Be Funny Or Die - How Comedy Works and Why It Matters

Comedy is a game that all humans play. There are big social prizes if you win, but it is easy to end up with custard pie on your face... or worse. Comedy can soothe our pain, vent our anger, make us feel less alone and provide the answer to life's most difficult questions, such as, 'What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?'* It's a social glue but it can also be divisive, and the joke is on us if we don't understand how it works. So, what are the rules? How does comedy do its magic and why does it matter? Join professional comedy writer Joel Morris on a hilarious journey into the hidden world of shared laughter where he reveals the mechanisms that make jokes work and what comedy can teach us about ourselves. Offering astute analysis of everything from stand-up to slapstick and sitcom to spoof, Morris examines comedic patterns, rhythms and dynamics to uncover the algorithms that secretly underpin comedy. Packed with gags and examples of comedy at its best - plus some invaluable tips on how to master that b'dum tish timing - Be Funny or Die is a fascinating investigation into how our species has developed and mastered this essential art form where laughter is the universal language and only the funniest survive. *Cliff.

List of contents

Disclaimer - 1
Comedy is Important - 3
PART ONE: COMEDY IS HUMAN
The Funniest Joke in the World - 11
Human Laughter - 14
Human Comedy - 19
Freud Never Played Glasgow Empire - 25
What Clever People Have Reckoned - 32
Surprise! - 39
What’s Brown and Sticky? - 45
No Harm Meant - 49
Play-Fighting - 57
Typing ‘5318008’ on a Calculator - 61
Pretty Patterns - 66
The Rule of Three - 73
PART TWO: COMEDY IS MUSIC
The Rhythm of Comedy - 81
The Music of Comedy - 84
The Comedy Keyboard - 89
Comedy Piano For Beginners - 95
Confuse: The Bum Note - 102
The Howl of Confusion - 108
Shaggy Dogs - 115
Sheer Nonsense - 120
The Lure of the Brillig - 126
The Bucket - 132
PART THREE: COMEDY IS US

Laughing Together - 141
Mike is a Wanker - 147
Laughing Together - 151
The Tribe - 157
Anyone in From 1991? - 162
The Specifics - 169
These Robots Are Funny - 174
Shared Values - 178
Reading the Room - 183
Dangerous Laughs - 189
Only Teasing - 197
Comic Relief - 202
Woke Me Up Before You Go Go - 207
Raise the Right Flag - 211
PART FOUR: COMEDY IS CHARACTER
Comedy is Fractal - 221
I Haven’t Learned a Thing - 230
Confirmation Bias - 234
I Wouldn’t Do That, If I Were Me - 239
A Dramatic Pause - 243
Patterns of People - 247
Character Pieces - 252
Double Act - 256
Marge & Dorothy & Velma & Ringo - 259
PART FIVE: COMEDY IS STORY
Building the Clown Car - 271
The Shape of Story - 278
The Straight Story - 285
The Big Questions - 291
Is This the Right Room For an Argument? - 296
An Incredible Story - 303
Plot vs Story - 311
. . . AND THE PUNCHLINE

The Secret of Comedy - 319
A Joke Amongst Friends - 322
Comedy is Big and Clever - 329
Hack Comedy - 331
Her Majesty - 334
Acknowledgements - 337 
Epigraph Sources - 341 
Resources - 349 
A Note on the Author - 359 
Supporters - 361

About the author

Joel Morris is a BAFTA-winning comedy writer. A long-time collaborator with Charlie Brooker and the co-creator of dimwit pundit Philomena Cunk, he has written for countless TV and radio shows, including Mitchell and Webb, Miranda and Murder in Successville, as well as the Paddington films. He co-created cult spoof newspaper The Framley Examiner, the hit Bollocks to Alton Towers tourist guides and the chartbusting Ladybird Books for Grown-Ups. Joel lives in London.

Summary

"The ultimate Ted Talk on comedy ... Joel Morris has finally invented 'being funny whilst talking about being funny'" — Caitlin Moran
Comedy is a game that all humans play. There are big social prizes if you win, but it is easy to end up with custard pie on your face... or worse.
Comedy can soothe our pain, vent our anger, make us feel less alone and provide the answer to life’s most difficult questions, such as, ‘What do you call a man with a seagull on his head?’ It’s a social glue but it can also be divisive, and the joke is on us if we don’t understand how it works.
So, what are the rules? How does comedy do its magic and why does it matter? Join professional comedy writer Joel Morris on a hilarious journey into the hidden world of shared laughter where he reveals the mechanisms that make jokes work and what comedy can teach us about ourselves. Offering astute analysis of everything from stand-up to slapstick and sitcom to spoof, Morris examines comedic patterns, rhythms and dynamics to uncover the algorithms that secretly underpin comedy.
Packed with gags and examples of comedy at its best – plus some invaluable tips on how to master that b’dum tish timing – Be Funny or Die is a fascinating investigation into how our species has developed and mastered this essential art form where laughter is the universal language and only the funniest survive.
*Cliff.

Foreword

• E-galleys (Edelweiss, NetGalley) widely available.
• Podcast appearances, review attention.
• Promotion on author’s social media channels, and through social media channels of his comedy world contemporaries.

Product details

• Authors: Joel Morris, Joel Morris
• Publisher: Unbound
• Languages: English
• Product format: Hardback
• Released: 07.03.2024
• EAN: 9781800183100
• ISBN: 978-1-80018-310-0
• No. of pages: 384
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > Art > Theatre, ballet; Popular Culture, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Media Studies, SOCIAL SCIENCE / Anthropology / Cultural & Social, Humour, Social & cultural anthropology, Film, TV & radio, Film, television, radio genres: Comedy and humour, Cultural & media studies