Autorentext

For more than a decade, Steve Kaplan has been the industry's most sought-after expert on comedy writing and production. In addition to having taught at UCLA, NYU, Yale, and other top universities, Kaplan created the HBO Workspace, the HBO New Writers Program, and was co-founder and Artistic Director of Manhattan's Punch Line Theatre. He has served as a consultant to such companies as DreamWorks, Disney, Aardman Animation, HBO, and has worked with producers and production companies in Australia, Canada, New Zealand, London, Ireland, and Sweden.

Klappentext

Explores why comedy works, how it works and what happens when comedy doesn't work (and how to fix it). Contains dozens of famous film and TV examples.

Inhalt

PART I: Understanding Comedy Chapter 1: The Myths of Comedy Chapter 2: A Comedy Perception Test Chapter 3: The Theory of Comedy Chapter 4: The Comic Equation Chapter 5: Introducing the Tools PART II: The HiddenTools of Comedy Chapter 6: Tool #1 - Winning Chapter 7: Tool #2 - The Non-Hero Chapter 8: Tool #3 - ?Metaphorical ?Relationships Chapter 9: Tool #4 - ?Positive (ly Selfish) Action Chapter 10: Tool #5 - Active Emotion Chapter 11: Tool #6 - ?Straight Line/Wavy Line PART III: The Non-Hero's Journey Chapter 12: ?The 3,000-Year History of Comedy (in 15 minutes) Chapter 13: ?Tool #7- Archetype Casting Chapter 14: Tool #8 -The Comic Premise Chapter 15: ?Non-Hero's Journey PART IV: Nuts & Bolts Chapter 16: Take These Jokes, Please! Chapter 17: ?Get Me Re-Write Chapter 18: ?What I Really Want To Do Is Direct! and Act! Chapter 19: ?"You're a Producer; Come Up With Something!” Chapter 20: ?20 Great Comic Films and Sitcoms Chapter 21: ?When Comedy Goes Bad: What to Avoid PART V: The Punchline Chapter 22: ?OK, I've Saved a Cat; Now What? Chapter 23: Comedy FAQ Chapter 24: ?Additional Resources or Who to Steal From (but please, always call it homage!)