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stoney321This isn't a comprehensive thing, so I'm not going to spam the WC comm, because I have spamming issues. :) Notes, links, etc. under the cut!
I really REALLY want to emphasize how glad I am to have had two people on the panel that I think were a little shocked at being there, yet I have gotten some of the MOST feedback about, because of how well they handled themselves, their thoughts, and the TYPE of funny they bring:![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
crevette and germaine_pet. Not everyone is a comedian, and not everyone writes fic. You two really represented something powerful to the majority of the attendees, and I thought you had excellent stage presence!
From stage left to right, as we sat (excluding me):
crevette is a humorous blogger, she's not much of a fic writer. But trust me, her blog is frickin' hilarious. We had an excerpt to her "Memos to [Her] Vagina" which can be found here and here. Good lord. Don't drink anything while reading. (Irene? I wish I hadn't been so frazzled, I would have loved to have spent more time with you - I know you had a lot of responsibilities, too. Thanks again!)
germaine_pet writes ANGST. And the seriously good, dreamy, atmospheric angst. I liked that she knows how to underscore the dark with light. (It makes the dark so much more so.) We had an excerpt of her work here, with Harmony, Spike, and Scott Hope. Heh.
crazydiamondsue Yeah, yeah, you all know I'm going to talk about her, but it's because she's one of the funniest people on the planet earth! Each new fic she writes with the flat out funny is funnier than the last (even though she gives good angst. And she weaves humor into ALL of her fics, which makes them resonate more strongly.) Wheels-O-Rama is her latest, and was read out loud at the panel. A MUST READ.
thebratqueen is mostly known for her porn and meta, but she also understands that having humor with the dark makes them both stronger. She wrote an essay on humor a few years back and it's here.
mpoetess is a cracked out hilarious person, who also can do the dark, the porny, and put them all together. However, I read her very funny retread of The Cat in the Hat, with a Spander twist.
*cough* As it's my journal, and I love me some preening, I did mention the Wee!Spike series. Which has a musical, based on Grease. Don't even act like you don't want to read it. If only to nod and say to yourself, I knew there was something wrong with that girl. Or perhaps Annie: The Musical (Connie!) starring Connor as the little orphan is to your taste? It's not all dick jokes and singing (although it SHOULD BE. If there was a god, there WOULD BE SINGING AND DICK JOKES ALL DAY LONG. And chocolate. And tequila.) because I really really like writing Andrew and Jonathon. In Scotland. With Sean Connery. Or Andrew and Xander. (But I was very restrained and only mentioned my stuff in passing. There was no talk of Stoney fic for pretty much the whole con! *dies*)
Some points made about writing humor:
And I really, REALLY would have loved to have had an hour more to talk about specific types of humor, but then it would have been the Laura show, and that's not the POINT, me.
Of a non-fannish/WC nature, I'm going to keep all talk of books and music on my VOX account - for purely selfish reasons and because I have organizational issues. *cough* My WC roommates were lovely for putting up with me cleaning all the time. I got a new Paste magazine, my sister sent me some music, and I'm reading a few REALLY good books, and I like the way VOX is set up for collecting thoughts on that stuff. (If anyone on VOX wants to add me to your neighborhood, yay! I've not been aggressive about adding people, as I don't want to presume you want me in BOTH spots.) Okay. Time to make creme fraiche.
I really REALLY want to emphasize how glad I am to have had two people on the panel that I think were a little shocked at being there, yet I have gotten some of the MOST feedback about, because of how well they handled themselves, their thoughts, and the TYPE of funny they bring:
crevette and germaine_pet. Not everyone is a comedian, and not everyone writes fic. You two really represented something powerful to the majority of the attendees, and I thought you had excellent stage presence!From stage left to right, as we sat (excluding me):
crevette is a humorous blogger, she's not much of a fic writer. But trust me, her blog is frickin' hilarious. We had an excerpt to her "Memos to [Her] Vagina" which can be found here and here. Good lord. Don't drink anything while reading. (Irene? I wish I hadn't been so frazzled, I would have loved to have spent more time with you - I know you had a lot of responsibilities, too. Thanks again!)germaine_pet writes ANGST. And the seriously good, dreamy, atmospheric angst. I liked that she knows how to underscore the dark with light. (It makes the dark so much more so.) We had an excerpt of her work here, with Harmony, Spike, and Scott Hope. Heh. crazydiamondsue Yeah, yeah, you all know I'm going to talk about her, but it's because she's one of the funniest people on the planet earth! Each new fic she writes with the flat out funny is funnier than the last (even though she gives good angst. And she weaves humor into ALL of her fics, which makes them resonate more strongly.) Wheels-O-Rama is her latest, and was read out loud at the panel. A MUST READ.thebratqueen is mostly known for her porn and meta, but she also understands that having humor with the dark makes them both stronger. She wrote an essay on humor a few years back and it's here.mpoetess is a cracked out hilarious person, who also can do the dark, the porny, and put them all together. However, I read her very funny retread of The Cat in the Hat, with a Spander twist.*cough* As it's my journal, and I love me some preening, I did mention the Wee!Spike series. Which has a musical, based on Grease. Don't even act like you don't want to read it. If only to nod and say to yourself, I knew there was something wrong with that girl. Or perhaps Annie: The Musical (Connie!) starring Connor as the little orphan is to your taste? It's not all dick jokes and singing (although it SHOULD BE. If there was a god, there WOULD BE SINGING AND DICK JOKES ALL DAY LONG. And chocolate. And tequila.) because I really really like writing Andrew and Jonathon. In Scotland. With Sean Connery. Or Andrew and Xander. (But I was very restrained and only mentioned my stuff in passing. There was no talk of Stoney fic for pretty much the whole con! *dies*)
Some points made about writing humor:
- humor in small doses can heighten the horror/angst woe - tension breaker, had to be done.
- the job of a comedy writer is to say taboo things: if you're not pissing SOMEONE off, you're not doing your job right
- work with stereotypes by pushing them beyond the barriers: Angel brooding and his face freezes that way, etc.
- Giles in a sombrero and serape is inherently funny. Because he's stiff and proper and... HAT!! The beats of silence after Buffy sees him dressed that way makes it funnier!
- "Silly" doesn't mean BADLY WRITTEN. (And I do NOT like the word silly, as it's dismissive! Don't be afraid to be funny!)
- If you know your characters, you know their type of humor. Buffy with her malapropisms, Xander with his sarcasm, etc.
- Not a single character on any Jossverse show didn't crack a joke. Even HOLTZ did!
- Take something mundane (your period) and push it to the absurd (memos to your body parts)
- You can fake sorrow or empathy, but you CAN NOT FAKE A LAUGH - and if you know your characters, you can make them funny!
- when all else fails, go to the source material. Surround yourself with funny people. Watch funny movies. If you can start laughing, the crazy will come!
And I really, REALLY would have loved to have had an hour more to talk about specific types of humor, but then it would have been the Laura show, and that's not the POINT, me.
Of a non-fannish/WC nature, I'm going to keep all talk of books and music on my VOX account - for purely selfish reasons and because I have organizational issues. *cough* My WC roommates were lovely for putting up with me cleaning all the time. I got a new Paste magazine, my sister sent me some music, and I'm reading a few REALLY good books, and I like the way VOX is set up for collecting thoughts on that stuff. (If anyone on VOX wants to add me to your neighborhood, yay! I've not been aggressive about adding people, as I don't want to presume you want me in BOTH spots.) Okay. Time to make creme fraiche.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 08:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 09:17 pm (UTC)Opening a funny door vs. opening a door funny
Opening a funny door is essentially a one-liner. This goes back to the Vaudeville days: you have a ridiculous door with sparklers, crazy paint, something like that. It's obviously out of place, the actor approaches, acknowledges how out of place it is, and moves through. Not much to work with there.
Now, opening a door FUNNY: I give you, the Minstry of Silly Walks. It's what the character does with something, be it silly or mundane that makes it funny.
Why the Ministry of Silly Walks works is because here you have a serious man. A man of structure, poise, rules - we assume this because of the stature, the dress, the speech. Then he starts walking. It's ridiculous, it's out of place, and most of all, it's completely unexpected.
I will say that there are a few exceptions, where both things are combined and they're brilliant, but they're rare: Charlie Chaplin as Hitler gently playing with an inflatable globe in his study, would be a good one.
...more? *g*
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Date: 2006-07-25 09:19 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 09:32 pm (UTC)Pick a scene. Any scene. :D
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Date: 2006-08-20 04:43 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-20 05:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 09:25 pm (UTC)Also, I friended you over on Vox. HAHAHAHA! You cannot escape me, sucker! I mean, yeah.
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Date: 2006-07-25 09:34 pm (UTC)Oooh, which reminds me that I didn't link to VOX here. (I love that I'm notmy name + a number there, YAY!!)
Have you seen that you can upload music to your VOX account for people to listen to? How cool is that?! *adds you back*
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Date: 2006-07-25 09:39 pm (UTC)Preach it, sister.
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Date: 2006-07-25 09:42 pm (UTC)(so if we can all get jazzed again, we'll have a few new watchers, I bet. Cool! You specifically, and your Gwyn, were mentioned this weekend.)
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Date: 2006-07-25 09:50 pm (UTC)ZOMG, I'm famous! J/k. Lately (and for once) I seem to be the only one with the time/desire/whatever to RP but I'm around whenever anyone else is.
And Talladega Nights opens next week! Yay!
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Date: 2006-07-25 11:26 pm (UTC)Am I going to have to get a gorram Vox account now? And how does one get one anyway.
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Date: 2006-07-25 11:36 pm (UTC)And I asked VOX to give me one, and they DID! Who'da thunk?? (You can get your name on their waiting list?)
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Date: 2006-07-25 11:47 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-25 11:50 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 12:25 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 12:29 am (UTC)And did you see that A-List got a shout out? I want to get everyone geared up to play again!! There should be some Depp/Dav/Bloom snark, STAT!!
<3
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Date: 2006-07-26 12:36 am (UTC)Hey hey, A-List shout outs! I am all for some Depp/Dav/Bloom snark. And I am trying hard not to imagine that as a ship, in my brain.
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Date: 2006-07-26 01:48 am (UTC)I have a VOX invite, and if I can ever decide on a username, I will likely neighbor, or whatever the terminology is there, your account. I am dithery. And also love that there are music uploads. I was swayed by the book thing, music too? Neat.
no subject
Date: 2006-07-26 02:07 am (UTC)