But most especially the naturally-talented ones. And most especially.... me.)

Maybe you should just quit now, forget about writing narrative comedy and have a happier life?

This is not a negative message.

Because, either way, you'll ignore this advice.

So first we need to work out whether or not we're funny before we know whether to compromise.

Was this the message?

Writing what you think other people want will never work. If it's not your sense of humour, you won't be able to write it. And then there's really no point anyway, since you won't enjoy it.

I'm not sure this is really about commissioners being dicks or people not getting a chance etc. If you put the work in and you're talented enough, you have a fair chance. If you don't get on TV or Radio, go on stage or the internet and do it yourself, then market it yourself.

If it's funny enough maybe you'll get an audience. And if you get an audience, maybe those commissioners will take more notice anyway. There's tons of routes into comedy and audiences for all kinds of things.

What's the definition of comedy success anyway??

Talented writers may never see anything of theirs on TV (which does seem to be a benchmark of the 'success') same as plenty of actors, screenwriters, novelists etc will never get a break either, some through lack of any talent and the rest through lack of luck or commitment or attitude or being too quirky, wrong place wrong time, slept in too late, whatever.
Just keep doing it as long as the burning desire is there...be your own judge.

Quote: T.W. @ 18th November 2013, 1:16 AM GMT

Maybe you should just quit now, forget about writing narrative comedy and have a happier life?

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I've failed a lot (A LOT) at trying to get a narrative comedy show produced, but still feel pretty happy and eager to carry on. I think I'm doing it all wrong.

I took your advise about growing a thick skin.

I'm still not funny, but my eczema is on this weeks bizarre bodies.

Quote: Matthew Stott @ 18th November 2013, 10:23 AM GMT

I've failed a lot (A LOT) at trying to get a narrative comedy show produced, but still feel pretty happy and eager to carry on. I think I'm doing it all wrong.

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Said Matthew, but he wasn't down hearted as he knew this week was going to be the start of another series of whacky adventures.

Wheeeeeee! He cried as he lept out of bed down the spiral slide, to the land of make believe.

Do I care whether anyone else thinks I'm funny?

Yes, I do in the sense that everyone likes to get positive reinforcement for something they've done.

Do I care enough to completely change the way I write just so someone else finds it funny?

Not really, no.

I'll write what I think works. If other folks like it, great. If they don't, that's their opinion.

Be true to yourself, don't try to be someone else just to chase some mythical measure of "success".

The sin of Onan springs to mind. If you wish to pleasure yourself then go ahead. If you wish to find an audience then sometimes, and in TV a lot, some kind of compromise is needed and lots of luck. And talent. And probably something else.

I didn't realise there was an audience for people wanking.

You've never been on chat-roulette, beaky?

The trick is to compromise.
But on your terms.

Edit: I wrote this as a joke - but on reflection, I think there is quite a lot of truth in it.

Quote: beaky @ 18th November 2013, 6:54 PM GMT

I didn't realise there was an audience for people wanking.

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Aren't you on it?

As Ed Reardon once told his writing class....

"Nobody knows anything" and "Write what you know".

Quote: beaky @ 18th November 2013, 6:54 PM GMT

I didn't realise there was an audience for people wanking.

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Quote: DirtyRottenEgg @ 18th November 2013, 7:07 PM GMT

You've never been on chat-roulette, beaky?

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Careful how far you take the thick skin growing.

The rhinoceros evolved from prehistoric comedians continuously making jokes about feeling horny.