Matthew Hart Comedy: CREATE: A Comic Character

CREATE: A Comic Character

By Matthew L. Hart

Humor Writer/Comedian

Author of:

Uncle Matty's Halloween: Jokes, Bits & Anecdotes

Creating good comic characters can lead to a whole world of comedy.

They will drive the comedic perspective for jokes, anecdotes, humor essays, standup comedy acts, sitcoms, and movies.

A great example of a comic character would be Adrian Monk.

If you're not familiar with the show, Monk, I suggest checking it out:

Monk: The Complete Series
By Universal Pictures Home Entertainment

In Monk, the plots are driven by the comic character, Adrian Monk, played by actor Tony Shalhoub, who is a Detective that develops a severe case of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder after the unsolved murder of his wife.

This American comdedy-drama detective mystery television series created by Andy Brechman, ran for 8 seasons with hour-long episodes. Well, hour-long time slots.

Studying Monk will show you just how powerful a well developed comic character can be for your humorous storytelling projects...and career if you're after one.

So, let's build a comic character for ourselves!

Today, I'll be using a technique from the book:

The Comic Toolbox: How To Be Funny Even If You're Not
By John Vorhaus

When it comes to giving my characters names, I'm often torn between:

1. Do I give the character a realistic name?

2. Do I give the character a 'funny' name?

3. You never hear the name, Ampersand?

Let's roll a die. If it's an ODD number, we'll make a realistic name. If it's an EVEN number, we'll make a funny name.

Rollin, rollin, rollin...

THREE! 3 = We'll come up with a realistic name.

Let's make some lists:

Realistic Name Ideas:

(Googling: Most real names in America)

As listed from Google:

Rank Males Name Female Name

1 James Mary

2 John Patricia

3 Robert Jennifer

4 Michael Linda

5 William Elizabeth

6 David Barbara

How about some real last names?

(Googling: Most real last names in America)

As listed from Google:

1. Smith

2. Johnson

3. Williams

4. Brown

5. Jones

6. Garcia

Okay, GREAT!

Now, let's roll a dice to see if we should use a male name or a female name.

Let's say, if I roll an EVEN number, we'll use the Male list, and if I roll an ODD number, we'll use the Female list.

Here we go! Drumroll please......

YAHTZEE!!!

Ooops! Should probably have only used one die. Well, rules is rules. 6x5=30

30 is an EVEN number so, we're going with a Male name.

Let's roll one die now, and each number will correspond to the list.

Here we go...

FOUR!!! Seriously, it was a 4. So....

Our first REAL name will be: MICHAEL But, let's just call him, MIKE.

Now, for the last name....

Two, 2 Which is, JOHNSON

SO, THE REAL NAME FOR OUR COMIC CHARACTER IS: Mike Johnson

Great!

Let's give, Mike Johnson, a funny comic perspective.

And, make another list:

1. Clowns are the most important thing, ever!

2. One does not simply, trip every ten steps and view the world normally.

3. I wish my life was a musical.

4. Everyone says the opposite of what they really mean.

5. I take everything literally.

6. I'm so OCD, I really can polish a turd.

Let's roll again! ....

FOUR! again, 4: Everyone says the opposite of what they really mean.

Behold: Mike Johnson

Comic Perspective: Believes everyone says the opposite of what they really mean.

Now, let's give Mike some flaws:

And, make another list!

Let's pick 6 flaws that begin with....hummm A, J, L, P, M, & W

1. Arrogance - Having or showing an inflated sense of self-worth.

2. Judgemental - Makes personal judgments about everything around him.

3. Liar - Tells false truths.

4. Paranoid - Extreme distrust of others.

5. Meddlesome - Intrusive manner that interferes with others.

6. Weak-Willed - Lacks the activation energy to carry out his decisions.

Ok, this time, we roll the die, and if it's an EVEN number, we use all the even flaws and if it's an ODD number, all the odd flaws.

Here we go...

FIVE, 5 = ODD

Mike Johnson

Believes everyone says the opposite of what they mean.

His flaws are: Arrogance, Lying, and being Meddlesome.

What do we like about Mike?

Let's make a list of good traits! Let's use, K, E, P, M, H & S

1. Knowledgeable - Knows obscure facts.

2. Efficient - Gets tasks done quickly.

3. Punctual - Always on time.

4. Methodical - Does whatever, step-by-step. Follows directions.

5. Helpful - Willing to drop what he's doing to offer assistance.

6. Sensitive - Shows his emotions.

Again, ODD number, we'll use odd traits, EVEN, we'll use even ones.

Let's roll!

TWO! 2 = Even traits

Here we have:

Mike Johnson

Believes everyone says the opposite of what they really mean.

His flaws are: Arrogance, Lying, and being Meddlesome.

But his good traits are: efficient, Methodical & sensitive

Now, let's make some exaggerations based on what we know about Mike:

Mike Johnson would not admit he was lost or would even directly ask for directions. He would ask how YOU would go to wherever he wanted to go and proceed to argue over the best route, upon which he would demand an exact list of turn-by-trun directions, including step count, and distance measurements. Once he got the list, he would then do the opposite for each turn and cry over his distrust in humanity because those fools gave him the wrong directions. How could they be so cruel?!

Well, there you have it!