Shayne-Michael.COMedy

Writing About How You Feel - by Shayne Michael

So you say you're not a shrink. How will you psycho analyze yourself? And even if you could, why would you be spending so much on therapy bills?

Writing about internal attitudes isn't as easily said as it is done. It's a lot easier to describe your physical appearance than it is to describe your mental state of mind. Even for a shrink. However, if you are going to succeed as a comic, you damn well better know how to look inside and describe your deepest, darkest thoughts.

Usually if comedy is chosen as a career it's because you have attitudes about life that don't fit into society's norms. Your typical comic isn't for or against the death penalty. Democrats will be against the death penalty. Republicans will be for it. Comics favor killing members of both political parties.

In identifying the attitudes that make you unique, be honest about the attitudes that don't. If you feel abortion is not a matter or personal choice, it should be mandatory write about why you feel that way. If you feel there should be background checks before selling fire arms to kids on the other hand, you're not being funny; you're being logical.

Don't get me wrong; being logical can be hysterical. However, that's usually when the rest of the world is acting insane. There has to be a serious contrast between your point-of-view and the point-of-view of those around you.

Exploring All Your Unusual Attitudes

Any given person will have too many attitudes to list. The person might have a strong opinion about the police. That same person might have an even more outlandish attitude about school.

Dig deep. Which subjects bring the strongest responses from you? What subjects did you hate? Which subjects did you love? What family members caused you pain? What family members did you cause pain? A lot of comedy comes from those four areas: pain, love and hate.

There's also comedy in a person who can't count. That particular type comes from ignorance. Your own stupidity can also be hysterical.

Here are some questions to ask yourself as you start to build an act

• What do I fear greatly?
• Who do I hate intensely?
• Who do I love deeply?
• Who loves me despite knowing better?
• What subjects in school interested me mostly?
• What's my political orientation?
• What's my sexual affiliation?

With each answer your most fertile ground for an act will come when your answers fall farthest from the norms of everyday society. For instance, if you fear death big deal, everyone fears death. On the other hand if you don't fear death you're a little strange. If you're preparing a meal for the Grim Reaper as we speak, you're a real weirdo. And it's probably worth examining why.

Think of it this way, if the attitude you're exploring was used as a question on the Family Feud, you'd want an answer nobody would choose.

"One hundred people were surveyed. Top four answers on the board. Name something a person might fear."

"Talcum Powder"

Why Are You Afraid of Talcum Powder?

Your next step would be to analyze why you have such odd feelings on a particular subject. If you're deafly afraid of Talcum powder, yet the Grim Reaper makes you smile and make popcorn, why? What weird thing happened to you to bring you to these odd beliefs. Obviously, you're oddest belief may not be as unusual as my example. However, everyone has attitudes that fall out of the norms. If you're even considering a career in the comedy field you have one desire that falls well outside of everyone's idea of a normal life.

So where did you're oddest beliefs and desires come from?

Do you believe all men are going to hell because you've never dated a woman who told you differently? Do you feel all men are going to hell because you've never dated a man who wasn't already spending summers and weekends there? Do you believe that violence solves everything because you've never lost a fight? Where is the logic behind your attitudes that fall completely contrary to all the norms?

By the same token, where are your attitudes completely normal? Yet somehow, they logically led you to a completely unique conclusion.

"When I saw all the money those sinners put into the collection basket, I knew I could relax and buy my way into Heaven."

When To Explore Feelings And When To Quit

You can overanalyze your attitudes on any given subject. You can also under analyze them. Here are some key points to remember. If you're not interested by the subject, neither will your audience be. Don't write about a subject until you're fascinated by your own opinion. Share your opinion about the death penalty when you're willing to convert a room full of strangers to live life through your own point-of-view.

You're overanalyzing a subject if you're are forcing a joke where none exists. If your attitude on a subject doesn't warrant writing a set, don't replay your entire childhood until you can find a reason to justify another attitude. Ultimately, it's easiest to sell a product you really believe in. If you feel the death penalty is justified in cases of murder and rape, your attitude is in line with over 60% of the adult population. Don't hypnotize yourself in the hopes of dragging up hidden memories, until you want to kill someone. Move on. Unless you're a moron, you'll have an unusual attitude about something else.

Under analyzing usually comes from fear. There are too many sources of fear to list. You might be afraid your girl friend will hate you analyzing your relationship and putting it on display. That might cause you to avoid talking about it. Here's the problem.

The audience knows when you duck subjects.

Moreover, no comic should be in a healthy relationship. So if analyzing will get you dumped... You'll benefit from the material.

There are other reasons to avoid exploring themes. Maybe you're afraid that you won't like yourself after you explore these issues. However, heres another golden rule of comedy, The best comedians always knew themselves well. If you don't want to know who you are, there's probably a joke in your self doubt. However, there isn't a future unless it becomes your entire act. Richard Lewis did become a comedy god by doubting himself. Although, he'd probably never admit it.

Narrowing Your Focus

Most comics have too many unusual attitudes to cover all their baggage at a five minute open mike. They seem to focus on the top three things that make them unusual. Here are some common focuses that describe overall personalities.

Are you compulsive? Are you anal? Are you a religious freak? Are you an animal freak to the point the Human Society is willing to put you to sleep? Are you a compulsively anal freak who is ready to convert you audience members to the great faith of snake charming?

Your most fertile area for writing comedy will come from the places where your most unusual attitudes overlap. Usually that happens when the source and origin of the unusual attitudes are the same. Maybe your mom was a religious freak who loved snakes. Could you help wanting to be the nation's number one snake charmer as you grew older? I think not. Fill in the blank with a unusual attidudes:

This Table Will Help You Get Started Writing About Your Attitudes
I really hate:
I really love:
What terrifies me:
What causes am I for:
What causes am I against:
How do I feel about slobs:
Who makes me sick:
Who makes me swoon:
Who looks sexy to me:
I would preach for:
I would preach against:

Now That You've Written About You Attitude And Appearance

When you originally start exploring your attitudes choose no more than three subjects. Write about a page on each of them. Combine that with the material you've already written about your appearance. When you narrow your scope to the best things you've written, highlight where you expect to get laughs. Guess what, you're ready to get on stage and introduce yourself to the world.

Remember don't try for huge laughs. Try for a clear sense of direction. When you stand on the first level as a comic you need to decide your start and end points. Where am I? Where am I going? Do I want to be a road comic? Do I want a sitcom? Will I be happy playing clubs? Do I want to write books? What in what I've already written will most likely take me there?

When it comes to what your writing now, your starting point should be learning about yourself and your attitudes. That will help you define an end point much more easily.

You should also concentrate on conveying your attitudes to your audiences clearly and effectively. After you've mastered writing in that way, other forms of writing comedy will come naturally. And soon, you'll be ready to do open mikes on a regular basis. At this level, you're mostly just trying to point yourself in the right direction. That way when you start thinking of your final destination, you're already facing that way.

Summary of this Pamphlet

This pamphlet covers the second level of writing material as a comic. First it tells you to analyze where you have strong attitudes. Then it then tells you to compare your attitudes to the attitudes of the average person. When your own attitudes are clearly different from the people around you, you have fertile ground for developing material.

This pamphlet encourages you to explore the sources of your most unusual attitudes. Where are the sources of your attitudes a little off key also. Further, it encourages you to neither overanalyze nor to under analyze any one topic.

When a single topic tends to start repeating in different areas of your life, it's probably worth exploring. If an unlikely childhood experience is shaping your attitudes in places in every area of your life, you should probably talk about it.

This should help you narrow your focus to those unique attitudes that are truly unusual and important to you. If you need a good example listen to Rob Twohy's Lesbi Man on Mp3.Com. He sold the jokes because his attitude varies from the norm. Yet, it's clear where they come from. Consequently, the audience can relate to his rather unusual attitude about life.

I'm sure your life is just as unusual and you'll have no problem doing the same.