It’s a busy day today so I don’t have time to read a script. But I want you to keep your eyes on the prize – Comedy Showdown. My goal is to help sell the comedy script that wins it all. And, if that’s going to happen, you have to start with a strong concept. Without a strong concept, there is literally nothing you can write that will matter. It will be a great big waste of time.
So, how are we going to find this great concept?
Well, I watched Coming 2 America this weekend. The movie isn’t bad. But it’s not very good either. Eddie Murphy is doing the same thing Adam Sandler does with his Netflix movies. Playing it safe. Pulling the comedy wagon right down the middle of the road. Every once in a while (sometimes a long while), there’s a lol moment.
Despite Coming 2 America being average, there is something we can learn from it. Coming to America and Coming 2 America are two movies that base their concept around one of the oldest comedy setups in the book: Fish out of Water. The reason Fish out of Water setups work is because there’s usually a ton of comedy to mine from a person being placed in unfamiliar territory. In Coming to America, it was an African king experiencing New York City for the first time. And in Coming 2 America, it was a Queens kid coming to an African nation for the first time. In both instances, the jokes came from the lack of familiarity with their new surroundings.
While Fish Out of Water scenarios may have had their heyday in the 1980s, they’ve still proven a viable setup for Hollywood. We’ve had “Elf,” “Enchanted,” “Cedar Rapids,” “Thor,” “Borat,” and, most recently, “Wonder Woman 1984.” There’s something organically funny about placing someone in the complete opposite environment than what they’re used to. That creates conflict. And conflict is where a lot of comedy comes from.
That’s extremely important so let me repeat that. CONFLICT is where a lot of comedy comes from. Two people disagreeing (conflict) can give you a lot of funny dialogue. It’s why they release movies where the entire premise is two people who don’t get along (Rush Hour). But conflict isn’t just about interaction. Conflict is anything that bumps up against your character. If a bank robber is running from the cops and jumps in his shitty old Corolla, you can create a full-on comedy scene from him not being able to start the car. That’s the CONFLICT. The car refuses to do what it’s supposed to do.
This is a nice segue to my next point because there’s actually a close cousin to Fish out of Water, which I call, “Frog out of Water.” This is when you place a character in any situation that they are uncomfortable with. The more uncomfortable, the better. This is the setup for tons of great comedies. It’s similar to Fish out of Water in that you’re putting your character in a new situation. But it’s not so extreme that you’re taking, say, an Eskimo and putting him in the middle of Los Angeles.
Look at Meet The Parents. You’re taking this guy and dropping him into his in-laws house, who he has to then impress enough that they will want him to marry their daughter. The writers make the dad extremely skeptical, which turns the weekend into a very uncomfortable situation. The 40 Year Old Virgin is another example. This geeky 40 year old dude who keeps to himself is forced onto the dating scene to try and get laid. That entire process is uncomfortable. Again, a great way to mine more laughs is to increase the lack of comfort. The more uncomfortable you can make it for your character, the funnier it’s going to be.
This is especially true with Action Comedies. You’re looking for setups that put your hero(es) in the most uncomfortable situation possible. Central Intelligence. The Spy Who Dumped Me. Game Night. Good Boys. The less capable they are of dealing with the situation, the better. That’s where the laughs are going to come.
And, remember. KEEP PITCHING YOUR CONCEPTS before you decide to write them. Pitch them here in the comments if you don’t have anyone to test them on. If people don’t laugh or aren’t getting excited about your idea, move on to the next one.
