Dark Times? Turn to Comedy.
Dark Times? Turn to Comedy.
This Week In Writing, remember that when everything is dark and terrible, comedy is there to bring humor and insight.
The world can be a bleak place sometimes. The more we focus on the bad, the more it seems to envelop our mental health. However, comedy is a way to not only bring light into a dark world but also cope with the difficulties around us. I reached out to Blayr Austin, Second City instructor and queen of Twitter engagement, to write today's newsletter. Enjoy!
I’m often asked how I can teach comedy writing when there’s so much sadness in the world. I think my interest in comedy writing evolved because of that sadness – I truly believe humor helps people cope in difficult times and has the ability to offer hope to others.
Whether it’s writing a satirical piece or a personal essay, humor helps the audience to digest the sadder parts without feeling overwhelmed. And in fact, some of the best comedy addresses subjects that sound the furthest from funny, like family conflict, health problems, and political issues.
Comedy helps us realize that when things are dark and everything is terrible, we can still laugh as there are elements of humor in everything.
What I like most about comedy writing is that anyone can try it. You don’t have to be the funniest person in the room because there are specific techniques that you can use to make your writing funnier. Even a line or two goes a long way to contrast more serious content.
Do you use humor to address serious topics? I’d love to hear from you!
- Blayr
I can be found on Twitter @BlayrAustin. I created the classes Writing Sadness Through Humor and Writing the Humorous Personal Essay at The Second City (available in-person and online!)
This Week's Featured Links
Milk These Amazing References When Writing Your Comedy | by Jessica Delfino | The Writing Cooperative — writingcooperative.com Comedians are treasure hunters, essentially. We must dig and climb, seek and observe, collect notes and make intimate sense of things that others might not even notice. After gathering an array of…
Good Comedy Sometimes Makes Me Angry | by Taylor Foreman | The Writing Cooperative — writingcooperative.com Our parents instinctively know to play with us in that way. For a baby, it always gets a laugh. A simple, happy, joke, right? The actual reason babies find the joke funny is pretty dark, according to…
The Lesson Writers Can Learn from Stand-Up Comedians | by Jodi Compton | The Writing Cooperative — writingcooperative.com Comedy is my side hustle. Or maybe it’s more honest to call it a glorified hobby; I sometimes I spend more money on the Lyft to and from a venue than I earn. I do it because I love it — so much that…
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