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Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage and Screen

Paperback by Head, Chris (Bath Spa University, UK)

Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage and Screen

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£19.79

ISBN:
9781350155756
Publication Date:
11 Feb 2021
Language:
English
Publisher:
Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Imprint:
Methuen Drama
Pages:
184 pages
Format:
Paperback
For delivery:
Estimated despatch 26 - 28 Sep 2025
Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage and Screen

Description

This accessible and engaging text covering sketch, sitcom and comedy drama, alongside improvisation and stand-up, brings together a panoply of tools and techniques for creating short and long-form comedy narratives for live performance, TV and online. Referencing a broad range of comedy from both sides of the Atlantic, spanning several decades and including material on contemporary internet sketches, it offers all kinds of useful advice on creating comic narratives for stage and screen: using life experience as raw material; constructing comedy worlds; creating comic characters, their relationships and interactions; structuring sketches, scenes and routines; and developing and plotting stories. The book's interviewees, from the UK and the USA, feature stand-ups, sketch comics, improvisers and TV comedy producers, and include Steve Kaplan, Hollywood comedy guru and author of The Hidden Tools of Comedy, Will Hines teacher and improviser from the Upright Citizens Brigade Theatre and Lucy Lumsden TV producer and former Controller of Comedy Commissioning for BBC. Written by "the ideal person to nurture new talent" (The Guardian), Creating Comedy Narratives for Stage & Screen includes material you won't find anywhere else and is a stimulating resource for comedy students and their teachers, with a range and a depth that will be appreciated by even the most eclectic and multi-hyphenated writers and performers.

Contents

Introduction PART 1: INSPIRATION Chapter 1: The Comedy of Your Life Chapter 2: People Watching Chapter 3: Write what you Know and Love (or Hate) PART 2: ACTION Chapter 4: Games & Worlds Chapter 5: SREP: Set-up, Reveal, Escalation, Payoff Chapter 6: Character Behaviour & Awareness Chapter 7: 'What if?' in Online Comedy & Beyond PART 3: STORY Chapter 8: Bosses, Strivers & Fools Chapter 9: Characters Driving the Narrative Chapter 10: Story Structure Index

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