So, I got out of my super hilarious first class in comedy last week with fresh eyes. Beware, free form comedy blog readers, the world of comedy is a structured world and you have to see it as such. Yep. It turns out, the comedy world isn’t all sh*ts and giggles. I mean, a lot of it is. There were a few people in my class who definitely already rate really high on the list of the funniest people I know. But I’m going to use this blog to do some comedy exercises. You can follow along in your book! Let’s learn funny stuff together.
One of the first thing we’re focusing on is that comedy pieces (even jokes) have to have a beginning, a middle and an end. It sounds simple, but I’m pretty guilty of the ramble (see my vegan recipe blog for proof), so putting this into practice takes a little work for me. Once you have the outline, you can fill it in with the funny stuff.
So let’s make up a quick story with two characters.
Characters: An alligator and a giraffe
Beginning: They wake up next to each other.
Middle: Alligator tries to figure out how he got ther.
End: They toss the covers over their heads and fool around again.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
Alligator slapped at his alarm, but it wasn’t where he left it. He opened his eyes and realized that he wasn’t in his own room. His mouth tasted like gazelle jerky and dry elephant crap and his tiny brain twisted around in his noggin. “Did I get that drunk last night?” he thought. Alligator had, in fact, gotten very drunk last night. He rolled over and his paw hit a long furry tube. “What the eff is that?” he thought.
Giraffe snapped his head up like a whip at the end of his neck.
“Ooh! You scared me baby Al. How did you sleep?” asked Giraffe as he started giving baby Al a temple massage with his hoofs.
“I’m not gay. How did I get here?” asked Alligator.
“Of course you aren’t, Ally. You’re a CIA agent. I picked you up at a gay bar,” said Giraffe.
“Oh, that makes sense. Now come here and give me a piece of that disproportionate ass of yours,” said Alligator.
Alligator closed the blinds while giraffe pulled the covers over their heads. And the two began to engage in homosexual inter-species sex.
The end.
Now that was a crappy story. I’m not really feeling it today. But you get the point. Use the beginning middle and end and see what you can come up with.
Do you have a quick beginning middle and end story or exercise that you’d like to share?