I want to start off with a funny story. I didn't write it, but found it on the internet and couldn't help but laugh.

I post it because I always wanted to be a comedian writer. It is not easy to make people laugh on paper. Well let me rephrase this. It is not easy for some to make people laugh on paper. I guess it would be easier for a stage comedian to come up with stuff to make people laugh.

One of my favorite comedian writers is Dave Barry. He wrote a couple of novels that really made me laugh throughout each chapter he wrote. I always wanted to have his humor. I guess it is not to late, as I can still try to write a funny story. If you are experienced in writing comedy please share your knowledge. Tell me some of the tricks of the trade in making people laugh with words. Thank you.

Now to the story:

Miser's Final Wish

There was a man who had worked all of his life and had saved all of his money. He was a real miser when it came to his money. He loved money more than just about anything, and just before he died, he said to his wife, "Now listen, when I die, I want you to take all my money and place it in the casket with me. I wanna take my money to the afterlife."

So he got his wife to promise him with all her heart that when he died, she would put all the money in the casket with him.

Well, one day he died. He was stretched out in the casket, the wife was sitting there in black next to her closest friend. When they finished the ceremony, just before the undertakers got ready to close the casket, the wife said "Wait just a minute!" she had a shoe box with her, she came over with the box and placed it in the casket.

Then the undertakers locked the casket down and rolled it away.

Her friend said, "I hope you weren't crazy enough to put all that money in the casket."

She said, "Yes, I promised. I'm a good person, I can't lie. I promised him that I was going to put that money in that casket with him."

"You mean to tell me you put every cent of his money in the casket with him?"

"I sure did, " said the wife. "I got it all together, put it into my account and I wrote him a check."

I hope this made you laugh a little

It's built on the old piece of advice that writers always seem to offer: "Write what you know."

I've seen 24,889,042 bad profiles in my life. So I wrote about that.

On the other hand, I rarely actually FOLLOW that advice -- most of the stuff I write about is Neptune and tectonic accelerators and metal balls that resurrect old memories -- things I know very little about.

Sometimes you have to bend the rules a little....

Hi Lex,

Do you have any suggestions on comedy writing? I mean maybe you don't write about this, but perhaps you have any suggestions available. If you do, I highly appreciate it.

My first book is actually humorous sci-fi. Lots of funny stuff in there.

A lot of it is just situational things. There's one bit where the main character goes into a drug store to purchase something for his headache. And there's a baffling array of products in there, all designed for different problems. Viznex, Viznex with caffeine, Viznex for Kids, Viznex for Parrots, Viznex with Honey-Lemon, Viznex with Bacon Bits -- I wish I had it with me, I'd just put the paragraph here.

There's another scene where the two main characters are in a diner, talking about writers they like. And they get into a discussion about a particular writer, recently deceased, who wrote very well but who always had this annoying thing where he would include one restaurant scene where everything in the place was discussed in excruciatingly boring detail.

And after the annoyingly overdetailed restaurant scene , the characters would always go dancing.

So what I did, was I wrote a couple pages in that exact same style. It was actually kind of fun, seeing how over-the-top I could get with it, since, as a sci-fi comedy, there really wasn't much in the way of restraints.

And at the end of the chapter, once the florid verbiage is over, the girl says, "We're not going dancing now, are we?" And the guy says "No."

Sci-fi actually allows for a huge number of humorous concepts because the stereotypes are so easy to play with. Superefficient alien conquerors? Pffft, how about aliens who are as inept as humans, maybe moreso?

Douglas Adams is the only one I've ever seen who was consistently good at mixing sci-fi and humor, although Asimov could do it on occasion....

Too funny Lex but that is a good idea to look into scifi humor

Yes that is a idea just write the oppossite of what a normal person would think. Reverse it and then find somekind of humor into it.

Thanks for the idea.

My first book is actually humorous sci-fi. Lots of funny stuff in there.

I read Lex's first book three times and now my daughter is reading,,,

Then of course you're familiar with the Viznex!



I remember doing a completely off-the-wall tangent at the end of the paragraph, involving....tablets, capsules, caplets, tabules, capulets, montagues....give it a little class with a hidden Shakespeare reference, that sort of thing....!

There's also a pretty funny scene in there where Larry has to stay at a motel (because something happened to his house) and he has a bizarre conversation with the motel manager over whether or not the phone in the room works. "Do you want me to call up there and see if it works?" "You just told me the room is vacant." "It is, but do you want me to call up there and see if the phone works?"

Yesssssssssss a funny story as to why Poor Larry had to leave his house,, I could not put the book down,, I was so in the zone,, brought a reality to an insane world,, or was it an insane moment of thoughts to a reality of my world,, Ohhhhhhhhhhhhh heck,,

Bravooooooooooooooooooo to you and your wonderous mind

Thank you!



Larry will be in the fourth one, makes a brief cameo in the fifth, and I'm considering using him at the end of the sixth one, although that's still up in the air.

Frank is going to be everywhere, though.

Ohhhhhhh I can't wait,,

Well, Frank pops up in several of the stories in the second one, and the third one is all him.

I just wrote 8 pages Wednesday night, which will probably go into the sixth one....

Just got moving parts and will be reading while my daughter drives us
to Arizona,,,

Denise -- Just to let you in on a little secret -- the story near the end -- it's the longest one in there, "Lest We Forget" -- is the key to the whole series....

Rowena Cherry writes great funny sci fi romance novels, I have one of them, called Knights Fork, it is very interesting, giggles

I am Eric....I am too damned lazy to answer that many questions...but, I will say this...I drink and smoke myself past writers block...works for me.

A great book I just bought the other day that really gives some good points on writing.

The book is called - The Writer's little Helper by James V.Smith Jr.

It covers everything from character creation, creativity, editing, to get your work published.

What books would you suggest for a writer to have with them besides the dictionary?

I be Lee....one of the few aussies that run around these parts...been here forever and an hour... and pop in from time to time to share a different side of the mirror.


1. Who are your favorite authors and why do you like reading their books?

the Dalai Lama... just cause he makes sense...

Eckhart Tolle.... for the same reasons..

Paulo Coelho... his gift is immense

James Redfield...amazing what you can slip in, as fiction..

2. Why do you enjoy writing?

it's expression... it's an oportunity to cross over, as such, to the free side.

3. What are your goals concerning writing? Are you planning to write a novel? What kind of novel?

Already written and had published novellas, and sold a screen play to Film Australia nearly four years ago..

4. What critical advice would you give someone if they asked you about how to start a novel?

I don't critique anyones work....

just scribble away... then edit edit edit... rewrite, rewrite, rewrite...

5. Do you get writer’s block and if so explain how do you resolve the problem? No... there's a richness lurking on the free side of my imagination.... no block... usually overly busy characters, who need a lie down..

6. What websites can you offer to people that can help find more information on writing?
No idea... I live in the boonies and dont play too long on the comp anymore..

7. What is your favorite word?

Percungenant...

8. If you had a chance to learn from a professional writer (author), who would it be?

Robert Fulghum

9. At what time of the day do you get ideas for your writing projects?

Early morning, whilst out on the surf board, me, sunrise, surf and sometimes dolphins.

10. Do you type on your computer or do you write it out on paper first?

All of the above... I have scribbled stuff everywhere!! And have the inspired bits sticky taped to walls, doors, and mirrors in my space...(in my house, NOT the online thingo!)


http://mingle2.com/topic/show/39533

One of my bolt holes...

Some really nice stuff you have Jess. I had to get my dictionary out for some of those words

and I love your favorite authors selections. Good taste indeed

Actually everyone who posted in this workshop is talented. It is a great get together indeed. I hope more writers will post in here more often.

This forum is fun! smiles