There is one rule in writing that stands above all others; one single law of writing for which all other rules can be broken, and all standards fall subject:
“You can get away with anything if you’re funny enough.”
This is sometimes called “the Rule of Funny” on Internet forums or TVtropes, where it gets compared to similar rules like “the Rule of Drama,” “the Rule of Cool,” “the Rule of Sexy,” and “the Rule of Scary,” but the Rule of Funny is unique. The rule of cool has a limit, in that things that are cool eventually become “stupid cool” when it’s taken too far. The Rule of Sexy only works on people who find whatever you’re showing titillating, which is never going to be everyone, and the Rules of Drama and Scary only work on people who like drama and horror, which can be niche things to cover.
But the thing about comedy is, no matter who you are, it feels good to laugh. Some people don’t like being scared, or watching inflated drama. Some people are prudes, or don’t like action scenes. And even the people who do enjoy the scenes will turn to nitpick them once the initial good feelings wear off. The difference with comedy is that, when you put a smile on someone’s face, regardless of how ridiculous, or how much of a hole it creates in the plot or the worldbuilding, or even if it’s out of character. If you made someone laugh, you made them enjoy themselves, and whenever they turn to critique that scene, they’ll remember the way it made them feel happy. Comedy is universally good at entertaining people, and as long as you make people smile, no criticism or flaws in your writing will diminish the fact that they enjoyed it.
Of course, that leads to the problem of actually being funny, which takes some work.
First, let’s get this out of the way: some people are born with a talent for comedy, but talent is cheap. The only way to get good at making people laugh is through practice.
But where to start? Well, who is your target audience? It is worth looking into the demographics you have in mind, because different demographic groups are more likely to laugh at different kinds of humor. In general, women are less likely to find sexual humor funny than men, absurdist humor tends to have fast diminishing returns, and black comedy follows its own special rules that I’ll probably need to cover in a later post.
One thing that I’ve noticed people getting sick of lately is the overuse of toilet humor in movies lately. I don’t want to go into too much detail, and I’m pretty sure you already know what I’m talking about, but in many films trying to be funny lately, Hollywood seems to head straight for the bottom of the bowl. And it really is about reaching for the bottom; the lowest common denominator.
Toilet humor is universal, and as long as your audience are a bunch of children, or even just really immature adults, then you’re going to get the laughter you want. But, it usually only works once, while the best jokes have staying power and can be heard multiple times to keep producing (albeit diminished) returns, a poop joke told twice usually won’t even get a smile, unless it’s “so bad, it’s good.” And staying power is important; it’s the reason why when people look over your work again for critique, they’ll remember how they felt the first time, and will feel the same way all over again.
The reason toilet humor has become so common lately is because groups like Hollywood, larger publishing houses, and even major comics companies are trying to reach international audiences, and that means some types of humor just won’t work. Pop-cultural references don’t work with other cultures, unless they’re familiar with the reference.
Of course, there are lots of types of comedy that can translate across cultural barriers, but they take work to master. This is why Hollywood doesn’t use them. But if you want to give it a go, I recommend watching comedy anime, both subbed and then dubbed, and pay attention to which gags make you laugh, what gets changed, and which version had more of an impact on you.
And always remember: no one watches the Office to see a workplace run smoothly.
