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The Eight Characters of Comedy: Guide to Sitcom Acting And Writing by Scott Sedita
At the core of this Hollywood howto guide is the concept of The Eight Characters of Comedy, the eight specific character archetypes used in sitcoms dating back to the advent of TV. Every actor can find a sitcom niche by identifying with one of these eight characters. Using past and current actors and sitcom personalities, Sedita describes in detail where these characters come from and how actors can play them truthfully. * who is normally cast as The Logical Smart One? * why do we love The Lovable Loser? * why is The Neurotic such a fun character to play? In addition, readers learn how to break down a comedy script, how to identify different types of jokes, how to deliver them with comedic precision, sitcom auditioning techniques, and how to market themselves.
Unknown Binding
First published November 30, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 6, 2019
How does humor work? One can try it out by dissecting favorite comedy TV shows. It will bring to light a few stereotypes that work perfectly since ancient times. Well, why is this so? It seems as if, like with flavor, certain kinds of characters simply fit perfectly together, automatically produce suspense and laughter at the same time and can be used again and again for the same stereotypical jokes without annoying the viewers or readers, because there are so many possibilities to create new mixtures.
But those characters are just useful for settings in western societies, in other countries it may be different and it would be necessary to tailor the characters individually for each culture. Because if the mentality doesn´t correspond to the actions of the characters, it can produce unwanted humor and cause controversies and problems.
Another constraint is the fact that it only works with average, western, middle-class surroundings and settings, as soon as it is a historical, future ore fantasy focused work, it might seem too exaggerated.
Just imagine the possibilities of how these archetypes could evolve if all the creepy and sick character archetypes that haven´t been used cause of conservative philistines could come alive. As soon as all dark areas of human mentality can be shown in the spotlight, the possibilities for mixing and combining story and character arks may explode. Good examples are really innovative shows such as Rick and Morty, Mr. Robot, The Boys, etc. It simply couldn´t have been produced or even just written for a broad audience just a few years ago, because it is too controversial.
I am hopefully looking forward to new novels that explore new dimensions of especially dark and gritty humor that have not been entered by a human before. With the help of modified tutorials like this one, everyone will be able to make her/his own private horror hardcore sitcom.
But those characters are just useful for settings in western societies, in other countries it may be different and it would be necessary to tailor the characters individually for each culture. Because if the mentality doesn´t correspond to the actions of the characters, it can produce unwanted humor and cause controversies and problems.
Another constraint is the fact that it only works with average, western, middle-class surroundings and settings, as soon as it is a historical, future ore fantasy focused work, it might seem too exaggerated.
Just imagine the possibilities of how these archetypes could evolve if all the creepy and sick character archetypes that haven´t been used cause of conservative philistines could come alive. As soon as all dark areas of human mentality can be shown in the spotlight, the possibilities for mixing and combining story and character arks may explode. Good examples are really innovative shows such as Rick and Morty, Mr. Robot, The Boys, etc. It simply couldn´t have been produced or even just written for a broad audience just a few years ago, because it is too controversial.
I am hopefully looking forward to new novels that explore new dimensions of especially dark and gritty humor that have not been entered by a human before. With the help of modified tutorials like this one, everyone will be able to make her/his own private horror hardcore sitcom.
November 10, 2016
Fun and insightful!
While I was familiar with many of the great characters that Sedita details, seeing them fit into archetypes shone a whole new light on my understanding of them. This book has changed the way I watch comedies -- for the better! As an aspiring actor, I look forward to seeing projects through this terrific lens.
While I was familiar with many of the great characters that Sedita details, seeing them fit into archetypes shone a whole new light on my understanding of them. This book has changed the way I watch comedies -- for the better! As an aspiring actor, I look forward to seeing projects through this terrific lens.
February 21, 2010
A very entertaining read on how to create the central characters comprising sitcoms. I read it to understand how to set up humor as a writer, but the book is primarily written for actors. Nonetheless, Sedita's insights are on the money and useful for both actors and writers.
December 19, 2017
Bit reductive and quite repetitive, but it's good for seeing the bones of how sitcoms are structured. It's also a helpful guide if you need a starting point for figuring out your characters. But the book is like 300+ pages and could achieve the same goal at 30 pages.
March 10, 2022
4.5/5
This is a very informative book! Not to mention funny. Then again, look at the subject matter.
Comedy acting is very specific (as I'm told). Having not taken a class in it yet, I turned to books. This was a really great one to start out with. It goes through text analysis of a script, rules in comedy, and as the title says - the 8 characters of comedy.
Sedita broke everything down really well. It was easy to follow and understand, especially with examples he would give of well known characters/actors in sitcoms. Understanding how comedy is written will help with breaking down scripts and in turn, performance.
It's a really well written book! I took so much away from it! Whether you're a writer, actor or an enthusiast, I suggest picking this book up!
This is a very informative book! Not to mention funny. Then again, look at the subject matter.
Comedy acting is very specific (as I'm told). Having not taken a class in it yet, I turned to books. This was a really great one to start out with. It goes through text analysis of a script, rules in comedy, and as the title says - the 8 characters of comedy.
Sedita broke everything down really well. It was easy to follow and understand, especially with examples he would give of well known characters/actors in sitcoms. Understanding how comedy is written will help with breaking down scripts and in turn, performance.
It's a really well written book! I took so much away from it! Whether you're a writer, actor or an enthusiast, I suggest picking this book up!
December 26, 2024
This book breaks down the science of fast comedy, in an accessible way. Lots of nuts and bolts, and of course the 8 characters we see in comedy (loveable loser, smart logical one, in their own universe etc.) described in all their traits, and everything that makes that character type "funny."
Scott Sedita is a cool dood as well. I did a weekend zoom course with him and it was pretty awesome. You quickly learn if you can't do, say sarcasm.
Scott Sedita is a cool dood as well. I did a weekend zoom course with him and it was pretty awesome. You quickly learn if you can't do, say sarcasm.
July 22, 2022
super great info, definitely a book an actor needs on their shelf!! i always categorize acting books as “need to come back to for inspiration/exercises” or “read it once, retained the info.” this is definitely the first category, and i know i’ll be fanning through this when i have comedic auditions. good good!
November 5, 2021
Handy. Although the premise is that these characters are timeless and that's true to an extent, but I think modern audiences are looking for shows that break from this kind of formula. It feels pretty dated, though this was all pretty much true at one time.
February 25, 2020
A great book! This was very inspiring when I was first creating "Old Dogs & New Tricks." Why does the geek always get the hot girl in comedies? Read this book and find out why!
October 16, 2020
This has helped to understand why am I not funny when I say the lines. Easy to read and revelatory for actors who want to delve into comedy. The foundation is there. Once you learn it it flows.
July 9, 2020
I wish someone could take this book, cut out all the racist, sexist and sycophantic drivel and leave the 20-30 pages of actually helpful information behind. So so cringeworthy.
August 20, 2024
This is a great guide in understanding characters as well as sitcom/comedic structure in general! As an actor who studied psychology I had so much fun reading this book. Scott Sedita provides TONS of examples of characters from various sitcoms. Definitely would recommend to any other actors (and/or writers) looking to get into comedy!
July 12, 2024
If I read this book before I started writing, I might’ve felt stifled by the structure and formula this book lays out, but after having some experience I think this only adds more context for comedy as a whole for me. I like that it’s written for writers and actors, I appreciated seeing both sides of that coin. My favorite part is the sitcom history it gives you and dissecting the fantastic characters we’ve seen over the years. It’s a little outdated and focuses on white sitcoms (to be expected) but it discusses many popular sitcoms and has great examples that offer insight. If you like nerding out on sitcoms, this is fun.
September 1, 2015
Facile and arbitrary - anyone who wishes to make use of this book must first buy a bag of salt to take with it.
Filled with mediocre to horrible original writing, and a series of dated and grasping examples to prove the author's points, this book is more an example of promotion trumping talent then it is a useful textbook to aid in creating engaging and enjoyable sit-com characters. I conceive it might be possible that he is a much better teacher in person, working with actors on specific scripts, but it doesn't come through in his writing.
Filled with mediocre to horrible original writing, and a series of dated and grasping examples to prove the author's points, this book is more an example of promotion trumping talent then it is a useful textbook to aid in creating engaging and enjoyable sit-com characters. I conceive it might be possible that he is a much better teacher in person, working with actors on specific scripts, but it doesn't come through in his writing.
July 24, 2010
Nice introduction to the characteristics that make many of our favorite comedic characters so funny. Also, some interesting insights about the way each of the character types interacts with other character types.
I'd like to explore this more in my improv scene work. There is probably a good improv exercise here: Introduce the eight character types to each play, then try scenes with randomly chosen combinations of those character types and see what emerges from the interaction.
I'd like to explore this more in my improv scene work. There is probably a good improv exercise here: Introduce the eight character types to each play, then try scenes with randomly chosen combinations of those character types and see what emerges from the interaction.
October 9, 2014
no lo encontré entretenido pero sí, muy práctico. esta orientado para los actores pero para escritores da las pautas básicas de la creación de personajes de comedia... junto con The Comedy Toolbox me ayudaron a escribir un par de escenas de humor que hicieron reír bastante.
May 13, 2017
Very insightful for actors looking to get into the world of tv comedy.
March 17, 2012
I think this guide can be confusing for actors. I read this book and it took me over a year of solid sitcom training to get out f my head about these characters and just do the work.
August 16, 2014
As a comedy writer I found this book to be VERY informative. Full of current shows examples and trade info.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews