Comedy for Animators

by Jonathan Lyons

While comedy writers are responsible for creating clever scripts, comedic animators have a much more complicated problem to What makes a physical character funny? Comedy for Animators breaks down the answer by exploring the techniques of those who have used their bodies to make others laugh. Drawing from traditions such as commedia dell’arte, pantomime, Vaudeville, the circus, and silent and modern film, animators will learn not only to create funny characters, but also how to execute gags, create a comic climate, and use environment as a character. Whether you’re creating a comic villain or a bumbling sidekick, this is the one and only guide you need to get your audience laughing!



Explanation of comedic archetypes and devices will both inspire and inform your creative choices



Exploration of various modes of storytelling allows you to give the right context for your story and characters



Tips for creating worlds, scenarios, and casts for your characters to flourish in



Companion website includes example videos and further resources to expand your skillset--check it out at www.comedyforanimators.com!



Jonathan Lyons delivers simple, fun, illustrated lessons that teach readers to apply the principles of history’s greatest physical comedians to their animated characters. This isn’t stand-up comedy—it’s the falling down and jumping around sort!

214 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 19, 2015

About the author

Jonathan Lyons spent twenty years as a foreign correspondent and editor for Reuters, much of it in the Islamic world. He holds a Ph.D. in sociology from Monash University and lives in Portland, Oregon. His publications include The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization and (with Geneive Abdo) Answering Only to God: Faith and Freedom in Twenty-First-Century Iran.