THE
COMIC
IDOLBOX
HOW TO BE FUNNY EVEN IF YOU'RE NOT
BY JOHN VORHAUS
SILMAN-JAMES PRESS
Los AncelesCONTENTS
Introduction xi
Comedy ts Twuth and Pain 1
The WilltoRisk 9
The Comic Premise 19
Comic Characters 30
Some Tools from the Toolbox 47
Types of Comic Stories 58
The Comic Throughline 75
More Tools fom the Toolbox 103
Pract
Jokes 116
Comedy and Jeopardy 117
Still More Tools from the Toolbox 125
Situation Comedy’ 139
Sketch Comedy 154
Toward Polish and Perfection 162
Scrapmetal and Doughnuts 174
Homilies & Exhomations 186“FORWARD!”
to The Comic Toolbox
Are you one of those sorry folk
Who cannot write a decent joke,
Who cannot pen a funny scene
Because you lack the comic gene?
‘Are you convinced that you alone
‘Are cursed to walk this earth without a funny bone?
ike heart, dear friend, for now a book is writ
To guide you on your quest
To wrest from deep within, your native wit
Voila! The Comic Toolbax by John Vorhaus
To save you from the jester's poorhouse.
It lays you certain basic rules
‘That aid the craft of serious fools.
‘You'll learn to slay that dreaded din,
The Editor who lives within,
‘And once sprung from that self-constructed jail,
‘You'll then be free 10 risk and free to fail,
Free to find the premise, choose the word
‘That separates the master from the nerd.
So if you wish to tune your comic eraft
‘And join the ranks of the professionally daft,
Then take this book of humor-honing tools
And join the ranks of esters, clowns and fools
‘Who rise each day and, taking out their pen,
Bring joy and laughter to their fellow men.
—Peter Bergman,
Furesign Theatre, Los Angeles, 1994