Laughing Out Loud

by Horton, Andrew

• ISBN13: 9780520220140
• ISBN10: 0520220145
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1999-12-01
• Publisher: Univ of California Pr

Summary

Follow-up to the popular Writing the Character-Centered Screenplay, by the same author. An imaginative blend of history, theory, analysis of comedy, "how to" excercises, programs, and follow-up advice on marketing and making comic films, shows, and videos for an American and a world market.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
Introduction	1	(18)
PART I Comic Elements and Exercises
Elements of Comedy That Writers Should Know	19	(10)
Exercises to Nurture the Comic Muse	29	(14)
PART II A Writer's Overview of the Traditions and Genres of Comedy
From Stage and Page to Screen: Anarchistic and Romantic Comedy	43	(15)
Physical Humor: From Commedia dell'Arte and Moliere to Vaudeville and Silent Screen Comedy	58	(6)
Sound Comedy: American Screwball Romantic Comedy, Then and Now	64	(8)
Comedy and Television: Stand-up, Sitcom and Everything in Between	72	(7)
Comedies from around the World	79	(16)
Comedy and the Documentary Impulse	95	(8)
PART III Close-ups on Comedies
Feature Film Comedies	103	(18)
Television Comedy: Seinfeld and The Simpsons	121	(18)
PART IV Writing Comedy
The Fifteen-Week Feature Comedy Screenplay	139	(29)
The Seven-Week Half-Hour Television Comedy Pilot Script	168	(11)
Beyond Happy Endings: Toward a Comic Conclusion	177	(2)
Appendix 1 A Recommended Viewing List of American and Foreign Feature Comedies	179	(13)
Appendix 2 Networking, Marketing and Making Your Own Comedy	192	(9)
Appendix 3 Food, Recipes and Comic Screenwriting	201	(4)
Bibliography	205	(6)
Index	211