How to Make a Movie Comedy
David Zucker, along with partners Jerry Zucker and Jim Abrahams (Airplane, The Naked Gun), devised 15 rules to remember when crafting funny films. Here is the essence.
Difficulty Level: easy Time Required: varies
Here's How:
- Never do two jokes at one time.
- Background jokes must relate to foreground jokes.
- Foreground actors must ignore jokes behind them.
- Avoid breaking the frame or "fourth wall." Actors doing asides to the audience risk destroying the movie's spell.
- Don't break logic; however, a lightning quick throwaway joke can be successful and not hurt the overall effect.
- Do a joke and move on. Leave the past behind. (When dynamite explodes in Daffy Duck's face, he gets severely powder burned and his beak blows off. Two seconds later, he's back to normal.)
- Axe-grinding must not linger past its comic potential.
- Self-conscious jokes about comedy or the movie business are "a strict no-no," says Zucker.
- Trivial gags, understood by almost no one, are not worth the effort.
- Phony set-ups or too much fabrication to make a joke or scene fit into the story may not be a plus.
- "Don't do anything Jerry Lewis would do." (Zucker's cheap shot is invalid, especially since his films are loaded with exactly the kinds of bits Lewis did do.)
- Mindless action without a comic pay-off doesn't work. Car crashes and glitzy special effects don't necessarily enhance.
- Don't continue "piling on" jokes after a target's usefullness has expired.
- Don't drag out a joke. Know when to stop.
- "There are no rules."
Tips:
- See as many comedies as you can in all styles, including foreign and silent pictures. Respect and learn from the timeless successes. Look closer and see, except for faces, fashions, and morals, how little has changed.
- Read comedy scripts. Study their structures and pacing and compare them to the finished
films.
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