What are You Laughing at?: How to Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, and More

This book is a bit of a contradiction, insofar as it is very entertaining reading, yet you learn a great deal almost by accident. I also intuitively feel I'd like the author; whether as an instructor or just a nice guy to share a cold beer with. If you are interested in how to make humor "click," this is the place to look. Highly recommended.

So someone once asked me, "Pamela, do you write comedy?". "Not on purpose", I replied.

But now, with the help of a really funny guy who wrote a really helpful book, I can make a good go at it.

Like Brad Schreiber himself, this book is intelligent, witty, accessible, inspiring, and fun.

It offers overviews of various forms of humor, theories of humor, examples of humor, excerpts from humorists, practical advice on writing funny, and even provocative exercises that guarantee at least a giggle, most often a guffaw.

As a story consultant myself, I recommend Brad's book to my writing clients.

As a reader, I recommend Brad's book to anyone -- writer, speaker, performer -- who wants to lighten their life and the presentation of their message with humor.

Produce winning comedic screenplays using fiction and nonfiction alike with Brad Schreiber's What Are You Laughing At?: How To Write Funny Screenplays, Stories, & More. Included are over 70 excerpts from top screenwriters and pairing them with writing exercises and details on the differences between writing comedy for TV versus stage. There are eleven modes of comedic dialogue, 13 common problems screenwriters encounter and valuable insights into the rhythm and sound of words in What Are You Laughing At? Brad is himself a L.A. screenwriter, so his tips come from an insider's hand.

This book is funny -- even if you don't feel like learning anything from it, you'll laugh. Writers will recognize themselves in the examples for sure. I like that the book is about *writing funny* as opposed to writing screenplays or columns or novels or [insert genre here]. Schreiber breaks down the principles of humor writing and gives you guidance on applying them to any type of project.

This is a wry, dry, witty and comprehensive piece of work which is excellent reading in itself as well as being essential for the aspiring writer. Schreiber draws on his experience as TV development executive, teacher, script consultant and actor to hand on a wealth of useful information on everything from Aphorisms to Yiddish Sound Theory and from the Author's Voice to Vulgarity - and for the really keen student there are 'Do This Now' exercises at the end of every section. This is a high quality publication by Michael Wise Productions. It has a useful index and an excellent introduction by Christopher Vogler. I enoyed it hugely.