Kick The Tires Of Your Comedy

Check it before you wreck it? Naw, we kind of love things to be a wreck in comedy. In fact, to amp up the tension, we have to dive head-first into the wreck! And believe me - last year as my drama/thriller team and I pulled “mockumentary” as our genre for the 2022 L.A. 48-Hour Film Project, we were a WRECK. Seriously, we had even lined up a Steadicam operator to attempt an “epic oner” which felt like an epic fail when we had to figure out - how the hell are we going to find our “funny” in forty-eight hours?!

Speaking of forty-eight hours - Stage 32’s TV Comedy Screenwriting Contest is still open for another two days! Not enough time to revise? It’s plenty of time! Last year, I wrote the short film “Livin’ with Lisa” in 12 hours and successfully produced it in 48 hours. I believe you can kick the tires of your comedy pilot in time, too! Before you submit your comedy pilot, be sure to test out your funny!

Here are the ways we shook the trees while making our seven-minute mockumentary, “Livin’ with Lisa”:

Study the Genre 

Comedy is often seen as not universal, and yet there are expectations within each subgenre. If someone says they like comedy, you do have to clarify if they mean Home Alone (1990) or The Hangover (2009). For us, we needed something that exemplified the “mockumentary” genre: The Office (2005-2013). And OH BOY, did I study this quickly. It was never my preferred genre, never really watched The Office, but suddenly I had to find what other audiences found funny about it. Searching for “the best of” was definitely the best way to hone in on what made it successful, and then I took the part of those moments that worked for our project. This study, copy, expand approach allows you to fulfill the expectations of your audience first and foremost. Then, once you have their attention and trust, choose the one way you’ll deviate from those expectations so that it feels fresh! Consider how effective Pitch Perfect (2012) was - it felt predictable, until it didn’t.

Garrett Adams directing his actors while our sound mixer, Jim Blank, sets up the lav mics. Sometimes you have to let yourself act silly as a director to invite your actors to get a little silly, too!

Study Your Cast

Or in your case, your dream cast. For us, we watched all our cast members’ reels to see what they leaned towards. Was it line execution? Was it embodying eccentric characters? Was it keeping a straight face around other character actors? Seeing what they were capable of allowed us to play to their strengths, but also give them something new to try to keep their interest and energy up.

Acting is equal parts exciting and scary, so give them a challenge they can sink their teeth into! For example, Bek Akhmedov came to us as an action actor with lots of martial arts experience, but when we had to switch to comedy, I asked him if he’d be interested in trying physical comedy. That way he could still use his incredible skills in a new and exciting way. He immediately tapped into a young, free-spirited Keanu Reeves-esque character that almost stole the show.

Similarly, Drew Horton was high-energy, not ideal for a straight character, but was perfect for a fan inserting himself into a live stream. Only he could be so bold! Louisa Burton gives excellent face, so I knew she could hold her own to set up the ending. And Debra De Liso is a character actor, so we let her lean into the “High-maintenance Hollywood Mom” type.

Locations, props, set dressing - finding a location that gives you all of these things on location helps you to find the organic funny!

Set the Scene to Play

Is the location interesting? What would they normally be doing there? In what ways could you switch their expectations? We had secured a garage location because our director was a car mechanic and could find cool ways to film the space and his car with it. Once the film switched to a comedy (you pull two genres from a hat at “go time”), we couldn’t have them just waiting for their car to be fixed. What if this was Lisa’s home? What if her mom was trying to hide the fact that she sabotaged it? What if by sabotaging it, it brought her daughter to a business where she could find another plug, the ONE THING she didn’t want her daughter to find?! The contrast of location and situation is a great backdrop for situational comedy, and situational comedy is a great foundation for character-driven and dialogue-driven comedy.

Along those lines, what props will they have available to them based on that location? The prop that we had to use as part of the 48-Hour Film rules wasn’t particularly funny to us (a toothbrush), so we decided to make it one of several props so that we could escalate it into funny. Also, what kinds of wild costumes would make sense for your stories? We knew that having a “Hollywood Mom” type in a grungy garage would stand out, but it also justified having Lisa in sweats and a t-shirt. Locations, vehicles, props, and costumes - this is comedy candy! And actors LOVE to explore ways to utilize them, so give them something to play with!

Pick a cool location, yes, but also a location with plenty of options - including an interesting indoor AND outdoor setup!

Scene structure + Joke Structure = Comedy Pacing

Comedy is unforgiving, so don’t make a single scene a waste of time. Is your character’s goal clear? Are they taking action to achieve it? Discovering that Lisa’s mom would be willing to hide all of her phone chargers, including sabotaging her car so she couldn’t charge it in the car, was a huge revelation for us. It was such a clear goal - to get Lisa to stop being on her phone all the time - and such an absurd way to get what she wanted - by trying to get the phone to die - that by the time she admits what she has done (and doesn’t apologize for it), it gets a laugh.

Comedy relies on landing that joke, and the setup is subtle but reliable - lead the audience in one direction before switching their expectations. The classic SNL structure is AB3! - A = start normal so it’s relatable, and we understand the premise, B = give us the next logical outcome, so we think we know what’s coming, 3 = a slight departure from logic, but it still escalates tension and stakes, ! = go completely off the rails to land that laugh.

Want more great advice on how to write comedy? Check out Netflix + Stage 32’s FREE Webinar by Emmy-nominated Comedy Writer, Vijal Patel, “How to Write Comedy Screenplays for Streaming Television”.

Remember, someone is going to have to perform what you write! Don't just write for them, write to their strengths!

Stay Character-Focused

As writers, having a writing partner can really help when workshopping. We often found ourselves asking “What would LISA do?” What was fun was realizing that conflict is often born of conflicting goals, so Quentin and I also had a chance to ask ourselves “Where is the mechanic right now? Where is her boyfriend? What are their agendas?” By doing this, you continue to make the comedy organic - that is to say, coming from the character and not the writer. It was actually Quentin who came up with the idea to have Lisa’s boyfriend look for “sponsors” in the trash can, which thwarted Lisa's pleas for legitimate sponsors.

This was a huge part of discovering exactly what Lisa’s mother wanted. It starts with us thinking she wants to control her daughter or stop her from doing something Lisa’s mother feels is shameful. She even feels justified in her actions - what Lisa is doing is wrong, so I’m going to do bold things to stop her. By the time we get to the end, however, it’s clear that Lisa’s mother wants Lisa’s attention, and she has to find another way to get it.

Louisa Kendrick Burton giving great reactions and owning every scene she's in. We were so lucky to snag her for this one-day shoot!

Remain Flexible & Open 

I literally wrote in (IMPROV) as a parenthetical so that the actors and director could find something funnier at the moment. If comedy is written too rigidly, then your actors don’t have a way to explore what works. While on set as the writer/producer, I noticed that Bek needed room to play as Lisa, played by Annalisa Monet, spoke to her audience through her phone (our RED Komodo). If actors focus on the mechanics of “what to do”, then they aren’t really motivated from a character standpoint. So, I offered him a revised version of what was written in the script.

“What if… your character is in charge of testing out all of the “sponsorships”? So when you find something, even in the trash, test it the only way your character does.” Which for him, was basically playing make-believe like he was in kindergarten. I still giggle when I see him jump on the back end of Lisa’s trooper - because he’s trying to “jump the car”? Bad pun, but great physical comedy! When I asked Bek about his experience on the project, he revealed that “with the right crew and motivation, amazing things can be achieved.” It’s so true, Bek! Thanks for trusting us to explore your comedic side!

Remember that the completion of your script is only the beginning of production. Give your director and camera people room to play, too!

Reframe the Action

Consider how you can invite the audience into their world. Comedy cannot reveal everything all at once. It must hold something back so there is room for that twist, that discovery, that punch line. When we open on Lisa’s mother, she’s speaking about Lisa’s addiction to her phone, but when we hear it over the images of her hiding the outlets and collecting cords, it looks like Lisa’s mother is the one with the addiction. So, when we later learn WHY she was collecting cords, it’s funny - the misdirection and reveal of truth is what delivers the “funny”.

The great advantage about the "mockumentary" genre is that you can show the crew, too!

Follow the Universal Funny

Sometimes, writers can get very fixed on “getting it right”, especially if handing their script off for a contest or coverage. But with comedy, there has to be plenty of room to follow the thing that’s funnier. If you’ve written something that is funny to you, try workshopping it with actors. If it doesn’t work in the workshopping, take a moment to decipher - what was making you laugh? If the actor is doing something hilarious on their own, let the scene and camera movement support it. Find the funny, support the funny, and then get out as soon as possible.

Okay, but what if the “funny” is an inside joke? Is there a way to set it up better so there is context? Actors are a GREAT resource for comedy writers, so don’t discount their contributions before you roll the camera. Ryan Reynolds is absolutely the reason that “Free Guy” was as funny as it ended up being. Partly because he pushed for the character to start innocent and become enlightened so that character-driven change was fun to witness. But, he also was able to inject some relatable context specific to this generation. One of the funniest moments in “Free Guy” is Chris Evan’s cameo after Guy taps into several “Marvel Mods”. If you don’t have the fortune of watching all of the Marvel movies or know how gamers add modifiers to their gameplay, then you can’t laugh without that very important context. So, make sure you’ve written your script with universal “funny” and let the timely addition of jokes come later when we know it’s still relatable.

While we didn't win anything at the 48-Hour Film Festival, we were selected for the family-friendly screening - and might I say, WE SLAYED! Debra De Liso and Kay Ross pose with the Festival Director, Leanne Westphal.

Okay, the clocking is ticking! Dive into your pilots and find your funny! Not sure if it tracks? Get others involved! You can reach out to your Stage 32 tribe via DM and set up a Zoom conference call, or reach out to find more of your tribe through the Screenwriting Lounge! Nothing bonds creatives together like making something under a tight deadline, so invite them to the par-tay! Comedy is the ultimate collaboration, so don’t deny yourself the privilege of interacting with others to kick the tires of your comedy!

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