Almost every movie needs funny moments to relieve tension. Sherri Sheridan lists 27 ways to add humor to your scenes, from character names to reversals.
Almost all movies need some funny moments to relieve tension. If you are doing a comedy, layer as many of the following techniques as possible into each scene.
(1.) Give characters funny names that have to be repeated like “Bob Wire,” “Hazel Nutt,” “Anita Bath,” “Dee Compose,” “Izzy Foreel” or “Cosmo Knott.”
(2.) Give a funny name to the town in which the character lives in or visits, such as “Hellhole Bay,” “Eerrie” or “Cape Freak.”
(3.) Have a character wear funny clothes or a funny outfit, such as “stripes with polka dots,” “a dress that’s too small,” “a costume” or “wrong clothing for an event.”
(4.) Have a character speak with a funny accent that sounds fake or silly like the Pink Panther.
(5.) Describe the character in the script doing exaggerated movements.
Walking with their chins stuck way out in front, taking long strides with exaggerated movements, acting silly or using big gestures. (6.) Use funny words in your dialogue, or use heavy slang with subtitles. Local gangster speak with subtitles, redneck hick slang, or talking animals that make sounds with subtitles.
(7.) Have a character overreact in ridiculous or exaggerated way. Use body language, facial expressions, extreme emotional outbursts, gestures (leaning way forward getting nose to nose with someone in argument), something childish (sticks out tongue), or a character beats another character up as a response or responds with extreme facial expressions. (8.) Give a character a funny hairstyle that changes during story.
(9.) Exaggerate familiar situations.
(10.) Have a character use a funny mode of transportation, such as an old, beat up chicken art car with funny bumper stickers.
(11.) Give a character a funny original occupation or combination occupation, such as “pet detective,” “kid FBI agent,” “boy genius inventor” or “superhero office worker.”
(12.) Give a character a funny flaw. Dori in Finding Nemo has short term memory problems.
(13.) Combine stereotypes in unexpected new ways. A scary character wants to be a stand up comedian.
(14.) Use animal humor mixed with human humor for animated animal stories like the fish pickup line joke in Finding Nemo: “Excuse me, miss, could you check to see if I have a hook in my mouth?”
(15.) Add physical, silly playful moments with chasing each other around, acting silly or kidlike in a funny way.
(16.) Use funny original genre elements with familiar objects used in unusual ways. A toaster turned into a satellite space probe or a microwave time machine.
Try Out These Comedy Techniques
(17.) Show extreme cliché contrasting character groups that play off of one another. A preppy kid debates with a goth or jock yelling at a new age, hippie drama queen.
(18. Show a character in love with a person, favorite thing or pet to the point of obsession or funny fixation.
(19.) Have one super funny character that shows up for comic relief.
(20.) Make villains “scary funny” in a comedy or kid’s story. Aliens based on featherless chickens.
(21.) Show doing something really fun to the extreme like eating huge tubs of ice cream.
(22.) Show a character taking on a persona of a favorite superhero during difficult times.
(23.) Use funny repetitions such as an answering machine message that keeps repeating, or a detective looking behind curtains for hidden people.
(24.) Give a character a funny or embarrassing job people can tease him or her about.
(25. Use funny violence in animations. Kenny dies in “South Park” all the time.
(26.) Use funny misunderstandings.
(27.) Have one character fight another character in a funny way with a silly martial arts move or toy weapon.
Sherri Sheridan teaches storytelling techniques to digital filmmakers and animators with her books, classes and workshops. She’s also the creative director at Minds Eye Media in San Francisco (www.mindseyemedia.com), where she directs, produces, animates, writes and designs projects for a wide range of clients. Sherri is the author of the books, “Maya 2 Character Animation” (New Riders 1999) and “Developing Digital Short Films” (New Riders / Peachpit / Pearson 2004). Recently, she created a 20 hour DV workshop based on the books called, “Writing A Great Script Fast,” available at www.MyFlik.com.
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