Laughing Out Loud (Hardcover)

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