It is often suggested that there are 'secrets' to comedy or that it is 'lightning in a bottle', but the craft of comedy writing can be taught. While comedic tastes change, over time and from person to person, the core underpinning still depends on the comedic geniuses that have paved the way. Great comedy is built upon a strong foundation. In Writing the Comedy Movie, Marc Blake lays out - in an entertainingly readable style - the nuts and bolts of comedy screenwriting. His objective is to clarify the 'rules' of comedy: to contextualize comedy staples such as the double act, slapstick, gross-out, rom com, screwball, satire and parody and to introduce new ones such as the bromance or stoner comedy. He explains the underlying principles of comedy and comedy writing for the screen, along with providing analysis of leading examples of each subgenre.

Introduction - Why Laugh?1. It's all Greek to me: Comedy History from Aristophanes to Juvenal Establishing the Basic Tropes and Forms2. Swiftian Satire and Shakespearean clowns: How the Elizabethans Attacked the Great and the Good with Parody and Lampoon3. Wildean Wit: How Comedy Plays Became the Basis for the Comedy Movie 4. Silent Slapstick: How Chaplin, Keaton and Lloyd Exploited Visual Comedy 5. Dumb and Dumber: How Laurel and Hardy Created the Perfect Double Act Template6. It Happened one Night: How Zingy Screwball Comedy led to the Rom Com7. Sullivan's Travels to Team America: Social Satire from the 1940s to the Present Day8. Auteurs from Woody Allen to Sasha Baron-Cohen: One Man, One Vision 9. Here come the Girls: Women in Comedy from Kooky Girl to Leading Actress10. The Subgenres: Fish out of Water and the Coming of Age Comedy11. Road and Buddy Movies, Frat Boy Frolics and Gross Out12. Sports, Military and Ensemble Comedy13. Farce and Black Comedy14. Crime, Caper and Heist15. Satire, Parody and MockumentaryAppendices- Interviews with Directors, writers and Producers- Writing ExercisesFilmographyBibliographyIndex