Writers With Wit

Island Girl

Island Girl

Following on from a thought in another thread (Dora's Naughty Books) and straight from the depths of my Useless Trivia Information file (my head), David McCallum, the blond actor, played the part of spy Ilya Kuryaken and Robert Vaughn  was Napoleon Solo. Both Agents worked for UNCLE in 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.' Circa 1966.
My point is that more recently, David McCallum has been seen playing a forensic doctor named 'Ducky' (Dr. Donald Mallard) on the USA crime show, NCIS. In one episode, his young co-worker says to her boss, "What did Ducky look like when he was young?" to which came the reply, "Ilya Kuryaken".  Hehehehe, just goes to show you, there's a writer out there in La La Land with a bit of wit.

It was only one small line in a TV show but it tickled my fancy. I love it when writers use subtle comedy and wit in their writing, something I find difficult to do. How easily does humour come to other Talkbackers and are there any tips you could pass on?

Carol

That's a very apt observation. I can't do comedy- I envy those who can- but sometimes I say or write something in all seriousness, but when I read it back it could be taken as funny.

Jan

Morning IslandGirl,
Humour comes to me very easily, the only problem is for other people to understand it.

As Nenastew5 says, it's different strokes for different folks' and (possibly) like her most of my laughs are generated when I make comments without realising they have alternate meanings.

dora

Oh Carol, you are a hoot!

Carol

I am, Dora? That has clearly gone over my head somewhere. Is it me or what I say?

Crazy Horse

Th essence of humour is timing.We have all heard somone relating a joke which delivered by an expert is hilarious but with the timing a bit out is not even slightly funny. Written humour is much more difficut as the writer has to control the readers timing. Tom Sharpe and Terry Pratchett ae brilliaint at this but many are not. A classic example is hen the teller laughs while delivering the punch lin which is lost the re delivery is not funny.

dora

Carol, it was what you said on 14 Dec.  Just creased me up like.

Scribble

Hello everyone. I'm a bit new to all this  and have only just signed up to Talkback after seeing posts about the terible Fame Factory in another thread. It's nice to see that there's such a supportive and friendly chat place on t'internet.
Hooray!

In reference to what IG was saying about humourous crossovers there's one in Smallville also. The actor who plays Clarke Kents Dad used to be Luke Duke in the Dukes of Hazard. In one of the episdoes he can be heard quite clearly listening to the Dukes theme tune on his car radio whilst driving about. Nice.

Carol

Ah I see Dora. Thanks.

Island Girl

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Yes Scribble, it's exactly that type of subtlety that I'm talking about although, as Crazy Horse has pointed out, writing humour in stories is much more difficult than for television because of the timing.

In real life (as opposed to the fake one) I have a broad sense of humour, everything from the Goons (yes DorothyD, I am a great fan too), Fawlty Towers and The Office through to My Name is Earl and sitcoms of that ilk. I thought Keeping Up Appearances was funny because of the 'situation' - we all know people like that - but I'm not a fan of slapstick so that aspect of the show wasn't the thing that made it humourous for me. It was the lengths Hyacinth went to, to preserve her image - good writing.
Monica McInerny's books contain sprinkles of funny dialogue and she sets up comical scenes quite deftly - it's definitely an art - and one I would like to work on although it's hard to get instructions from anywhere on this type of thing. I suppose you either have it or you don't. What do you think? Can it be learned or even taught?

Hippo

Hi Island Girl - I agree, writing in an amusing way is very hard.  I would describe myself as funny and wanted my novel to be amusing, but it's not coming out that way at all!  I guess it is what it is.  My dad read a non-fiction piece I wrote recently and said reading it was just like hearing me talk, so I must be conveying something of myself.  I think in my writing my humour comes over as more subtle than in real life.  Trouble is, I can't help wondering if it's so subtle as to be undetectable...

PS I love My Name Is Earl, too - I only discovered it in the last few months on the re-runs.  It's rare for TV to make me laugh out loud, but that does.

Jacey

I love "My Name is Earl" too, especially the brilliant last scenes where Earl and his brother talk in bed!

Did anyone hear the "Vinyl Cafe" readings on BBC 7 this summer?  I laughed out loud which is rare when I listen to the radio, so the books are on my Christmas wish list. 

I like to write comedy, but it's certainly not easy. I think one of the best tips I've heard is to weed out every single word that isn't necessary, so funny passages are as tight as possible, which helps with the timing.

For me, there's nothing better than being in the company of people you can banter with, and there is so much of that here on Talkback. 

megrose

I agree, 'Vinyl Cafe' is just wonderful.  It's not only very funny, but can also be quite touching too.  I've laughed and cried while listening to it.  I also loved Garrison Keillor's 'Lake Wobegon Tales', which were read on the radio a few years ago.  I bought the book of these stories, but it just wasn't the same - it was Garrison Keillor's voice which had created the atmosphere.  The 'Vinyl Cafe' book is different, in that Stuart McLean's words on paper work as well as the radio broadcast.  I wonder why?