Apart from being a writer of comedy, I'm also an avid comedy fan. I love comedy. It's basically the only thing I watch on television. I also love to watch and read what other comedians say about writing comedy. It fascinates me. It's what I've always wanted to do and probably the only thing I'll ever want to do.
I watched a Ricky Gervais interview recently and he was talking about writing comedy. If you know me, you'll know I'm a huge Gervais fan. The Office is probably my favourite television show of all time and I'm currently watching Derek, which is just wonderful. What I love about his work is the characters. And it got me thinking about my own work and how I see writing comedy and so here I am, writing a blog about it. For you.
I think the most important thing to remember when writing comedy, whether it's a novel or a screenplay, is that you aren't writing jokes. When I was writing This Thirtysomething Life, I knew it was going to be a humourous look at one man's bumbling journey on the road to adulthood, but I didn't go into it thinking, this is going to be bloody hilarious. I just wrote a book about a man who, try as he might, couldn't quite grow up until finally he becomes a father and he feels for the first time like a proper adult. It became funny as I wrote it, but only because of the characters and the situations they found themselves in.
When I'm writing my books, I never think of the audience. The thing I probably admire most about Ricky Gervais is his attitude. In the documentary, he said that he doesn't care if people like his work or not. He isn't bothered by negative reviews because the only thing he wants to do is make work that he's proud of. If people like it, great, if they don't, that isn't his problem. I think this is definitely something that most writers can identify with. We all get bad reviews and meet some literally horrendous people online who just seem to want to destroy us for some reason. It can hurt, but it shouldn't. I don't write for good reviews or to be liked, I write what I want to write for me.
It needs to have pathos. All the best comedy whether it's on television or in books has pathos. The characters need to go through something, they have to suffer and then hopefully come out of it all the better. Going back to my earlier point, you can't just tell jokes. It has to have real depth and it has to say something. In my novel, Harry, is struggling to come to terms with becoming a father. This is a very real fear that I think a lot of men go through.
I'm so proud of This Thirtysomething Life and I think it's hilarious and heart-warming and a really sweet story about love, marriage and growing up. I get a lot of wonderful reviews, but also a lot of bad ones too. Only the other day I got a review that said, 'Boring, sorry, example text.."In the kitchen. Eating toast." seriously?' This made me laugh so much. One of the things I love about the book is that it's so mundane. I left in all the details about his life that other writers may have taken out. I love that Harry describes in great detail the food he eats, the cocktails he drinks, the constant weather updates. These are important to him and are a part of what makes the story unique and I think funny. This reviewer obviously didn't get it and it's fine. I didn't write it for them.
Lastly, as I'm going on a bit, what makes good comedy? It's the question that comes up again and again. What makes people laugh? Well, as I've discovered, it's a pretty pointless thing to even contemplate. We all laugh at different things. Some people love Monty Python, including me, and think their work was ground-breaking and avant-garde, while others just don't get it. Some people love The Office, while some people think it's boring and dull. Comedy, like love, is very much in the eye of the beholder. I write what I think is funny and I hope there are enough people in the world who agree with me. It's literally that simple and that difficult. The only important thing is doing something you're really proud of and after that, it's really out of your hands.
So it's goodnight from me and it's goodnight from him,
Hugs,
Jon X
Ps.Here is the Ricky Gervais interview
