Comedy Masterclass

Scott Dikkers (How to Write Funny)

Danielle Krage interviews Scott Dikkers, founder of the renowned humour site, The Onion. Scott is a New York Times and Amazon best-selling humour author. He has won a Peabody Award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor and over 30 Webby awards. Plus, he has consulted for top entertainment companies like NBC, Comedy Central, and Pixar.
Scott’s How to Write Funny series is packed with helpful insights and frameworks for getting humour onto the page. In this episode, he shares both craft and career advice for comedy writers.  
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:21 Building a Brand and the Importance of Stick-to-it-ness
04:18 Crafting Reliable and Repeatable Quality
08:31 Balancing the Clown and the Editor
12:39 The Importance of Titles and Introducing Comedy in Writing
22:36 Misconceptions about Writing Comedy
30:31 Favourite Types of Characters to Write
33:13 Satire and its Impact
36:00 Where to Find Scott Dikkers
 
Links
https://howtowritefunny.com/
https://scottdikkers.substack.com/
https://twitter.com/ScottDikkers
https://www.instagram.com/itsscottdikkers
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social

Writing advice from my favourite ghost (Ray Bradbury)

In this episode, Danielle shares the writing advice of Ray Bradbury, a writer who has influenced her own writing process. She introduces Bradbury and his book 'Zen and the Art of Writing', highlighting his practical and joyful approach to writing. Danielle discusses two main practices recommended by Bradbury: the 52 Short Story Challenge and the Thousand Nights Challenge. She shares her own experiences with these challenges and offers tips for making them doable and enjoyable.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Ray Bradbury
02:08 The 52 Short Story Challenge
15:38 The Thousand Nights Challenge
23:12 Committing to Challenges
 
SHOW NOTES
Zen and the Art of Writing: Essays on Creativity: https://www.amazon.com/Zen-Art-Writing-Essays-Creativity/dp/1877741094
An Evening with Ray Bradbury 2001: https://youtu.be/_W-r7ABrMYU?si=kGDIee3oMGC51wTY
https://daniellekrage.com/10-things-i-learned-from-writing-52-short-stories
https://daniellekrage.com/christmas-even/
https://daniellekrage.com/its-hard-being-an-avenger/
https://daniellekrage.com/this-isnt-a-love-story/
https://daniellekrage.com/the-new-life-church/
https://daniellekrage.com/the-last-bite/
https://daniellekrage.com/it-was-for-cerberus/
https://daniellekrage.com/1000-nights/
https://poets.org
https://tetw.org
 

Julia McKenzie (Getting Audio Comedy Commissioned)

Julia McKenzie is the Commissioning Editor for Comedy and Entertainment at Radio 4, and prior to that was Creative Director of BBC Studios Audio for 7 years, specialising in comedy and entertainment production.
In this conversation, Julia provides helpful insights for comedy writers who want to understand the audio landscape and find ways to get their work produced.
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:06 Starting in Audio and Comedy
08:11 Working with Producers
13:44 Commissioning Process
19:55 Audio Comedy Landscape
27:56 Pilots and Evaluation
33:36 Audio Formats
38:16 Favourite Comedy Shows
39:44 Recommendations and Resources
40:47 TV Recommendations
41:39 Fresh Take on Narration
43:15 Where to Find More
 
SHOWNOTES:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/commissioning
Jokes feed: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001tzf5
BBC Sounds app: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/help/questions/getting-started-with-bbc-sounds/sounds-intro
https://twitter.com/juliaamckenzie
Comedy of the Week: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9x6/episodes/downloads
Friday Night Comedy: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p02pc9pj
https://twitter.com/dmsareopenbbc

Lynne Parker (Founder of Funny Women)

Danielle Krage interviews Lynne Parker, Founder and Chief Executive of Funny Women. She created the organisation over 20 years ago now and has made such a contribution to the comedy community, including producing the Funny Women Awards. In this conversation, Lynne shares invaluable advice for women building their careers and networks in comedy.   
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:10 The Creation of Funny Women
09:45 The Importance of Funny Women
12:24 Supporting Women in Comedy
17:48 Challenges in the Comedy Industry
23:47 Mentorship and Networking
30:18 Taking Comedy into the Workplace
37:10 The Value of Remote Work and Social Interaction
38:29 Creating Fun and Engaging Work Environments
39:52 Running Events for Women in the Workplace
41:46 The Power of Comedy in the Workplace
43:31 Overcoming Gender Stereotypes in the Workplace
45:13 Representation of Women in Comedy
46:42 Challenging Age Stereotypes
48:38 Being Independent Thinkers
49:22 Finding More Information
 
You can find out more about Lynne Parker and her work here:
https://funnywomen.com
https://www.herlarious.co.uk
https://twitter.com/funnywomen
https://twitter.com/FunnyWomenLynne
https://www.instagram.com/funny_women
20 years of Funny Women:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m001qszl
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social
 

Fran Hill (Observational Humour)

Danielle Krage interviews author Fran Hill about ways to develop your observational humour skills as a writer. Fran is a former English teacher, and had a monthly satirical column about education in the Times Educational Supplement. She further shared her experiences in diary form in her memoir ‘Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?' And she published her novel, ‘Cuckoo in the Nest’ in 2023.  
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:19 Starting the Satirical Column
03:09 Observational Humour and Learning
07:30 Transition to Writing
10:26 Discovering the Craft of Writing
11:17 Honing Observational Skills
15:00 Exaggeration and Specific Detail
19:19 Writing Poetry for Special Occasions
24:20 Challenges of Writing Fiction
28:30 Observation, Hypervigilance, and Comedy
34:34 Crafting Poems for Others
38:16 Writing with a Macro Perspective
41:07 The Inspiration for Character Development
41:24 The Power of Setting
42:14 Continual Learning and Growth
42:32 Where to Find More of Fran Hill's Work
 
You can find out more about Fran Hill and her work here:
https://www.franhill.co.uk
https://linktr.ee/franhill123
https://twitter.com/franhill123
https://www.instagram.com/franhill123
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social
 

Billy Mernit (The Art of Crafting Funny Love Stories for the Screen)

Danielle Krage interviews Billy Mernit - screenwriter, novelist and author of Writing The Romantic Comedy: The Art of Crafting Funny Love Stories for the Screen. Billy has served as a story analyst and script consultant at Universal Pictures, an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, and has published some 20 romance novels under a female pen name. In this conversation, he shares really practical ways of approaching writing romantic comedy, including in today’s landscape of mixing genres.
 
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:00 Love for Rom-Coms
02:25 The Triangle and the Ensemble
07:43 Favourite Rom-Coms
13:16 The Importance of World
17:48 The Connection Between Image and Theme
25:36 Mixing Genres in Rom-Coms
31:06 Rom-Coms in Series Format
34:07 Personal Development as a Writer
37:14 Music and Writing
10:15 The Importance of Characters in Romantic Comedies
20:30 The Role of Conflict in Romantic Comedies
30:45 The Art of Crafting Funny Love Stories
39:41 Recommendation and Conclusion
 
You can find out more about Billy and his work here:
https://www.instagram.com/mernitman
https://billymernit.com
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social
 
 

Winter Break

Back January 10th 2024 with more Comedy Masterclass guests.

Allora Dannon and Camille Le Baron (Christmas comedy recommendations)

In this episode writers Allora Dannon, Camille Le Baron and Danielle Krage share their Christmas comedy recommendations. They discuss TV series, films and books that capture the holiday spirit with a Christmas twist. Whether you love Christmas or not, there's something for everyone in these recommendations.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and How They Met. (Plus, shoutout to the brilliant Temeraire series by Naomi Novik)
01:48 Introducing Allora and Camille
03:00 Recommendation: Home for Christmas (Norwegian series)
05:34 Recommendation: The Spirit of Christmas (film)
08:03 Recommendation: Love Actually (film)
12:03 Recommendation: Twas the Nightshift Before Christmas, Adam Kay (book)
20:43 Recommendation: Little Women (book/1994 film version)
26:02 Recommendation: Le père Noël est une ordure/ Father Christmas is a Stinker
37:08 Social media, online presence and more
 
You can find Allora here:
https://www.tiktok.com/@alloradannon
 
And Camille here:
https://www.instagram.com/camillelbauthor
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social
 

Chelsea Kania & Emily Chase from Female Pilot Club (practical advice for entering a comedy script call competition)

Danielle Krage interviews Chelsea Kania and Emily Chase from Female Pilot Club, and they discuss the benefits of entering writing competitions and the development opportunities they offer.
From their work with Female Pilot Club’s comedy script call, they share practical tips for developing your pitch, engaging with the advice of industry judges, responding to feedback and development notes, and finding the right fit with mentors.
The conversation covers:
00:00 Introduction to Female Pilot Club and Writing Competitions
02:08 The Benefits of Live Script Readings
03:35 The Purpose of the Script Call and Female Pilot Club
05:33 The Importance of Championing Female Writers
07:34 The Development Opportunities in the Script Call
08:08 Tips for Crafting a Succinct and Captivating Pitch
09:34 Advice from Industry Judges on Writing Comedy Scripts
11:05 Balancing Unique Personal Lens and Broad Comedy Appeal
13:49 Tips for Engaging with Script Development Notes
18:04 Considerations for Standing Out in Submissions
20:12 The Value of Script Consultancy and Mentoring
22:33 Finding a Good Fit in Mentors and Consultants
25:45 Staying Centred and True to Your Vision
30:09 Favourite Comedies and Comedy Dramas
32:57 Advice for Writers: Patience and Focus
37:00 Closing Remarks and Script Call Details
 
You can find out more about Female Pilot Club, their script call, and consultancy here:
https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk
https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk/2024scriptcall
https://www.femalepilotclub.co.uk/script-consultancy
https://www.instagram.com/femalepilotclub
https://twitter.com/femalepilotclub
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social
 
 

Chris Head (How to structure your 30 min comedy or comedy-drama script)

Danielle Krage interviews comedy director, coach and mentor, Chris Head.
This episode is a deep dive into how to structure your 30 min comedy or comedy-drama script. Then Chris and Danielle play with using the structure to brainstorm a new show.
Tactics covered include:
Breaking down the 3 main beats that shape your story.
Ways to keep your protagonist active.
How to navigate phases of play and structuring when writing.
Brainstorming a show in real time, using practical frameworks for character dynamics and story beats.
Bringing in a B and a C story.
You can find out more about Chris’ work here:
https://www.chrishead.com
 
You can find the blog post referenced here (including links to scripts):
https://www.comedy.co.uk/pro/inside_track/structuring-your-30-minute-script
 
You can find the transcript at:
https://comedymasterclass.com
 
And Danielle’s socials here:
https://twitter.com/daniellekrage
https://www.instagram.com/dekrage
https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social