I write comedy. Yes I admit that openly. It’s not like I can deny it. I’ve been told that comedy is hard to write. Not sure if I’d agree with that. Sure it takes a certain mindset and more than a bit of insanity on the part of the writer, but hard it isn’t. You just have to be an observer of humanity at large. People are funny without even trying. As a writer you just have to see the humor in being human. Believe me there’s nothing funnier.

One of my favorite authors said Man is the animal that laughs at himself. Not sure if that’s an exact quote but I hope Mr. Heinlein will forgive me if I didn’t get it just right. To write comedy that one statement is the core rule. You must be able to look at yourself and say my struggle through life is funny. Sure at the time I’m living it, the process may not seem like it, but in retrospect, the whole hindsight 20/20 thing, I can see how amusing I must have been to those around me. Pitiful might be a better word, but I’m delusional enough to lie to myself.

As a writer you’re already familiar with turning life experiences into fodder for your books. Have you ever looked at those life experiences and truly examined them. Looked past the hardships, the pain, the embarrassment and said to yourself, Dang but what was I thinking?  That is a great part of comedy. Laughing at yourself. I can’t stress that enough. You’ve got to be able to see the idiocy in the struggle. No matter how hard you work at being normal, you ain’t ever going to make the cut.

There is no normal. Normal is a lie you picked up from TV. People tell you what normal should be, but that’s their ideal. Be true to the normal you want. Idiosyncrasies are what makes you you, me me and them them. Relish in the uniqueness of being you. Think you’re up for the challenge?

Okay, I’ve got my soapbox going now. My basics are there for you to see, but what is comedy? Comedy at its heart is a symbol. It’s been used for political, religious and every other statement making process since humanity learned to laugh at a guy getting hit by a rock.

Comedy symbolizes our dissatisfaction with being, what else, human. We’re frail creatures prone to falling down at the most inopportune moments, spiking spinach between our teeth when we’re trying to make a good first impression and generally making asses out of ourselves on a daily if not hourly basis.

In some cases Comedy symbolizes the person we’re afraid to let out in polite company. When you’re writing a character in comedy, you get to say all those things you normally wouldn’t in the course of your daily life. You know those great come backs you bite back to save someone’s feelings, or save yourself from a good butt whooping, say it, roll around in it and let that Super Ego come out and play. Comedy allows you to voice the opinions you’ve locked away.  Think of it as being your crazy Uncle Bob only without all the scratching of the private parts. Comedy lets you be all that you shouldn’t be but have been dying to be. And you can be as confusing as you want when you write a Blog because you’re crazy to begin with.

Comedy at its heart is a tool. A tool for change, enlightenment, social commentary or just for being a kid again. You can read whatever you need to make yourself sleep at night into it, but that’s all it is. For the reader its escapism. For the author it’s a catharsis to empty the excess baggage of our beliefs into something bigger than ourselves. If that just happens to be something that makes others smile, I say we’ve just made the insanity worth while.  

An insane missive from J. Morgan.

Take it as you like it.