Fran Shaff's Blog - Posts Tagged "comedy"
Beaver Cleaver's Big Drama
Without drama there is no comedy, no comedy worth indulging in, that is.
The word "drama" brings to mind thoughts of serious even gut-wrenching stories, but "drama" is just another word for "conflict," which can also have its share of grim connotations. However, if it's to be funny, comedy must be filled with conflict and drama.
Consider the following plot in the classic "Leave it to Beaver" television show. This storyline, filled with intense drama, is one of the funniest episodes of the entire series.
Setup: Ward (the father) gives seven-year-old Beaver money to get a haircut so he'll look good when he plays an angel in the Christmas pageant. He also cautions the boy to avoid losing the money.
Dramatic Point 1: Beaver loses the money. (He's quite upset because he's been losing money regularly lately.)
Dramatic Point 2: In order to sidestep his father's wrath, Beaver decides to give himself a haircut so Dad won't know he lost the money.
Dramatic Point 3: Beaver has done a poor job giving himself a haircut so his brother Wally gets out the scissors and tries to clean things up.
Dramatic Point 4: Wally has been no more successful in giving his brother a decent haircut than Beaver was so they try to cover up the problem with a stocking hat.
Drama builds as one bad decision leads to another throughout this episode.
Viewers enjoy a hilarious half hour, but the poor characters are really suffering. The boys don’t want their parents to be upset with them, and the parents, upon learning what has happened, face great embarrassment from their “angel” and his horrible haircut in the Christmas pageant.
Conflict moves this comedy from one funny scene to the next.
As a writer, I enjoy composing stories with tons of conflict and drama. Whether the story is as serious as "Stolen Son" or as laugh inducing as "Male Fraud," as far as I'm concerned, the more conflict the better.
As a reader and a television viewer, if a story isn't dramatic, no matter what its genre might be, I won't read it or watch it--unless I'm trying to fall asleep. :-)
Here's hoping all the drama you encounter this week comes from fiction. (Real life is much easier without conflict and drama.)
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page
The word "drama" brings to mind thoughts of serious even gut-wrenching stories, but "drama" is just another word for "conflict," which can also have its share of grim connotations. However, if it's to be funny, comedy must be filled with conflict and drama.
Consider the following plot in the classic "Leave it to Beaver" television show. This storyline, filled with intense drama, is one of the funniest episodes of the entire series.
Setup: Ward (the father) gives seven-year-old Beaver money to get a haircut so he'll look good when he plays an angel in the Christmas pageant. He also cautions the boy to avoid losing the money.
Dramatic Point 1: Beaver loses the money. (He's quite upset because he's been losing money regularly lately.)
Dramatic Point 2: In order to sidestep his father's wrath, Beaver decides to give himself a haircut so Dad won't know he lost the money.
Dramatic Point 3: Beaver has done a poor job giving himself a haircut so his brother Wally gets out the scissors and tries to clean things up.
Dramatic Point 4: Wally has been no more successful in giving his brother a decent haircut than Beaver was so they try to cover up the problem with a stocking hat.
Drama builds as one bad decision leads to another throughout this episode.
Viewers enjoy a hilarious half hour, but the poor characters are really suffering. The boys don’t want their parents to be upset with them, and the parents, upon learning what has happened, face great embarrassment from their “angel” and his horrible haircut in the Christmas pageant.
Conflict moves this comedy from one funny scene to the next.
As a writer, I enjoy composing stories with tons of conflict and drama. Whether the story is as serious as "Stolen Son" or as laugh inducing as "Male Fraud," as far as I'm concerned, the more conflict the better.
As a reader and a television viewer, if a story isn't dramatic, no matter what its genre might be, I won't read it or watch it--unless I'm trying to fall asleep. :-)
Here's hoping all the drama you encounter this week comes from fiction. (Real life is much easier without conflict and drama.)
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page
Male Fraud--In the Locker Room Excerpt
"What if a woman pretended to be a man in order to get a job as trainer with a pro football team," I thought, "and then fell in love with the coach?"
I loved the idea right away. As I began to imagine the kinds of problems that could arise under circumstances like these the idea developed into a very funny story filled with tense situations.
Of course, these circumstances aren't funny to the hero and heroine who are embroiled in some heavy emotions, but readers are having a great time watching these two deal with their challenging situation.
"Male Fraud" is available as a download at major Internet stores such as B&N, I-Books and others for 99 Cents. It's also available in the paperback "Romantic Comedy Collection" (which includes short stories "Married While Intoxicated" and "Crossed Wires") at Amazon for $7.95.
Terry Fiscus wants to be a trainer for the pro football Chicago Cyclones. Coach Dan Barringer doesn't believe a woman belongs in a men's locker room. Terry really, really wants this job so she disguises herself as a man, and Dan hires her. When Dan meets Terry outside of work and gets to know her as the lovely "Teresa" he falls in love, and so does Terry. As Terry tries to manage her double life things get extremely complicated and side-splittingly funny.
"In the Locker Room" Excerpt:
Setup: Female Terry Fiscus, the new trainer for the pro football Chicago Cyclones is disguised as a man--and she's made a few discoveries about being a woman pretending to be a man during her first week on the job.
As she policed her area of the locker room Terry realized the first week of training camp had gone by with lightning speed. She’d worked hard to keep her players as healthy as possible, and things had gone well most of the time.
The only thing giving her more trouble than she’d thought it would was getting used to the smells, sights and sounds in the locker room. Especially the sights!
Seeing naked men by the dozens was a completely new adjustment for her. At Nebraska, where she’d first worked as a trainer, the players knew she was a woman, and most of them would cover up if she was in the locker room. Now that Terry was one of the guys, she rarely saw a towel wrapped around a waist in modesty.
More than once the old story about the size of a man’s feet and his--
“Fiscus!”
She looked at the coach who was standing in the doorway to his office.
“When you have a minute, I want to see you.”
“Sure thing, Coach.” She was getting used to using her fake deep voice, though it didn’t sound as gruff anymore since her cold had gone away.
The coach went back into his office, but Terry kept looking his way.
There was one other thing which had been giving her trouble since she started her new job. Coach Barringer.
Not that he’d been hard on her or anything, no harder than she’d expected anyway. The trouble she was having with the coach was entirely her own fault.
She found him terribly attractive. Whether he was a Neanderthal or not, she couldn’t help being practically giddy over him. Consequently, she’d avoided Dan as much as possible.
She’d learned rather quickly that one glance from him could melt her quite completely, and she couldn’t afford to liquefy around him.
At least not until she told him she was a woman.
She finished cleaning up her area and went to face Coach Barringer.
She knocked on his open door.
“Come in.” His voice was stern, commanding.
He was looking at a pad full of x’s and o’s when Terry entered his domain. Considering the crush she had on him, she blushed a little at the symbols for hugs and kisses which Dan was using to diagram offensive and defensive team members in plays he was designing.
This was the first time Terry had been alone with Dan in his office. All her meetings with him before this one had included other trainers, and they’d taken place in the conference room.
Dan looked up and pointed to a chair. “Take a load off, Fiscus. I’ll be with you in a minute.” He looked again at his pad of intricate plays, and made a few changes.
She seated herself in the black tweed armchair the coach had pointed to and waited for him to speak. The longer she waited the more intrigued she became with the handsome coach and his thick dark hair, angular jaw and broad, strong build.
His shoulders looked like they could hold the weight of the Sears Tower.
When minutes passed without him initiating the conversation, she decided to start it herself. “Is there a problem you wanted to discuss with me?” Considering the way she felt about him, being alone with him put her ill at ease. She wanted this meeting over with as soon as possible.
He looked at her with those bone-melting blue eyes of his and leaned back in his black leather, swivel chair. He tapped the pencil in one hand against the index finger of the other......
------------------
I hope your week is full of smiles and laughter.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page
I loved the idea right away. As I began to imagine the kinds of problems that could arise under circumstances like these the idea developed into a very funny story filled with tense situations.
Of course, these circumstances aren't funny to the hero and heroine who are embroiled in some heavy emotions, but readers are having a great time watching these two deal with their challenging situation.
"Male Fraud" is available as a download at major Internet stores such as B&N, I-Books and others for 99 Cents. It's also available in the paperback "Romantic Comedy Collection" (which includes short stories "Married While Intoxicated" and "Crossed Wires") at Amazon for $7.95.
Terry Fiscus wants to be a trainer for the pro football Chicago Cyclones. Coach Dan Barringer doesn't believe a woman belongs in a men's locker room. Terry really, really wants this job so she disguises herself as a man, and Dan hires her. When Dan meets Terry outside of work and gets to know her as the lovely "Teresa" he falls in love, and so does Terry. As Terry tries to manage her double life things get extremely complicated and side-splittingly funny.
"In the Locker Room" Excerpt:
Setup: Female Terry Fiscus, the new trainer for the pro football Chicago Cyclones is disguised as a man--and she's made a few discoveries about being a woman pretending to be a man during her first week on the job.
As she policed her area of the locker room Terry realized the first week of training camp had gone by with lightning speed. She’d worked hard to keep her players as healthy as possible, and things had gone well most of the time.
The only thing giving her more trouble than she’d thought it would was getting used to the smells, sights and sounds in the locker room. Especially the sights!
Seeing naked men by the dozens was a completely new adjustment for her. At Nebraska, where she’d first worked as a trainer, the players knew she was a woman, and most of them would cover up if she was in the locker room. Now that Terry was one of the guys, she rarely saw a towel wrapped around a waist in modesty.
More than once the old story about the size of a man’s feet and his--
“Fiscus!”
She looked at the coach who was standing in the doorway to his office.
“When you have a minute, I want to see you.”
“Sure thing, Coach.” She was getting used to using her fake deep voice, though it didn’t sound as gruff anymore since her cold had gone away.
The coach went back into his office, but Terry kept looking his way.
There was one other thing which had been giving her trouble since she started her new job. Coach Barringer.
Not that he’d been hard on her or anything, no harder than she’d expected anyway. The trouble she was having with the coach was entirely her own fault.
She found him terribly attractive. Whether he was a Neanderthal or not, she couldn’t help being practically giddy over him. Consequently, she’d avoided Dan as much as possible.
She’d learned rather quickly that one glance from him could melt her quite completely, and she couldn’t afford to liquefy around him.
At least not until she told him she was a woman.
She finished cleaning up her area and went to face Coach Barringer.
She knocked on his open door.
“Come in.” His voice was stern, commanding.
He was looking at a pad full of x’s and o’s when Terry entered his domain. Considering the crush she had on him, she blushed a little at the symbols for hugs and kisses which Dan was using to diagram offensive and defensive team members in plays he was designing.
This was the first time Terry had been alone with Dan in his office. All her meetings with him before this one had included other trainers, and they’d taken place in the conference room.
Dan looked up and pointed to a chair. “Take a load off, Fiscus. I’ll be with you in a minute.” He looked again at his pad of intricate plays, and made a few changes.
She seated herself in the black tweed armchair the coach had pointed to and waited for him to speak. The longer she waited the more intrigued she became with the handsome coach and his thick dark hair, angular jaw and broad, strong build.
His shoulders looked like they could hold the weight of the Sears Tower.
When minutes passed without him initiating the conversation, she decided to start it herself. “Is there a problem you wanted to discuss with me?” Considering the way she felt about him, being alone with him put her ill at ease. She wanted this meeting over with as soon as possible.
He looked at her with those bone-melting blue eyes of his and leaned back in his black leather, swivel chair. He tapped the pencil in one hand against the index finger of the other......
------------------
I hope your week is full of smiles and laughter.
Fran
Fran Shaff, Award-Winning Author
Fran's Web Page
