How to write funny ideas and make easy money.
Avoid Cliches and you miss the joke!
"Avoid cliches" - that's what would-be writers are always being
warned. But in comedy writing,CLICHES offer a rich source of
humor. In fact many cliches can be easily and directly used as
cartoon captions. As you know a cliche is an overused expression
that has lost its freshness and becomes predictable. These
expressions are so commonplace, people can relate to and
understand them easily. Another reason why cliches are popularly
used in humor is because of their predictability. In comedy, the
element of surprise is an important and easiest stimulant for
laughter, so humorists use cliches to lead the audience along
the line of predictability, and they make a sudden surprise
change at the last moment and let them fall in the heap of
laughter!
Most humor is based on word-play. Stand-ups, TV sit-coms,
sketches and cartoon-strips, all employed this technique.
Sometimes, words by can be even funny by themselves. Just try
saying words like "fart", "geezer" or "hippoppotamus". You can
hear the "funny" lilt in these words.
By mispronouncing or mispelling or even misunderstanding of
words can be funny too. Many a times it is because of the double
meanings and the double entendre that create the humor. So you
see the power of words in comedy writing. For words can conjure
up funny images and produce a good joke.
Cliches like metaphors, oxymorons, similes, puns, bromides,
jargons, malaprops, popular titles of novels , songs and movies
and aphorisms; are good fodder for humor.
Another popular technique using words is taking a figure of
speech at its literal meaning. Or some call it the simple truth.
I'm sure you have heard of the "call-me-a-taxi" joke. One reason
why we find at times children are full of spontaneous pure
innocent humor is because they speak the truth.
Cliches like pun may be the lowest fom of wit, but to humorists
is on the top of their list. They are easily understood and also
because of their wide association, they can generate loads of
funny ideas. So, never avoid cliches, or you will miss the joke!