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epitome of incomprehensibility
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The last of a set of creative writing classes. I looked over my notes and they only identify people by first names or nicknames
and they're a bit opaque anyway, I mean the notes
but here they are in case anyone wants to look up the writers and comedians people mentioned - and for me to have an event_record in this red_space
...
Creative Writing class January 11, 2026
Comic’s “shtick” can include “pet peeve” as well as theme or technique—something they talk about a lot because it bothers them. Phyllis Diller “seemed really nice” said Janet, who interviewed her once; her shtick in that sense was self-deprecation. Rodney Dangerfield’s “women are selfish” jokes revealing sexism. Difficult at that time to be a female comedian. Ed Sullivan show: one of women there with old-lady costume: “The only thing an old man can do for me is bring me a letter from a young one.” The surprise is that her lines are naughty or unconventional. Another show, “Kids Say the Darnedest Things.” Comedy: people are unleashed to “say the things you’re not supposed to say.”
Surprise is an element of humorous writing, not just mysteries. Have “a surprise that makes sense,” even in one-liners. E.g., Dorothy Parker. Sayings can be surprising but in-character and/or reveal character.
David Sedaris uses “confession” for comedy. Me Talk Pretty One Day about childhood, such as effort to learn French. Also odd behaviours from OCD such as licking doorknobs—funny, specific instance of an otherwise serious situation. “Context is no longer as powerful as characterization”—what does Janet mean by that? Maybe that something like OCD won’t be as unexpected; plus, people can have mental problems without being written off as completely insane and separated from society.
Time is both for us and against us—with greater knowledge out there, we have to be more original. (Something new for me might be a cliché to someone else.)
“Pregnant pause”—e.g. comedians using pauses for effect. Can’t do that exactly as writers, but can do punctuation (period, ellipses, dash). Paragraph breaks. Breaks in someone speaking (action). Brackets.
Pauses—I recommended Gianmarco Soresi as a stand-up, L. M. Montgomery for funny dialogue with breaks in between to show someone is pausing and/or to set up a punchline.
Footnotes for comedy—Liz recommends David Foster Wallace for that. I mentioned Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler.
Something that makes you feel “voluble” (says Janet), like something you like to rant about. Janet mentions Erma Bombeck. One of “truest things she ever said” about family: “Your children most need your love when they least deserve it.”
Johnny Carson: “Who do you dress for? Men or women?” Bombeck: “Johnny, I dress so I won’t be naked.” (So maybe that’s what Taylor Swift was referring to in the “Vigilante” song.)
Bombeck about travel: “When you look like your passport photo, it’s time to go home.”
Bill Cosby also basing career on material about family life—Janet said that can be a good base for your career “if you don’t go crazy and start raping people.”
Children having their own sort of language, says Liz, like the fairy tale she read last time. Little sister called peanut butter “guggums” (or sth.). Read composition about that to class and they found that part hilarious. Janet: “Within the world of our families, the world plays out.” Cosby—his wife changing demeanor completely when a mouse was present; “ladylike” woman becoming bloodthirsty, “Kill it! Kill it!”
Having a shtick that’s relatable. “Can’t get no respect” like Rodney Dangerfield. (And maybe unfortunately the misogyny.)
Joan: Pearly (Pearlie?) greeting supposed salesperson with gun; noticing details like scuffed trousers that made him seem not like a salesperson and rather a threat
Me: scene with “mock exam”—some things have to be edited for clarity, but in general people found it compelling. 2nd draft.
Liz: “Best dancer”—about Trump? “So You Think You Can Dance”; “bigly” maybe too dated? Liked “visiting those guys with the swords.” (Made me laugh, and I said it’s hard to do original satire on someone already ridiculous, but she did it through odd specifics: dancing show, YouTube.)
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