Tag: Comedy Writing for Late-Night TV
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How to Write a Desk Piece
That’s an example of a joke in a Desk Piece, a type of short-form comedy that’s popular on many comedy/talk shows. A Desk Piece is a segment of fully-scripted comedy that the host performs by himself while sitting at his desk. Here’s how I wrote that joke. The process was very similar to that of…
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How to Write a Joke
There are formulas for writing jokes. Experienced joke writers go through a systematic process to turn something like a news item into a sentence or two that will make people laugh. You may have heard that “Writing is rewriting.” That describes only part of the process. Writing a joke is first thinking of what to…
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How to Create Funny Products
Short-form comedy, the kind on comedy/talk shows, often turns up in consumer products. That’s why the same writing techniques used on late-night shows can also be used to create funny products like tee-shirts, bumper stickers, and novelty gifts. For example, here’s how I used late-night comedy writing techniques to create two greeting cards that the…
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5 Reasons To Do Field Pieces
Why aren’t Jimmy Fallon and Seth Meyers doing more field pieces on their shows? Field pieces, or “remotes,” are comedy pieces that are shot outside the studio. They’re great for comedy/talk shows. Here are 5 reasons why. 1) It’s fun to see the host out in the real world for a change. Watching the same…
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Comedy Writing Is Not Rocket Science
If you know the techniques, tricks, and rules, comedy writing isn’t as hard as it looks. When I was co-head writer of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno I directed a sketch featuring Jay and astronaut Story Musgrave. The sketch was a comedy tour of Space Center Houston, the official visitor center of the Lyndon…