Jokes
The Missing Step Between Setup and Punchline
Learn how a joke bridge turns a setup’s expectation into a surprising, earned punchline, with a weeklong routine for…
The full collection
All pieces
Browse pieces on jokes, characters, scenes, forms and performance. Each begins with a particular comic choice and follows what that choice can do.
Characters
Foil or Mirror: Two Jobs for a Comic Sidekick
Foil or mirror comic sidekick dynamics shift what an audience notices: use contrast to expose a lead’s blind spots, or…
Forms
From Drawing-Room Farce to the Modern Sketch
From drawing-room farce to the modern sketch, see how shifting scene length changes comic structure and how to reshape…
Scenes
The Escalation Trap: When Each Beat Gets Bigger
Comic escalation works better when each beat changes kind, not just size. Learn to vary a scene’s pattern so its jokes…
Performance
A Quiet Reading for a New Comic Scene
A quiet reading for a new comic scene helps writers hear changing intentions before actors commit to voices, gestures…
Our point of view
A laugh has a shape
We pay attention to the small decisions behind comic work: what it sets up, what it withholds and when it changes direction.