Shatz - Comedy Writing Secrets

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Comedy Writing secrets. Copyright 2016 by Mark Shatz. Manufactured in the United States of America. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems without permission in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer, who may quote brief passages in a review. Published by Writers Digest Books, an imprint of F+W Media, Inc., 10151 Carver Road, Suite # 200, Blue Ash, OH 45242. (800) 289-0963. Revised edition.

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To Mel, the comedic Yoda

Mark A. Shatz is the author of KISSing Golf: The Keep It Simple (Stupid) Instructional Method, a humorous instructional book for beginning golfers. He is also an award-winning professor of psychology at Ohio UniversityZanesville who blends content, application, and humor into his instruction. Besides teaching humor writing, he has extensive international experience as a teacher, speaker, and seminar leader on various topics such as pedagogy, death education, and stress management. Furthermore, Dr. Shatz has presented and published numerous academic papers, including how to use humor to enhance instruction and learning.

Mel Helitzer, a former Clio award-winning Madison Avenue ad agency president, was also a distinguished, award-winning journalism professor at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio. He was one of the rst to teach humor writing at any university in the world. His course led to the publication of Comedy Writing Secrets in 1987, and the book is now the best-selling text on humor writing in the country. Helitzer also wrote humor for print, television, comedians, and politicians.

A man's got to take a lot of punishment to write a really funny book.

Ernest Hemingway

There is no such thing as a certied professional humor writer. If you can sell your material or get paid for performing it, youre a professional. Yet, there are not enough qualied writers today to ll the increasing need. Besides the standard venues, more and more markets are begging for humor material: speeches, social media, advertising, blogging, podcasts, and e-learning.

Higher education is addressing the rising demand for humor writers. Many universities offer humor-writing courses and programs in humor studies, and several colleges use this book as their primary text. Columbia College in Chicago became the first school to offer a bachelor of arts degree in comedy writing and performance.

At the Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University, Mel Helitzer taught the rst college credit humor-writing course in 1980. Within three years, Humor Writing had become such a smash hit that the twenty allotted seats were assigned a year in advance. Students for the class ranged from fellow faculty members to adults from the communityincluding lawyers, doctors, accountants, homemakers, and even one mortician. The course was featured in several national publications including Newsweek and the ChicagoTribune. Rolling Stone, dubbed Helitzer as "one of the funniest university professors in the country."

"Humor Writing" had the most unique final exam of any university coursea stand-up comedy performance before a live audience. Each student wrote and performed a five-minute stand-up comedy routine, and the audiences reaction determined their final exam grade. Polite applause earned a C, enthusiastic applause merited a B, and a standing ovation got an A. If the audience threw food, it was an F. However, if the food was edible, then the grade was bumped up to a D.

One of Helitzers students was Dr. Mark Shatznot the mortician, though some of his material died. Shatz earned an A without bribing Helitzer, and eventually became the final exams permanent emcee. When Helitzer retired, he passed the proverbial comedic chicken to Shatz, and the course was then offered at the Ohio University campus in Zanesville. Shatz expanded the final exam by hiring a professional comedian to be the headliner, and the show annually attracted audiences of several hundred people.

In 2005, Helitzer and Shatz co-authored the second edition of Comedy Writing Secrets. Shatz continued teaching the course and sharing the secrets of humor writing at national conferences, including the Erma Bombeck Humor Writers Workshop. Shatz pursued research exploring the benefits of humor in the classroomhe and Dr. Frank LoSchiavo published the first empirical study of humor integrated into online instruction. Shatz also conducted training programs on writing instructional humor for K-12 educators and college professors.

Sadly, in 2009, Mel Helitzer died. Mels rich and rewarding life included service in the armed forces during World War II and a children's advertising career that spanned decades. As an Ohio University faculty member, students revered Mel and they elected him as Professor of the Year. He left an impressive body of workseven books, an off-Broadway musical play, and many articles. Mel was most proud of his devoted family and friends: his two daughters, Deborah and Adrienne, his partner, Linea, and the numerous people whose lives he touched.

Mel was a comedic Yoda to students, colleagues, writers, and performers. His mantra was that humor writing demanded dedication, practice, and a thick skin. To illustrate his point, Mel wrote the following fable for the second edition.

One day a donkey fell into a well. The farmer couldnt get him out, so he knew he had to cover him up. He called in his neighbors, and they all started to throw dirt down the well, but instead of burying the animal, the donkey would shake the dirt off and take a step up. Pretty soon, the pile of dirt got so high that the donkey stepped over the edge of the well. Moralists use this story to preach that all our troubles can be stepping-stones, that we shouldnt give up; instead shake it off and take a step up. Comedians, however, note that as soon as the disdained donkey got to the top, he ran over and bit the farmer. Their moral is that if something goes wrong, try to cover your ass. Otherwise, it can come back and bite you.

This book can make you rich in many ways. And thats no joke.

Mark Shatz

2016

Nobody can teach you humor writing. The secret is passed on from one generation to another, and I will not tell mine, except to my son.

Art Buchwald

Some comedians believe humor-writing skills are mystically inherited. But the truth is anyone can learn to write humor. Although some individuals are naturally funnier than others, just as some individuals are more athletic or more musically gifted, humor writing can be taught, and humor-writing skills can be learned.

Humor writing is a creative art, and, like all creative arts, it has structure and formula. And all artistic endeavors are built on teachable skills and techniques. Consider one of the most popular creative arts, photography.