Warning: Some not so happy latter half that comes out of left field because I'm saying my thoughts.

A great man once said: "When I cut my finger is a tragedy... When you fall into a sewer and die is a comedy." In this trail of thought, one might decide to be a sadist to their character and play it for laughs.

Not saying that angle won't work or anything. After all, Charlie Chaplin didn't get famous for no reason.

What I'm trying to say is that comedy is derived from the absurd. Things that don't normally happen is happening and no common sense is needed for the fictional characters involved since people being dumb is funny in its own right. I mean, go ask Disney for advice on writing overly dumb characters who couldn't possibly exist in real life at all.

This doesn't mean that a pure comedy needs to be all laughs though. It is becoming strangely more common to weave plot threads together in order to make even more absurd scenarios for the characters involved. I remember watching an Anime called 'Gamers!' about a group of teenagers gradually falling into the rabbit hole of misunderstandings since they wouldn't outright ask each other anything.

It was to the point that Otaku online dubbed it with the meme-like name of 'Misunderstandings: The Anime' in the face of how complicated the story was becoming because of what was happening on screen.

Just me writing the word 'absurd' twice should be enough for those reading this to understand that making it 'out there' is what's comical. Even 'Kaguya Sama- Love Is War' derived its comedy from the absurd humour that is what WOULD happen when two geniuses won't give up in trying to win over the other in their battle of over-the-top scheming.

Reactions that are so over-the-top they are comical in itself are also common to comedies. Even in those fictions that try to balance their comedy with heavier moments that were built to be tear jerkers.

However, to actually be able to overcome the hurdle of making the sadder moments impact instead of making the reader laugh, what is most needed is the inclusion of something 'mundane' in a character's life which can be subverted. There is a reason The Simpson's and other comedy tv shows go back to the status quo after a joke has ended, it is because seeing something mundane turn hilarious is subversive.

And what is comedy if not a subversion of what we are expecting? The reason everything used to laugh in high school when someone fell after another guy pulled his chair before he sat is because something even as mundane as 'sitting' didn't follow the tradition, turning into something they didn't expect.

A long comedy story needs this sense of returning to the status quo even if it has changed a little after the previous punchline. You can't always throw in punchlines without proper build up to it.

There needs to be at least some time for the characters to take in an exciting incident before the next one comes, and that is especially true when it comes to punchlines. It's just how comedy works.

Now you may be thinking of writing a character who has some funny joke that consistently happens in the story. Maybe your character keeps on falling asleep in climactic moments or maybe your comic relief has a catchy catchphrase that he always NEEDS to say.

In the case of the latter: Don't... Just don't...

As for the former, new scenarios for the same joke can lead into an even bigger joke. Bonus points if whatever the character's main joke is actually coincides with some sort of characterisation.

You can have a guy who gets angry all the time have to ACTUALLY go to anger management courses or maybe the guy who falls asleep just doesn't get any most the time due to insomnia. I know something so 'real' shouldn't be funny, but remember my earlier advice, something 'mundane' can ground the story.

To have a higher purpose than just the comedy happening itself, this sense of realism is required and can't be forgotten if you want to make stories that can have a higher impact on the audience.

Generally, you can go berserk with this kind of story since any joke is acceptable as long as they don't are not moral ambiguous and don't go at the expense of a certain group of your audience. I mean, 9/11 jokes may seem funny but we've already got to the point that the terrorism itself is not to be joked about.

On a side note: Why is it that Kyoto Animation burning down is a tragedy but people falling off buildings in 9/11 is funny? I remember a guy even adding cartoon sound to w video of people falling...

Sorry, back to the topic at hand. Your sense of humour is your own, but be sure to be sensitive to the people around you and not be a sadistic bully who takes pleasure in the suffering of others.

This is Love4NovelGuy signing out and waiting for the next person to request a specific Analysis blog.