What you talking ’bout, Willis?

(Originally Posted on Genre Bender)

One of the parts of my writing that I’m constantly commended on is dialog, which is also one of the things most new writers (and even many established writers) have a problem with. Want to know my secret?

Well, besides listening more than I talk and having a wide range of friendships with people from all over the world, I’ve studied stand-up comedians. As a former class clown I was always interested on how to crack a joke (it’s not as easy as you might think). So back in the days before TVs had remote controls and more than 6 channels in any market (yes, we also rode dinosaurs to school back then, in the snow, uphill, both ways) we had these things call “variety hours.” These were shows where established and up and coming comedians could get ten minutes of time to flaunt their wares. There was also the perennial Johnny Carson’s Tonight Show which would showcase many young comics. I would devour these shows.

Studying comedians is studying dialog. For most stand-up artists, that’s all they have (unless they’re Gallagher doing the Sledge-o-matic) except for costume (did you know that the late George Carlin started his stand-up career performing in a three piece suit?) and some basic stage acting. They use the language to great effect. Pacing, timing, connections, connotations and denotations all come into play and are highly practiced and controlled. They may look calm and all personable, giving one-liners seemingly off the cuff, but they’re not. They’ll adjust their timing to suit an audience, change up the order of the show, cut or add sections, but they’re all part of a planned performance. And while some of the starting comedians will sound alike, any who have made a big name for themselves have their own voices.

Jerry Lewis, Richard Lewis and Lewis Black’s comedy have very little in common except that they are masters of the comedic form. If you closed your eyes you should immediately be able to recognize any one of them, even if they aren’t the ones doing the actual recitation of their acts. They all use their own vocabulary and string their words together in a unique fashion. They also all have their own verbal ticks. Take Robin Williams (please!) for example. He’s wild and wacky, and have you noticed that not only does he do accents (or voices), he’ll change his word selection to match those accents? He’ll adjust the emphasis and pacing, change word order, all to give the effect of verisimilitude to the character he’s try to portray.

That’s the basic gist. Comedians make their living by their language usage. That language is almost always dialog of some form. It’s easier to study their conventions because they exist in isolation from narrative, which can murky the waters. Very few successful comedians sound alike. And now that we have DVDs and Comedy Central, it’s much easier to study this way.

Also, as it concerns dialog, you did notice I didn’t make the title, “Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?” But I’ll bet you said it that way in your head.

As a side note, this is also why a lot of new “comedy” doesn’t work on me. To many comedians go for the gaff and have no real sense of timing. Or maybe it’s that my brain still works on pre-MTV timing, so I miss the subtleness of their craft.