Laughing out loud: writing the comedy-centered screenplay

Acknowledgments Introduction PART I Comic Elements and Exercises 1 Elements of Comedy That Writers Should Know 2 Exercises to Nurture the Comic Muse PART II A Writer's Overview of the Traditions and Genres of Comedy 3 From Stage and Page to Screen: Anarchistic and Romantic Comedy 4 Physical Humor: From Commedia dell'Arte and Moliere to Vaudeville and Silent Screen Comedy 5 Sound Comedy: American Screwball Romantic Comedy, Then and Now 6 Comedy and Television: Stand-up, Sitcom and Everything in Between 7 Comedies from around the World 8 Comedy and the Documentary Impulse PART III Close-ups on Comedies 9 Feature Film Comedies 10 Television Comedy: Seinfeld and The Simpsons PART IV Writing Comedy 11 The Fifteen-Week Feature Comedy Screenplay 12 The Seven-Week Half-Hour Television Comedy Pilot Script Beyond Happy Endings: Toward a Comic Conclusion Appendix 1 A Recommended Viewing List of American and Foreign Feature Comedies Appendix 2 Networking, Marketing and Making Your Own Comedy Appendix 3 Food, Recipes and Comic Screenwriting Bibliography Index