All of my jokes happened to me. Sometimes I will change details (names or where I saw something happen - saying "someone I dated" instead of "my current boyfriend" etc) to protect people I have relationships with but the material is true.
Related posts tagged 'Coming up with ideas'
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Related posts tagged 'Coming up with ideas'
Hannibal and I have very different approaches. I write stuff beforehand; he drifts in and out of consciousness.
I come up with a few bits on TEAS a lot of the time, those are my genuine reactions to what's happening. He does some weird stuff on that show and it throws me off sometimes.
The first time we did it, Fred just starting doing that voice ("Whaaaaaat are you doing here?!") and Kristen and I were like "What?" It was so funny. I hadn't heard him do it before. Man o man it made me laugh. Then it became a game of who could stretch out the vowels in their sentences the most. It got crazy.
If you ask yourself, `Is there anything I can do to get a laugh?’ you can find a lot of things.
And usually they’re things that other people have found. But if you take something that’s never going to work and you go, `Wow, I wonder if there’s any way I can get somebody to laugh at this?’ it’s a great challenge.
Ideas exist outside of man. And drift into one's consciousness if one allows it. None of these ideas are mine, I only take them from the ether and put them back out in a more solid form.
Nick and I came up with Too Much Tuna in five seconds with Jessi Klein about ten years ago at a restaurant on 6th avenue called French Roast. We got a plate with too much tuna and we said "this is too much tuna."
There is no line that I know in terms of what's "too far," whether that means too sentimental or too ...I don't know, controversial or confessional....a "boundary" is an artificial construct, we have to create boundaries when they involve other people, precisely because it makes empirical something that would otherwise be frustratingly subjective (like that neighbor that just kind of 'feels like' their yard extends into yours, in which case you have to go to city hall and pull out a map with lines on it). In matters of creativity - when you're sitting and writing dialogue by yourself, there's no lines needed because you're not having to function in cooperation, your job in creation, I think,...
Dan had the idea. He liked the idea of a guy who took the time to look ridiculous and then having the guy hating being called ridiculous.
Initially they came in and I was just doing the scripted lines and I asked "Do you mind if I try something?" and then 18 hours of recording later, they had the genie. I just started playing, and they said "just go with it, go with it, go with it." So I improvised the character. I think that in the end, there were something like 40 different voices that I did for that role.
There's improv, but we write a bunch of stuff in advance, too. So have a library of jokes in your head, and on paper too, and you can pull some out when you need 'em.
I don’t think my personal story, what’s actually happened in my life, is that interesting to anyone, but I think the feelings we all go through that are universal to the human experience are stories that I’m probably interested in delving into. I think that we all become a little more attuned to the effects that our words have on other people. I think Between Two Ferns and my history with shows like Mr. Show [with Bob and David], we embraced button-pushing and trying to find where the line is, and the line continually moves, which is a great thing. I think as long as it has some sort of attempt at artistry in it, it can be good to kind of try to go up to that line or even cross the line, and...
There's no rhyme or reason. I take an idea or story and write it or try it on stage. I'll remember what worked and try to fix what didn't. The length of time varies based on the bit.
I try to sit down and write, but I don't do that a lot. I tend to think of an idea, then work it out on stage. But I should do more homework.
i usually just think of one funny grain of the character's identity and let it build from there. with hoho, for instance, i just wanted to be an elf who delivers toys to naughty kids.
Often both... some ideas pop in out of nowhere and come easily and almost HAVE to exist... some ideas need love and care and work and attention.
A lot of times it's like a crazy person running up to a whiteboard in the writers room and drawing a turd monster with breasts for testicles. And that crazy person's name is Justin Roiland, or, as I call him, Li'l Goldmine!
George Carlin said that comedy comes from looking around and saying, “There’s something wrong here.” It’s that and the twinkle feeling when an idea hits you. Something hits you then you write it out and tweak it on stage. Sometimes it works, but usually it doesn’t. And you repeat that over and over again.
I can't sit down and write jokes. I just flows in from some maddeningly elusive place. Believe me if i had an alaska in my brain i would drill baby drill and I'd cum right on Sarah's back while I was there.
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