Writing Funny: How to Target the Subject of Your Joke Without Destroying it

Season #2 Episode #28

S2_E28. How to TARGET the subject of your joke without utterly destroying it.

What are the principles and tools for comedy writing? This week we look at the "T" in Melvin Helitzer's acronym, T.H.R.E.E.S., which is Target. Humor must have a Target. We think humor is fun. But it isn't. Humor is criticism cloaked as entertainment. It's directed at a specific target. This is why so many people are leery of humor. It can be mean. It can denigrate somebody's humanity. In this episode, Zena shares all sorts of things that can be targets, and shows how some types of jokes might still be acceptable if they're told more from a self-deprecating perspective, even if they target specific people groups.

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SPECIAL THANKSto CARLA PATULLO for the original music used in the intro and outro of this podcast. To find out more about this amazing talent, go to  www.carlapatullo.com

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