What do you think?
Rate this book
The Complete Idiot's Guide to Comedy Writing
Comedy is serious business-and serious money. In this guide, comedian, writer, and teacher Jim Mendrinos explains the principles of comedy and how to apply them to forms from stand-up to sitcoms- including fiction, film, speeches, articles, essays, and more. He also includes exercises designed to hone the craft, break through writer's block, and tailor a piece to its intended audience.
- GenresComedyWritingNonfiction
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 27, 2015
This guide has a lot of good tips and carries a. Great emphasis on writing. If you're looking for something to get into Standup Comedy - this is a great place to start. It leaves out the performance aspect of what you'll need for the stage, but the writing emphasis of this book is something all new standups should internalize. The Appendices also provide great value. The glossary was smart enough to include literary devices in addition to the industry terms, which is something anyone serious about writing should add to their vocabulary and general mind space. There's also a year's worth of writing exercises to prevent one from claiming they don't have anything to write about on a particular day: a great tool for any new writer.
March 22, 2024
Excellent guide for all phases of comedy writing. The theater section was worthwhile and I'm sure all the other genre sections were valuable too. The basics and some of the tips are very useful. Nice.
Read
August 15, 2008sounds like it will be a great reference for my comedy writing
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews