Five Comedic Inspirations That Shape My Writing
It seems I’m sticking with my promise from last month (so far, at least!), so I’m back with another monthly blog post! I have something hopefully fun I’d like to share with you all today on the subject of comedy — specifically, where my inspiration comes from and the authors, artists, and sources that shaped how I approach humor in my stories. But first, a monthly writing update for you.
My work on “Knight School is still progressing, slowly but surely. I’ve always found the middles of stories to be the part that gives me the most problems: I usually have a very clear idea doing into something where it begins and where I want it to end…but beyond that, I most of the time end up making it up as I go along. The good news is that the making it up part should be made a bit easier by the fact that I have an outline to fall back on; the bad news is that in the times I manage to find to write, I’m usually looking for things that will be as easy on me as possible. So I decided to skip ahead to the end of the book and am working my way back toward the middle. I suppose that counts as saving the best for last?
As of this writing, I’m currently done with 15 out of 31 chapters in the story — so given the fact that some of the remaining ones are in partially-written states and won’t need wholesale rewriting, I’m going to count that as halfway! Once March arrives I’m going to have to seriously consider getting my act together to query, so my progress this month will be critical in determining how ready I am. Better get at it, I suppose.
Anyway, the real reason I brought you here today was to share some of my storytelling inspirations, specifically in the area of comedy. I can’t say I’m unique in that I have them — I mean, who doesn’t like to laugh? — but I feel what is a bit unique are the niche genres and kinds of humor in stories that have influenced my growth as a writer. A comprehensive list would be far too long for a single blog post, but hopefully these five major examples (in no particular order, of course) will give you some small insight into why I write the way I do…and maybe give you some recommendations for your next movie or reading night!
#1: Monty Python
If you’ve never heard of this 60s British comedy group, I’ll refer you first and foremost to the unforgettable comedy classic that is Monty Python and the Holy Grail (which may or may not have been a major source of inspiration for “Knight School”), but that’s just the tip of an unbelievable talent iceberg that includes The Life of Brian, The Meaning of Life, and their TV series Monty Python’s Flying Circus. I was introduced to the Pythons fairly young — probably too young, if I’m being honest, based on how risque and absurd some of their humor can get — but I cite them first because it expanded my understanding of how being funny wasn’t confined to telling formulaic jokes over and over again.
The Pythons’ comedy is frequently surreal, usually bizarre, and almost always outrageous. I mean, who would have come up with the Spanish Inquisition bursting into random modern people’s kitchens and fumbling their way through an interrogation or an aggravated pet shop customer reciting the thesaurus for different ways to say his parrot’s dead? Or, for that matter, King Arthur and his knights pretending to ride horses when they’re actually just skipping around slapping coconut halves together? Even more fascinating is their tendency to reject the traditional buildup/punchline model of a joke; oftentimes their funniest moments last only, well, moments, and they frequently abandon sketches halfway through because they got bored and the joke stopped being funny. That’s the main lesson here, I think: structure is the antithesis of good comedy. What’s really funny is chaos.
#2: Black Adder
From one British comedy to another, Rowan Atkinson (of Mr. Bean fame)’s Black Adder came a bit later in history and to my comedic awareness, but has been integral in pushing me toward the historical fantasy genre that I love to write. In short, over several seasons Atkinson plays different members of the Blackadder family, all living in different time periods with different jobs, circumstances, and associates, with one thing in common: he is always the smartest person in the room, miserable because he’s surrounded by idiots.
From medieval times to the Regency period, Tudor England, and even World War I, the Blackadder clan’s acidic wit and modernly-flavored disdain for their surroundings is a guilty pleasure of mine. I love the idea of generational comedy like this as character traits and personality flaws carry over from age to age, and also the notion that being the cleverest person around often brings you more frustration than happiness. The Blackadders may be arrogant, but they make you want to root for them as only the best antiheroes do because they, like their audience, have the benefit of perspective — a tool I often like to put to use in my own writing to get readers on the same side as my characters even when they’re not the traditional “good guys.”
#3: The Brooksverse
This is my shorthand for nearly all the comedy works of Mel Brooks, who I believe is one of the most genuinely funny people to ever live. Which of his movies is the best is a subject of hot debate: as a longtime sci-fi devotee, I prefer Spaceballs, while others cite Young Frankenstein, The Producers, or Blazing Saddles as among his greatest hits. Even lesser-loved entires like Robin Hood: Men in Tights and History of the World: Part 1 have little moments of genius in them (I mean, come on: has there ever been a better Robin Hood casting than Cary Elwes?). The key to almost all of them is the genre parody, which has been formative to my work.
Whether the subject matter was science fiction adventure, a Western, Gothic horror, or a romp through merry olde England with Robin Hood, Brooks has a knack for pulling out the best pieces of whatever thing he’s satirizing and making them his own, usually through twisting them into new, unexpectedly hilarious reimaginings. In much of my personal writing and elsewhere, I embrace the idea of parody as one of the bedrock principles of humor.
#4: Douglas Adams
In case you thought I was going to spend this whole list not talking about actual books, I’m glad to prove you wrong. For those who may not be aware, Douglas Adams was the author (British again, surprise surprise!) of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series: a zany, outlandish sci-fi sprint of wayward human and non-human characters through a crazy universe that is chaotic, messy, nonsensical, and filled with improbable coincidences and all-too-human behavior. I’m less interested in talking about the subject matter, though, as delightful as I find it: I’m more interested in how Adams made his stories so funny, and that’s through the craft of laying down perfect digressive asides.
If you ever read some of Adams’ work (and I can’t recommend him enough), you’ll instantly see what I mean: the run-on sentences, the random tangents on a line of dialogue or an unimportant aside that take the readers out of what’s going on and confront them with ideas and trains of thought so original and bizarre you can’t help but laugh and admire the pure creativity it took to string them together. It’s not only the subject that’s funny: it’s the way the story is told that makes it funny, in the breathless way of someone meandering on and on as they get further and further from the actual point. Those who are sticklers for tightly-moving plots may hate it, but when used right, it’s a potent point I’ve done my best to make my own in my personal writing.
#5: Arrested Development
I’d be remiss here if I didn’t mention what’s probably my favorite sitcom, and one of my all-time favorite TV shows, Arrested Development: the story of a wealthy family who lost everything, and the one son who…yeah, you know the thing. Hailing from the early 2000s and lasting only three seasons before its untimely cancelation (no, I don’t count the awful Netflix revival), the show is very much a product of its time but still proves hilarious after all these years for two main reasons: its character dynamics and its self-referential humor.
I know it may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but dialogue is my favorite part of a story to write: there’s nothing I enjoy more than witty banter. And it’s even more fun when characters stop in the middle of a tense or dramatic situation to bicker about things that really have no major bearing on the plot. Those are the times when you really find out who a character is and what they believe, and whether or not you’re invested in them. The Bluth family might be completely dysfunctional and full of negative qualities, as they themselves will admit, but the delightful interplay between the characters turns their animosity and arrogance into a group you can’t help but love — or maybe just love to hate.
More importantly, Arrested Development’s humor gets funnier as the show goes on: unlike most shows that seem to run out of fresh ideas and go stale after a while, a major reason why it stays funny is that the jokes build on each other across episodes and years: each episode usually references some ridiculous moment or concept from a previous story and takes it to the next level, introducing it into a new situation where it takes on a whole new meaning and humor. That, to me, is pure brilliance.
Are any of these your favorites, too? Or what other kinds of humor have inspired you in your storytelling? I’d love to know!