Anonymous asked:
i want my first person narrator (who is also my mc) to have a distinctly humorous, joking, oral storyteller type voice. the way i tend to portray this involves sarcasm. however, being optimistic and happy is a huge part of his character. the constant sarcasm and playful griping seems to take away from that–instead of being a happy go lucky type guy, he comes across as slightly snarky and cynical. are there better ways to go about making a narration funny or making sarcasm less severe?
Sarcasm isn’t the only type of comedy and wit. Your best bet is to just learn about different types of comedy and find ways to make your character funny without relying entirely on sarcasm. It’s better to have a mix of different types of comedy if you want your character to seem happy and like they have a great sense of humor.
Also, be cautious about when your character is sarcastic and what they’re sarcastic about. It’s a short step from sarcasm to bitterness, so make sure the sarcastic remarks can’t be mistaken for your character being bitter. My post
How to Write a Witty Character has some other tips. 🙂
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Great point! I was intrigued by these thoughts, so I made a list of as many types of comedy as I could find. There’s a huge variety out there, so don’t be afraid to be different!
- alternative
- anecdote
- banter
- black humor/dark comedy
- blendword
- blue humor/off-color humor
- blunder
- burlesque (not THAT burlesque)
- candid camera
- caricature
- cartoon
- catch tale
- character
- comedy of character
- comedy of humours
- comedy of ideas
- comedy of intrigue/comedy of situation
- comedy of manners
- comedy of morals
- comedy reality show
- commedia dell’arte
- conundrum
- court comedy
- cringe
- deadpan/dry
- dramedy
- droll
- epigrammatic
- farce/travesty
- gallows/morbid humor
- heritage comedy
- high/highbrow comedy
- hyperboly
- improvisational
- insult
- irony
- juvenile/sophomoric
- melodrama
- mockumentary
- musical comedy
- new comedy
- nonsensism
- observational comedy
- old comedy
- parody/spoof
- physical
- practical
- prop comedy
- recovery
- repartee
- revue/variety show/vaudeville
- romantic comedy
- screwball
- self-deprecating
- sentimental
- seriocomedy
- silent
- situational (sitcom)
- sketch
- slapstick
- stand-up comedy
- surreal
- switching
- theatre of the absurd
- topical
- tragicomedy
- variety
- wisecrack
- wit/wordplay
Resources for comedy:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_humor
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_humour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comedic_genres
https://www.dailywritingtips.com/20-types-and-forms-of-humor/
http://www.thedramateacher.com/types-of-comedy-for-drama-class/
http://humorexperimental.weebly.com/types-of-comedy.html