British Comedy Guide

Syd Field and Robert McKee

I've just had delivered from Amazon Syd Field's 'Screenplay, The Foundations of Screenwriting' and Robert McKee's 'Story'.

Have you read them?

Any good?

Which one should I read first?

Can anyone think of any more ingenious ways for me to not actually getting round to writing.

Cheers to you
JW

I heard good things about McKee. Haven't read it myself though it was recommended to me by a producer.

Dan

Syd Field is the nursery slope and McKee the black run.

I saw Field give a seminar once and it was boring as arseholes. McKee, from what I gather, is far more entertaining.

I would say Robert McKee is the person who I've learnt the most of. The book is a condensed version of his full-on three day course so it doesn't mess about, it takes a while to digest but helped me a lot. He mainly talks about film in general although lots applies to comedy and he does cover comedy. John Cleese was a regular student at his seminars.

jdubya, one more book I'd recommend to put off actual writing is:
'The Devils Guide to Hollywood' by Joe Eszterhas (Basic Instinct; Jagged Edge; Flashdance etc.) Couldn't put it down, and still delve now and then. Some great Zsa Zsa Gabor quotes.

Incidentally, Robert McKee is mentioned numerous times in this book... Mr Eszterhas isn't a fan of his it seems - here's one extract:

"The New Yorker wrote (about Mr McKee's seminars):'McKee, who used to be an actor, rarely speaks a sentence that does not call for a word so stressed that he bares his teeth'"

Cool. Cheers. I've made the decision that I'm going to dip into Field first, simply because it's a lot shorter.

Friend of mine who's a producer at Baby Cow went on a McKee course when she was at the beeb and said it was brilliant...

One other book which I would recommend, which was recommended to me by a comedy producer at the BBC is by John Vorhaus called The Comic Toolbox 'How To BE Funny Even If Your Not' I went to a three day course by Vorhaus a couple of years ago and it was really good. A very simple way of building characters and story and brainstorming ideas and finding stories which work.

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