Ideas for Comedy Writers

by Dave Haslett

  112. Senses plus 1.

  Turning up the power of your characters’ senses can lead to all sorts of humorous situations. Here are a few examples – feel free to use these or make up some of your own:

  Sight: how about the gardener who can spot a caterpillar on his prize cabbages at a distance where most people can’t even see the cabbages?

  Smell: the neighbour who turns up at the slightest whiff of cake – and the various attempts to make the kitchen airtight to prevent the smells from reaching her.

  Hearing: the parents who can hear their daughter coming home very late at night, no matter how hard she tries to be quiet.

  Touch: the woman who almost faints with pleasure if the handsome guy in the sales department accidentally rubs against her.

  113. Senses plus 2.

  Don’t forget the sixth sense. How about a woman who can sense when the man of her dreams is thinking about her? … Or at least she thinks she can. But she can also (or so she thinks) tell when he’s thinking about other women. So she might get sulky with him the next time she sees him, and he’ll have no idea what he’s done. He might not have done anything at all – perhaps she was only imagining it. And what if she can tell (or thinks she can tell) which woman he was thinking about and decides to take revenge on her? Once again there’s plenty of comedy material to play around with.

  [EXTENSION] What if he can tell what she’s thinking too? Can he really do this, or has he convinced her that he can with a few lucky guesses? He could certainly use that to his advantage!

  114. Seriously funny.

  British author Jacqueline Wilson writes ‘funny books about serious subjects’ for children and teenagers. But how about writing some ‘funny books about serious subjects’ for adults? You’ll have much more scope to be as gruesome (or erotic) as you like. Your subjects might include death, divorce and single parenthood, illness, drink and drugs, love and sex, crime and punishment, marriage, childbirth, work issues, money issues, war, politics, religion, and all sorts of other things. In fact you could use Jacqueline’s own books as a guide as to what to write about.

  115. Sitcoms – central problem.

  Most sitcom episodes revolve around a single problem. Usually this is quite a simple problem: the boss is coming for dinner, a road is to be built through the house, the company didn’t award bonuses this year, money is needed for a new church roof, and so on. Everything then follows on from that problem, and chaos and hilarity ensue. Whether the problem actually gets resolved or not is entirely up to you. But remember that each episode is basically circular in structure – the status quo is (almost) always restored by the end.

  116. Sitcoms – characters.

  Although they’re called ‘situation comedies’, sitcoms don’t really get their humour from the situation. If you study several episodes from different sitcoms and make a note of the situation and basic plot, they probably won’t be funny at all. If you put non-comedy actors in those same roles, it would become a serious drama – and probably quite a poor one. Not very entertaining.

  What makes a sitcom special is its characters. Study the same episodes again, but this time concentrate on the characters. What does each one add to the show? How would the show work if that character wasn’t there? Hopefully you’ll find that it wouldn’t work nearly as well – or at all.

  Once you get to know each character, their actions should be predictable. Viewers know that when Character A is put into Situation B it’s going to end in trouble. Anticipating this is part of the fun. Put another character in that same situation and the viewers might not be quite so interested. So it’s absolutely crucial that you get this right in your own show.

  117. Sitcoms – character types.

  One of the secrets of creating a good sitcom is to have a variety of different character types. One or two of the characters might be funny. Others will try to be normal, but circumstances will conspire against them and prevent it. Usually at least one character will have an exaggerated, over-the-top personality. And there should be at least one or two who are completely normal – someone needs to maintain some sanity when everything descends into chaos, otherwise it becomes a farce.

  Think about the other personality types you might like to include. It’s your show, so you can do whatever you like. The main advantage of having so many different types of character is that it gives you much more scope in what you can do in the storylines – more ideas, more conflicts, more misunderstandings, more chances of things going awry or spiralling out of control in an amusing way, and so on.

  118. Sitcoms – characters don’t change.

  Characters in sitcoms don’t change. This is completely the opposite of what happens in other forms of fiction, so it’s important to understand this. The characters and their circumstances might gradually evolve over the course of a whole series, but in a single episode the change will be hardly noticeable or nonexistent. So if your main character is in charge of a fire station, and the whole series revolves around this fact, then he can’t leave and become a hair stylist in the third episode and remain there for the rest of the series. He might do this for part of one episode. But by the end of that episode he’ll be back at the fire station again – ready for the next episode. He might have some adventures along the way, and he might learn a little from his experiences (or at least say that he has). But we won’t be too surprised when he acts in exactly the same way next time that situation occurs.

  119. Sitcoms – disability.

  A recent trend in sitcoms is for one of the characters to have some sort of handicap. Usually that character is a child. While there’s an element of pathos in this type of story, there’s still plenty of scope for comedy and it stands out more sharply than usual.

  So while everyone might feel sorry for the character in the wheelchair, or look right through him, or talk about him as if he isn’t there or as if he’s deaf, that character is actually just as intelligent as they are (perhaps even more so). He exploits this situation to its maximum extent – and gets plenty of laughs. He might lie, cheat, blackmail, gamble, drink, lead people astray, commit crimes, play practical jokes, and get involved in all sorts of wild adventures. Even if he can’t physically do these things himself, he can still mastermind them. Nobody ever suspects a thing. And even if they did, they wouldn’t punish him as severely as they would an able-bodied person. So that means he’s more likely to do it again – or something much worse.

  You might also consider having a disabled character who’s an adult, or you could have several disabled characters. Think of all the things they can get up to when nobody suspects them, or ignores them. They might all have different types and levels of disability, but by working together they can accomplish just about anything.

  [VARIATION] If a character is severely disabled he could still imagine all of these things. So your sitcom might show the other characters getting into all sorts of bizarre predicaments – all inside his head. Compare and contrast that with what they’re really doing and it should be very funny indeed.

  120. Sitcoms – don’t write a series yet.

  When writing a sitcom or comedy series, there’s no point in spending months or years writing a whole series until you have some sort of guarantee that it will be accepted. Just write the first episode, or a pilot episode, and a brief synopsis of what happens in the other shows in the series. Write the rest after you’ve been commissioned to write them.

  Bear in mind the length of the series too. British series tend to be much shorter (6 or 8 episodes) than American ones (typically 22 episodes).

  121. Sitcoms – get known first.

  No TV or radio producer will spend huge amounts of money to produce a show written by someone who has no previous experience – unless it’s truly outstanding and remarkable. It’s much better to get yourself known as a writer first. Build a reputation for writing great material. Start by writing short pieces and sketches for other shows. When you’ve had a few of these performed you have
evidence to show that you can write well. Add it to your CV, and refer to this evidence when you write to a producer with your fantastic idea for a new sitcom.

  122. Sitcoms – sample script.

  If you write sitcoms it’s a good idea to keep a sample script that shows off how well you can write. You can send off a copy of this script whenever you hear about a TV producer looking for new writers, or if you’re trying to join the writing team on an existing show.

  Your sample script could be one for an existing show – though it’s usually best to choose a different show from the one you’re applying for. Writing a script for an existing show means that the characters and settings are already well-known and established. You could create a new sitcom from scratch, but you’d then have the added problems of providing character and location details and proving that the idea would work over several episodes. So for simplicity and ease, write a sample script for an established show.

  Keep adding to this script, and refining and polishing it whenever you get a spare moment – or after every rejection. It might take months or even years, but eventually you’ll make it so perfect that the producer will have to give you the job!

  In the meantime, keep coming up with sitcom ideas and writing and submitting scripts. And try to get other work performed as often as possible – on TV, radio and the stage – so you can add it to your CV. Use your sample sitcom script as an advertisement whenever you need one – it’s your writing at its absolute best.

  123. Sitcoms – sets.

  As well as having regular characters, sitcoms depend on regular sets and locations. Sitcoms are often filmed in front of a live studio audience, which means the entire set – perhaps three rooms – has to fit in the studio. Even if it’s filmed without an audience, the producers might not be able to afford to construct multiple sets or film in multiple locations outside. So don’t include more than three rooms or outside locations.

  This limitation will also help to concentrate your mind. You don’t have to keep inventing new locations and describing them.

  A sitcom for radio is a different matter, of course. You can have as many sets as you like and they can be in any location – in this world or beyond. Just make sure your listeners don’t get confused about where the action is taking place.

  124. Sitcoms – situations.

  You’ll often find the same, or very similar, situations cropping up in different sitcoms. As long as the characters are different and funny, and they act in their own inimitable way, then this is perfectly acceptable.

  Bearing that in mind, you could take a look at some other sitcoms and ‘borrow’ some of their basic plots. Try not to make it too obvious though – perhaps change the setting or location. A better way is to allow the sitcom’s plot to inspire you to come up with an idea of your own, rather than using theirs. But if you get stuck, this is a perfectly valid option and has been done many many times by professional writers. Although you might start off using a borrowed situation and plot, your characters’ different personalities and behaviours will give your sitcom a completely different feel.

  125. Sitcoms – spoof documentary.

  You could make a spoof documentary series that follows the goings-on in a particular company or organisation. These sorts of things have been done before, which proves that TV producers are definitely interested in them. Examples include The Office, Drop the Dead Donkey, Absolute Power, People Like Us and to a certain extent Yes Minister and The New Statesman.

  Situations you might like to consider could include estate agents, a school or any other place of education, a dating agency, a coal mine, a factory, a newspaper office, a publishing company, a writing group, a recording studio, or a building company. Ideally you’ll choose a situation that you know well in real life. But there are plenty of TV shows and documentaries that you can learn things from. You can also try talking to people in that profession, or find websites that cover the subject and ask questions there.

  Once you’ve chosen a situation that appeals to you, find out all you can about the sort of things that might go wrong. And the more wrong they are the better. Such things might only occur once in someone’s entire career out in the real world, but in your sitcom they’ll be a daily occurrence. One or more of your characters will suffer considerable humiliation as a result – in fact you’ll probably humiliate the same character(s) in each episode.

  126. Sitcoms – structure.

  A sitcom, like a stage play, should be broken down into three acts: the beginning, middle and end. Each act should be further divided into scenes. You might think of the scenes as individual comic sketches, linked by an ongoing theme. This gives you a good idea of the number of laughs that are needed. Each scene or sketch will have its own beginning, middle and end, and will be designed to make people laugh – as well as moving the whole story along. So if you want to write sitcoms, try writing sketches first. When you’re good at them, link a few together into an act. Then link three acts together into an episode. Then link several episodes together to make a series.

  [NOTE] If you think you sitcom idea is brilliant but nobody wants it, you could always try filming the episodes yourself, using local actors of students, and see if you can make it into a success online.

  127. Sitcoms – sub-plots.

  Your main character will be involved in the main story, but you’ll generally have a number of other characters too. Make sure they all have something to do in every episode. Create sub-plots that weave in and out of the main story and involve them. You could resolve the sub-plots along the way, but it can be more effective if they all collide together at the very end of the episode.

  128. Sitcoms – why new is bad.

  You might think you should create something totally new and unique. But this is a bad idea because most TV producers, particularly the mainstream ones, won’t take a chance on new ideas. They want a show that’s guaranteed to work. Many of the more recent sitcoms are simply rehashes (or remakes) of older ones. The characters and situations have been updated to reflect more modern times, but the underlying themes and concepts are exactly the same.

  So you could look for a hit sitcom from the 1960s or 70s and update it to the present day, as a remake. Or you could give it a different title, update the characters and give them new names, perhaps change the location or setting, and have them deal with current issues in much the same way as the original characters dealt with the issues of their time.

  You can be more experimental and write something totally new once you’ve proved that you can do mainstream work and make a success of it. Or, if rehashing and reworking successes of the past isn’t your kind of thing, you could forget the mainstream channels and production companies and try the more offbeat independent ones. You’ll then have more opportunities to write new or experimental work that just might become a classic in ten or fifteen years’ time – if you can wait that long. You gain more freedom – and possibly a cult following – but you’ll pay for it by having fewer viewers and less money (initially at least).

  129. Situation mix and match.

  Try making a list of all the subjects you’re interested in. Then make a list of as many situations relating to each subject as you can think of – all the major and minor events that might happen. Then make a list of all the locations in which those situations might take place. Now separate the list of situations from the list of locations, jumble them up, and start picking them out in pairs at random. The idea is to come up with a completely inappropriate location for each situation to take place. It can be brilliantly absurd and hilariously funny – especially if you explore the potential of the situation much further, in context with its new setting, and apply some lateral thinking, rather than just accepting it at face value.

  [ALTERNATIVE] Rather than just picking them at random, you could run your finger down the list of locations and pick the one that would be the funniest for each situation.

  [EXAMPLE] Let’s pick motor racing as the subject. Now w
e’ll choose an inappropriate location – not a racing track but an office. And we’ll adapt the situation to fit the new context. So the cars will now be swivel chairs. The teams (office departments) could decorate their chairs in different colours and add accessories to make them faster or more manoeuvrable and so on. We immediately have a comedy situation with lots of potential: races, league tables, sponsorship, accidents, rules, weight limits, handicaps, engineering, tactics, pit lanes, and so on. Not to mention the skid marks, wear and tear on the carpet, time wasting, and one very annoyed boss. Or maybe the whole thing was his idea!

  130. Sketches.

  When writing sketches for an existing show, it’s important to study that show to see exactly what their requirements are. Time each sketch. How many people are involved, and who are they? What sort of sketches do they perform? What sort of roles do the main stars take? Do the main stars always play similar characters? Are the sketches set indoors or outside? Do they involve other people as well as the main stars of the show? Are the sets elaborate and expensive? How many locations are there? Does one person always get the best lines or more of the dialogue? Is the sketch linked to other items featured in the show? Is it topical? Are there references to other shows the stars have appeared in?