The Comedy Bible Workbook

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.

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)

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

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.

Motivational humorist Judy Carter believes ordinary people have the ability to find the extraordinary stories tucked away deep inside of them, stories that not only can make a difference in the lives of others but also can result in a money-making career for the storyteller. In her previous bestseller, The Comedy Bible, Judy taught everyday people how to turn their problems into punch lines. Now, she is helping professional speakers, techies, entrepreneurs, survivors, and even complete novices to transform their tragedies and triumphs into hilarious and motivational speeches that not only educate, inspire, and entertain but also pay the rent.--From publisher description.

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.

The Comedy Store in L.A. is a family affair, founded by Sammy and Mitzi Shore, the parents of comedians Pauly Shore and Sandi Shore. In Secrets to Standup Success, Sandi offers valuable insider instruction on how to shape a comic persona and develop a personal delivery style, plus secrets on timing, pacing, and creating characters.

If you think you're funny, and you want others to think so too, this is the book for you! Greg Dean examines the fundamentals of being funny and offers advice on a range of topics, including: writing creative joke material rehearsing and performing routines coping with stage fright dealing with emcees who think they're funnier than you are getting experience and lots more. Essential for the aspiring comic or the working comedian interested in updating his or her comedy routine, Step by Step to Stand-Up Comedy is the most comprehensive and useful book ever written on the art of the stand-up comedian.

Finalist for the 2020 National Book Award for Fiction One of the New York Times' Ten Best Books of the Year Named one of the best novels of the year by Time, Washington Post, NPR, Chicago Tribune, Esquire, BBC, and many others National Bestseller "A blistering little classic." —Ron Charles, Washington Post A Children’s Bible follows a group of twelve eerily mature children on a forced vacation with their families at a sprawling lakeside mansion. Contemptuous of their parents, the children decide to run away when a destructive storm descends on the summer estate, embarking on a dangerous foray into the apocalyptic chaos outside. Lydia Millet’s prophetic and heartbreaking story of generational divide offers a haunting vision of what awaits us on the far side of Revelation.

The Kingstone Bible is a collection of classic stories of faith from the Old Testament including the creation of mankind through the Tower of Babel, Moses and the Exodus, the deliverance of the Jews from Egypt, the Ten Commandments, the journey into the Promised Land, Esther and the deliverance of Jews, and Samson and his moral failings, but ultimate triumph.