Opposite Attracts Laughter!
How do comedy writers come up with endless funny ideas? Basically they employ the technique called ASSOCIATION. They pair up or associate different images, words and thoughts together until they reach a hilarious result.
The most popular and obvious form of association in comedy is INCONGRUITY; by pairing of opposites or contrasts. Like fat and thin, black and white, new and ancient and the list goes on. By juxtapositing two opposites it creates incongruity. This premise can whip up endless potential humorous ideas. Examples like a tall reek-thin man standing beside his rotund wife, a caveman using a handphone, a smart-talking donkey with a dumb owl or a devil having a friendly round of poker with an angel. As I've said before "anything goes". But of course not all incongruities will produce funny result.
Another obvious source of incongruity is the OXYMORON. Oxymoron is a figure of speech in which two seemingly contradictory words are combined. Examples like: open secret, good grief, original copies, small crowd or alone together.
Similarly to the
technique of incongruity, is the REVERT. Here you take a normal situation and reverse it into its opposite. The most popular example is the bride carrying her groom into the room. Just take any ordinary situation and turn it around and see whether it can engender laughter. Like instead of having a bird in a cage, have a man in a bird cage, with the bird watching outside. "Anything goes"!
Use the association technique to light up your creative fuse and set it ablaze with ideas. Spur your brain to make new connection or new associations with opposities that will attract laughter.
About The Author
Kher Cheng Guan - a freelancer from MALAYSIA who dabbles in both visual and performing art. Cartooning, script-writing, acting in TV and movies, doing voice, sound and singing impressions under the stage-names: Wacky Willy and SFX-Man.
Read more articles and free tips at: http://funny-ideas.blogspot.com/
Reach me at: kertoon@yahoo.com
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