The Research Blog

Key Takeaways from The Comic Toolbox by John Vorhaus Comedy is truth and pain. The truth must speak directly to the audience while the pain is an exaggeration of it that will make it comedic. Comic premise is the gap between comic reality and real reality. Think of what is expected and then insert the opposite. Comedy deals with people's expectations, disrupting them. Three levels of comic conflict: 1. Man versus nature (Global conflict) 2. Man versus man (interpersonal or local conflict). Comic character versus normal character or comic characters in opposition. 3. Man versus himself (inner conflict) COMIC CHARACTERS: 1. Comic perspective: Unique way of looking at his world. 2. Flaws: distance the character from the audience. 3. Humanity: Closeness between the character and the audience. 4. Exaggeration: On all three: the comic perspective, flaws and humanity. COMIC TOOLS: - Clash of context: Takes something out of its usual place and sticks it where it doesn...

CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT TEMPLATE Character Name: Character Age: Profession: Gender: Race: Character World: As a protagonist of his life who are his: Love Interest: Confidant: Antagonist: Conflicts: Intrapersonal Conflicts: These are the conflicts the character has with himself and in his own mind. Interpersonal Conflicts: These are the conflicts the character has with the other characters in the story. Extrapersonal Conflicts: These are the conflicts the character has with the world at large. Backstory: Flaws or Defects: For example Homer Simpson is lazy, doesn’t care about anything, etc. Comic Perspective: The comic perspective is the perspective from which a character views the world that makes him unique to the rest of the characters. For example Billy Bob Thornton's character in Bandits is hypochondriac, which makes him react to the everything in the world from this perspective. Humanity: What are the traits the make the character hum...