January 1, 2010New Year's Comedy Resolutions
Looks Like I Picked the Wrong Week To Quit Blogging
He picked the wrong week...
He picked the wrong week...
Actually, I'm not making resolutions. I kind of got caught up in the whole SyFy Twiglight Zone marathon last night, and this morning I decided to start my new year by watching Airplane. I'm teaching a continuing ed class, meaning a very different demographic of student than I'm used to -- no Family Guy fans here. Needing some traditional, PG-rated jokes, I turned to Airplane.
You can't go wrong with Airplane. I recently wrote about Shaun of the Dead and its commitment to melodrama -- but watching Airplane again I was reminded that it really holds its own in that category. And movies like Airplane have a certain exuberance to them, a sheer joy in comedy that's hard to beat. This often happens with the first movie someone makes for themselves (The Producers, Clerks, etc.), and there's something really endearing about it. Now, the Zucker-Abrahams-Zucker team had previously written Kentucky Fried Movie, but that was directed by John Landis. This is the first movie they wrote and directed. I think that when these writer/directors realize they get to do whatever they want, the enthusiasm just fills the screen.
The same exuberance applies to joke quantity. Idly counting for the first fifteen minutes, I found about 3-5 jokes per minute. That's pretty damned good. In sitcom writing the rule is to go for three jokes a page; imagine how much effort it takes get to five per page and to keep it up for an hour and a half. Some might raise their eyebrows at the idea of quantity being important. But with jokewriting, it's about quantity AND quality. It's true the Airplane! writers will do anything for a laugh. But there are great jokes, cheap jokes, silly jokes, and just plain bizarre jokes. That's an important strategy because individual senses of humor vary dramatically. By including a joke every few seconds, you guarantee that most people will be laughing regularly at something.
Hmmm, that would be a good, if completely unrealistic New Year's resolution: three to five jokes per minute, in real life.
I do have some some things to look forward to in the coming year. I resolve to start watching the HD Daily Show and Colbert Report now that the health care debacle is almost over. John Oliver's going to have a new series that highlights his favorite standup comedians, which could be good. Oliver's an excellent standup himself, and people with high standards tend to be good judges of quality.
I think I might actually get to talk to some comedy writers in the next few months, which would be a pretty awesome way to start the new year. Aristophanes is coming along swimmingly, too. I'm shocked to hear myself saying this, but things are looking pretty good. Don't quote me on that, though.
Off to finish the SyFy marathon.
