The New Comedy Bible

Judy Carter, guru to aspiring comedy writers and stand-up comics, tells all about the biz of being funny and writing funny in this bright, entertaining, and totally practical guide on how to draw humor from your life and turn it into a career. Do you think you’re funny? Do you want to turn your sense of humor into a career? If the answer is yes, then Judy Carter’s The Comedy Bible is for you. The guru to aspiring stand-up comics provides the complete scoop on being—and writing—funny for money. If you’ve got a sense of humor, you can learn to make a career out of comedy, says Judy Carter. Whether it’s creating a killer stand-up act, writing a spec sitcom, or providing jokes for radio or one-liners for greeting cards, Carter provides step-by-step instructions in The Comedy Bible. She helps readers first determine which genre of comedy writing or performing suits them best and then directs them in developing, refining, and selling their work. Using the hands-on workbook format that was so effective in her bestselling first book, Stand-Up Comedy: The Book, Carter offers a series of day-by-day exercises that draw on her many years as a successful stand-up comic and the head of a nationally known comedy school. Also included are practical tips and advice from today’s top comedy professionals—from Bernie Brillstein to Christopher Titus to Richard Lewis. She presents the pros and cons of the various comedy fields—stand-up, script, speech and joke writing, one-person shows, humor essays—and shows how to tailor your material for each. She teaches how to find your “authentic” voice—the true source of comedy. And, perhaps most important, Carter explains how to take a finished product to the next level—making money—by pitching it to a buyer and negotiating a contract. Written in Carter’s unique, take-no-prisoners voice, The Comedy Bible is practical, inspirational, and funny.

The New Comedy Bible is a step-by-step, no excuses manual for writing, performing, and launching your career as a stand-up comic. Written by Judy Carter, the author of The Comedy Bible (2001), which was called by The Washington Post and Forbes as a "Comedy Essential." This new book, penned in classic Carter's style -- part career coach and part comedy dominatrix -- has 100% new content where you will: Partake in 48 new exercises to turn your problems into punchlines Create 60 minutes of new material Discover your authentic comedy persona Conquer stage fright and slay hecklers Push part procrastination and get booked Whether you're a beginner just starting out or a pro looking to create new material for your next Netflix Comedy Special, Carter's proven methods are legendary among today's top performers. Alumni of her workshops include: Seth Rogan, Hannah Gadsby, Sherri Sheppard, and Maz Jobrani among others. As Lily Tomlin says, "Judy Carter helps others find their authentic persona and communicate in a way that makes audiences laugh." Interviewed by Oprah Winfrey, she said, "Judy Carter can show you how to make your sense of humor pay off." The exercises in this book will get you off the couch and onto the stage, helping you develop the skills necessary to envision, and achieve, a successful career in comedy.

If you think you’re funny, buy this book! Whether you dream of becoming a star . . . A better public speaker . . . A more effective communicator . . . A funnier, happier human being . . . You can learn to leave ‘em laughing! David Letterman learned to do it. Jay Leno learned to do it. Roseanne Barr learned to do it. So can you! Now successful stand-up comic Judy Carter—who went from teaching high school to performing in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Lake Tahoe, and on over 45 major TV shows—gives you the same hands-on, step-by-step instruction she’s taught to students in her comedy workshops. She shows you how to do it: create an act, perform it, make money with it, or apply it to everyday life. Discover: • The formulas for creating comedy material • How to find your own style • The three steps to putting your act together • Rehearsal do’s and don’ts • What to do if you bomb • Ways to punch up your everyday life with humor

This workbook, a must-have for the owners of Judy Carter's "The New Comedy Bible," provides a proven method for creating, capturing, and honing comedy material. Think of it as a "how-to" manual for building a comedy career, joke by joke. It is broken into 5 sections:Section 1: 48 Exercises to Turn Problems into PunchlinesSection 2: Jokes in Progress by Topic (place to write and work on your material in progress)Section 3: My Act: Polished Jokes by Topic Section 4: Set Lists (place to store the running order of your act based on time and theme)Section 5: Morning Writings (writing prompts to create material)

The guru to aspiring comedic writers and stand-up comics offers the scoop on being--and writing--funny: inside tips on how to turn humor from your life into a career.

A step-by-step handbook that teaches readers to find the extraordinary stories tucked deep within them to make a difference in the lives of others—and to get paid—as a motivational speaker THE MESSAGE OF YOU begins with a simple belief - that your greatest speech already exists and that it has already been delivered in front of a live audience masterfully and powerfully by you. Best-selling author and international comic, Judy Carter sets out to prove that THE MESSAGE OF YOU is in the advice you give to your friends; in the lessons you teach your children; in the stories you tell your family. It's expressed through the volunteer work you do, the way you run your business, the way you turned your messes into successes. THE MESSAGE OF YOU is a distillation of all of your experiences, both personal and professional, that form the narrative meaning of your life. A meaning that you can develop into a well-written, funny speech to inspire audiences, enhance your current profession, and launch a successful money making career as a professional speaker. In Part One of the book, Judy leads you through a series of in-depth exercises meant to mine your personal and professional experiences for stories that establish your qualifications, your problem/solutions, your action steps and your methodology. In Part Two, Judy has created a six-step structure for writing an entertaining and informative speech, guiding you through each step in detail. But the real bonus of THE MESSAGE OF YOU is that Judy is a comic. Her "Comedy Pass" chapter takes you through simple but effective comedy writing techniques that will transform even a flat PowerPoint snoozer into a knee-slapping showstopper of a keynote. Once your speech is well-written and funny, Judy takes you through Part Three, teaching you how to take your message to the masses with inexpensive but essential marketing tips. The Message of You offers an accessible approach, big picture guidance, and nitty-gritty nuts and bolts of sound advice. Judy has been a comedy and speaking coach for over twenty years. She's a firm believer that how you present your ideas is just as important as the ideas themselves. She knows that humor and strong content are the missing ingredients in most speeches and her book, THE MESSAGE OF YOU helps you discover both your message and your comedic voice by taking you through the same process she uses to coach her private clients.

(back cover) From improv to standup, and from satire to slapstick, this essential guide will show you how to get yourself a cult following or achieve mainstream success in comedy. Covering skills that range from writing your material to conveying physical expressiveness, this comprehensive reference book instructs and advises novice comedians in all media--neighborhood standup clubs, theater, TV sitcom, and political commentary. The authors emphasize practical methodology as they explain the art and craft of comedy. Step-by-step instruction and advice in voice training, timing, rehearsing, and interacting with your audience are presented with detailed illustrations that help make this book as accessible as it is informative. The authors--both of them working today as standups on the comedy circuit--discuss both classic and alternative comedy. They draw examples from a vast range of comedians as they illustrate each technique and inspire novice comedians to learn and ultimately perfect their craft. Also Available for Aspiring Actors-- The Acting Bible

You've always known writing comedy was about more than just being funny. But how do you create a joke and work it into a script or a stand-up routine? Comedian, writer, and teacher Jim Mendrinos has the answers. In The Complete Idiot s Guide to Comedy Writing, Mendrinos gives readers the principles he teaches in his popular courses, from understanding what funny is and how to find it, to how to actually construct comedy. Working through the basic constructions and forms including premises, points of view, and twists, he shows the variations of written, verbal, and physical comedy. With useful exercises, Mendrinos helps writers refine their writing, appeal to their audience, and even break writer's block by learning techniques for brainstorming, free association, lists, and finding infinite points of view.