How to Write Funny: Your Serious, Step-By-Step Blueprint for Creating Incredibly, Irresistibly, Successfully Hilarious Writing, Book 1

So to be honest I am not done with the book. But I was just thinking to myself how much I love this book so far buuuuuuut, ... at one point while he is discussing 5 different "Categories of Prose Humor" and eventually seeds Satire as being the ultimate form. Now, I have to be on the forth page now of him just building up and dragging the eventual explanation and analysis of satire. I had to reread it at one point to make sure I didn't miss something. Then I had to stop reading and just vent. Just get on with it, dude! Still not doing less than 5 stars. I'm loving reading this book.

This book provides fantastic guidance for humor writers. I have found it extremely helpful!

I never knew humor writing could be so dry and tedious. Though well-written, this was a chore to read. I kept picking it up and putting it down, reading 10 or so pages at a time. Finally, I put it down for good. I certainly won't be buying the sequels.I don’t necessarily expect a book on humor writing to be funny. But this one felt so dry, so technical, like an academic textbook you’d be forced to read in an experimental college class. There are certainly some worthy insights on how to craft an effective joke, but unless you already have an instinctual “feel” for what’s funny, and an “ear” for the cadence of a well-written piece, I imagine it would be difficult to glean a lot of useful know-how. “The Onion” is constantly referenced as an ideal model, although other examples are presented as well. Many I didn’t find funny.The author seems to prefer satire as the ultimate form of humor, and states that the best humor has an underlying subtext that expresses a personal truth. I'm not so sure about that. While I agree that good humor stems from deeply personal experiences, I don’t agree that humor has to say something Important or preach Big Ideas. Not everything has to make a larger point. Some of us just want to write humor that makes people happy and helps them forget about the world’s larger problems. Sometimes we need a lighthearted distraction from real life, and not a sarcastic deconstruction of all the world’s ills. However, if you aspire to write snarky, topical copy for "The Onion" or "The Daily Show” or your college’s student newspaper, then this book is likely mandatory reading.Humor is a difficult subject to teach, and for what it is, this book does OK. I just didn’t find it particularly lively, engaging or inspiring. It might be worth perusing for diehard fans of the craft, but for beginners, “On Writing Well” and its chapter on humor might be a more motivating starting place.

I found this book to be helpful. I like practical advice, the kind where you think "Oh, that's how that works. Great. Now I can do it." That's what this book is. It's short and simple and basically explains Scott's "funny filters," which are the building blocks for many different types of comic writing. I bought this book right around the time that I signed up for a local stand up comedy class. The class has been great, and this book has helped me in the class, and maybe even given me an advantage. Both the class and the book emphasize the importance of writing regularly. Among other things, the book has provided exercises and prompts that have resulted in some very productive writing sessions for me. I also emailed the author, Scott Dikkers, with a question, and he responded! I think he's very genuine about wanting to help people develop their careers in comedy, and this book is just the start of him pulling back the curtain and showing how it's done. I highly recommend it!

I purchase to learn how to insert some form of comedy into my non-comedic writing, but this book is specifically for comedy writers. I did reach the author on Instagram and he responded which was cool.

Have not yet read it. arrived just yesterday afternoon I see no problems

I'm no comedian, and I'm not trying to be. Yet, I write about humorous people and situations, so this book has proven to be a tremendous help in 1) Understanding what's funny and why, and 2) Fleshing out those comedic bits and conveying them. Dare I say Scott is the John Truby of humor writing? Oh, I dare.

The real value of this book is its power to make you actually start writing. Each chapter contains actionable goals and small yet subtle exercises that will force pen to paper.Think of it this way: The book is Mr. Miyagi and you are Daniel LaRusso. You begin with small exercises on how to overcome writer's block (wax on, wax off). Next, you strengthen your fundamental understanding of humor (paint the fence) and polish your word selection (sand the deck) . These small actions build on each other until one day, BAM! You’re kicking butt at the All-Valley Karate Championship … er, you know, writing comedy.Outdated movie references aside, Scott Dikkers is a legend in comedy writing and his instruction is unparalleled. Reading this book WILL motivate you to write more and WILL sharpen your skills. Very few books receive my wholehearted endorsement - but ‘How To Write Funny’ easily makes the mark. And in the eternal words of Ron Swanson, “My recommendation is essentially a guarantee”.

This book is great for people who are already writers and want to add a bit of comedic flair to their articles."How To" books about comedy are always difficult and I really commend Dikkers for his work.However, the book is littered with overgeneralisations, 'every successful writer uses these [Dikkers] tools' p15...that's just not true! 'the biggest problem a writer faces...is how do you come up with funny ideas" p29...again, really not true! And, perhaps most depressingly "the human butt is the single funniest thing in the universe" p77Also, Dikkers insists quoting The Onion (apparently a parody website he set up) twice a page. I'm sure it's well known in America, and sure it is amazing, but it feels a little gauche to keep quoting your own source as the standard of excellence.There are some brilliant ideas, and it's an incredibly hard topic to write on, but it would really benefit from warding against massive over generalisations, quoting yourself as a master and being snobby (in one section he talks about how "unsophisticated readers" might not understand irony).Sorry to be critical, I'm sure I'm just being grumpy, but the style wasn't for me

Throughout the lockdown I discovered this book. I have been playing with the idea of getting into comedy and that’s why I bought the book. From the opening pages I was hooked and I now I’m writing a lot more than I have ever done before and I’m looking forward to my prospects

A solid intro to comedy writing which takes a more unique and robust approach relative to this type of work. Interesting if you are curious about comedy in general and not just in writing it.

I’ve read a lot of comedy writing books before but this one has been the most insightful. Scott provides you with the tools to start writing jokes right away. Highly recommend.

Does what it says on the tin. A highly concise book that explained the high-level theory of how to write good satire.