Why do you like comedy so much?

Why do you like comedy so much? What was the first comedy that turned you from the average fan to boarding on fan. And for the writers, what turned you to writing mainly comedy?

As for me, I used to love cartoons, loved drawing them myself and avidly watching anything Warner Brothers (but not girlie Disney, lol) I also grew up during the golden age of Friday night comedy on Channel 4 and BBC2 (which I remember included; Frasier, Friends, Whose Line...?, Father Ted, Bottom, Red Dwarf, South Park, So Graham Norton (at the time it was great) and others I can't remember, lol) and yeah I suppose I developed a habit from there. Thanks to my dad I also grew up watching Fawlty Towers and other similar sitcoms from the 70s.

And the writing part comes from the enjoyment and satisfaction I get from writing a decent joke, it's a huge buzz and I love letting my creativity flow onto the page. I actually started writing surreal tales when I was about 8 and then at 13 moved onto Tarantino-esque gangster flicks, lol. Which always had a comic twist anyway and somehow naturally led to writing mainly comedy and after finding this place, my interested in comedy and writing it became immense.

I think it was Spaced, which originally made me aware that anyone could write a sitcom, I don't mean that in the offensive way, it was the first time I saw/became aware of the writers, they were no longer faceless beings that hid behind the scenes.

Although I owe everything to Roald Dahl, who first encouraged me (not personally) to pick up a pen and put it to paper. If I hadn't have done this, I wonder if I'd ever had any interest in anything creative beyond being the viewer/reader stage?

Spooky! I was actually just thinking of starting an almost identical thread! The only thing which stopped me was that I couldn't think of quite what to say myself, so I shall ponder... *does so*

Talking sitcom here.

Red Dwarf. My brother got me into Red Dwarf when I was about 9. It's a big influence on my humour and I think that (combined with all the proper funny kids shows I grew up with: DangerMouse, Maid Marian etc) meant I had an advanced sense of humour as a kid. It made me love comedy and comedy writing. I remember trying to write a Red Dwarf episode with my then best mate. It was a continuation of series 6. (Series 6 went out in 1993, so I was 9 when I was doing that)

It was Red Dwarf actually that made realise that 'writers' existed. I remember thinking the cast were the funniest people in the world (as actors Chris Barrie is brilliant mind, so it's not all the writer's work) but I thought 'Well, no, it's the writers who do it'. That was probably a big realisation for me. Age 9. That and Pogs, obviously.

It was when I was about 11 that I really got into proper comedy - Father Ted, Friends, Frasier etc etc. Mostly thanks to my brother.

Watching Friends, and basing my ENTIRE persona as a teen on Chandler and getting laughs made me REALLY want to write comedy. It was shit, obviously, but it's a start.

Spaced, and Simon Pegg in particular did a lot for me as well in terms of influence.

Also I was never a big film buff, I'm still not. Comedy is my film in terms of buffery. As long as I can remember I was familiar with writers names etc, and seeking out their other work. Getting thrilled that Linehan and Mathews wrote for Coogan's Run and all that.

Quote: Aaron @ April 9 2008, 6:41 PM BST

Spooky! I was actually just thinking of starting an almost identical thread! The only thing which stopped me was that I couldn't think of quite what to say myself, so I shall ponder... *does so*

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Lol, I'm imagining most members came here looking for a particular comedy and just decided to hang around and the others are all writers .

There's an obvious answer: "Because it's funny." But I want to know why people took that leap from fan to super fan. It's like I have other interests but none of them I would really seek a forum out for.

I'd say watching Red Dwarf (which is more old school, from the Blackadder school') then a few years on watching Father Ted and later The Simpsons meant I'd experienced many types and styles of comedy in quick succession, that probably added to my love of the genre.

It was telling, too, that no one at my school had heard of Seinfeld.

Quote: Seefacts @ April 9 2008, 6:48 PM BST

That and Pogs, obviously.

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Pogs! F**k yes! Old school!

Quote: Seefacts @ April 9 2008, 6:48 PM BST

I remember trying to write a Red Dwarf episode with my then best mate. It was a continuation of series 6. (Series 6 went out in 1993, so I was 9 when I was doing that)

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I did the exact same thing! But in 1997 when I realised that Red Dwarf VII was pretty poor. I was 14 then. I don't think I got very far with it. The one line I can remember was

Kryten: More suspicious than a copy of Playboy in a convent?

*sighs*

Quote: Aaron @ April 9 2008, 6:57 PM BST

Pogs! F**k yes! Old school!

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Are we of the same vintage?

I'm 23, how old are you?

20 - so not far off.

Quote: Aaron @ April 9 2008, 7:00 PM BST

20 - so not far off.

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20?!?

F**k me.

My CAR's older than you.

Surprised, by any chance?

(But does it 'go'?)

Quote: Seefacts @ April 9 2008, 6:59 PM BST

Are we of the same vintage?

I'm 23, how old are you?

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I'm 23 in under a month. And that fact that your brother got you into most of the comedies is pretty reflective of my experience. What with Red Dwarf and when I was really young drawing cartoons.

Quote: Aaron @ April 9 2008, 7:05 PM BST

Surprised, by any chance?

(But does it 'go'?)

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I thought you were 23 as well for some reason. I'm going through a phase of feeling old.

Does it go? The car? Yeah, it does - though it's bit like a PC from the mid-90s. Bit slow and beige.

Quote: Leevil @ April 9 2008, 7:05 PM BST

I'm 23 in under a month. And that fact that your brother got you into most of the comedies is pretty reflective of my experience. What with Red Dwarf and when I was really young drawing cartoons.

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I used to draw cartoons as a kid too.

The Beano is MASSIVE influence on me in terms of how I would draw. Looking back some of the Beano comic strips were beautifully drawn, actually. I remember creating my own comic with this kind of stupid shaven headed character, and two rabbits who didn't get on. Genius there.

I remember pogs being far too expensive.

I think the only pack I ever got came free with the Beano and even then it had two the same in it.

One of my mates had thousands. He got bored one day and stuck them all to his bedroom ceiling. They're still there.

I remember being a bit naughty and putting my bedroom tv on at about 1 in the morning when I was a kid and catching something called Monty Python's Flying Circus.
I thought 'oh cool, aeroplanes and stuff!'.
Then this weird guy with a beard and torn clothes crawled over a sand dune and I thought wtf? Is this the right programme?
I'd been a big Tommy Cooper and Open All Hours fan before this and I'd never seen anything quite like it! I laughed so hard my mum came in thinking I was crying and I got caught watching.

Still, I've loved to write since I was very young, but I didn't try my hand at comedy till much later on in life, after I'd started reading Pratchett and the Red Dwarf books. This was a kind of wound-out eurika moment where I realised that since I love writing and laughing/making people laugh, combining the two would make it all so much more enjoyable.
And it really did. As Seefacts says, comedy is the aces! I would love to make a living doing this, being rich is just not something I'm bothered about, I just want to have a laugh and make others laugh at the same time.