(An excerpt from The Cheeky Monkey – Writing Narrative Comedy [Currency Press]) The most reliable stimulus for laughter is tickling. And yet even here the laughter response can be enhanced by mock-threatening behaviour. For instance, imagine you are about to tickle a toddler. Do you simply reach out your hands and tickle? Is any part…
Tag: comedy
Make ‘Em Laugh, Make ‘Em Cry
MAKE ‘EM LAUGH, MAKE ‘EM CRY – an essay by Tim Ferguson [First printed in Lumina Magazine] The Imperatives of Writing Drama screenwriters must have a working knowledge of comedy before they can truly call themselves writers. This may seem an incendiary comment, but the two masks (known as ‘Sock & Buskin’) symbolising Western theatre…