The Comedy Duo: A Guide to Character-driven Comedy
Use This Perfect Pairing to Make Your Scenes Funnier
A straight man is key for writing comedy. No, I’m not talking about a heterosexual man. I’m talking about a character whose role is to remain relatively serious despite the absurd comedy arising around them. This character exists as a foil character whose seriousness highlights and exaggerates the comedic qualities of the characters around them. Famous examples of a “straight man” character include Ben Wyatt in Parks and Recreation, Jim Halpert in The Office, and Leslie Mann’s characters in films like This Is 40, 17 Again, and The Change-Up.
This scene from Brooklyn Nine-Nine has a great example of Jake Peralta functioning as a straight man character to augment Andre Braugher and Karan Soni’s brilliant, comedic performances.
In our last craft lesson, we broke down basic joke structure and the nine elements that a set up and punch line need in order to get a laugh. Today, we’re learning how to use a double act (or comedy duo) to make our scenes funnier. Even if you don’t identify as a comedy writer or a “funny person,” I strongly believe that writers—especially those interested in traditional publishing—should learn the basic elements of humor writing so that they have the tools of comedy at their disposal. It’s important for writers to learn how to write funny scenes because intentionally injecting humor into your novel—no matter the genre—can give you a leg up in this extraordinarily competitive world of book publishing.
In her excellent post, “how i sold my debut novel in a week,” Haili Blassingame talks about how we—as writers—don’t just need to respect the reader’s time; we need to “make these mfs sit up for [our] novel[s].” She highlights the importance of standing out by reminding us that most editors are reading submissions on their nights and weekends. Since an editor is likely reading your book outside of regular work hours, their guard is probably up, and they’re looking for a reason to pass and cross your book off their to-do list. That said, humor is naturally disarming and will make mfs sit up for your book. When it comes to my own writing journey, I’m certain that the humor in my debut novel, Good People, is one of the reasons why I was able to sell it to Simon & Schuster.
If you’re reading this and thinking, “That’s great, Kat, but I’m just not funny!” That's bullshit. People are not born funny. Comedy is a skill just like writing, just like math, just like anything else we do in this world. That said, today, we’re developing our comedy skills by learning how to use the double act (or comedy duo) structure to write funny-ass scenes. Before we jump in, you know what to do: take what’s useful to you and your writing life and leave what’s not behind.
The Comedy Duo
A double act comedy is typically structured around two characters with contrasting personalities. The contrast between their behaviors, intellect, and worldviews create organic set ups for the punch lines of various jokes. The straight man character—in addition to being “serious”—typically functions as a stand-in for the audience. They lead the viewer or reader through a comedic scene by identifying and highlighting the absurdity of their scene partner. They are also occasionally referred to as the “feed” because they deliver set ups for their partner to subvert with punch lines. Before we get into how the straight man and comic characters play off each other, let’s review joke structure and the nine elements of a set up and punch line.