Humor can be used not to cover up pain but to cut through it.
In this three-hour session, we’ll treat humor not as an ineffable, unreproducible fluke but as the opposite: an element of craft that can enrich and enliven our stories. Maybe humor can’t be taught, but it can certainly be tapped into. Setups and punchlines, plot, pacing, voice—all can be strategically deployed to delight and surprise.
We’ll kick things off by looking at the bread-and-butter of comedy: gallows humor. How do ... view more »
Humor can be used not to cover up pain but to cut through it.
In this three-hour session, we’ll treat humor not as an ineffable, unreproducible fluke but as the opposite: an element of craft that can enrich and enliven our stories. Maybe humor can’t be taught, but it can certainly be tapped into. Setups and punchlines, plot, pacing, voice—all can be strategically deployed to delight and surprise.
We’ll kick things off by looking at the bread-and-butter of comedy: gallows humor. How do we write about the hardest things in life—grief, chronic illness, conflict—with a sense of levity? How do we decide when to be sentimental and when to be absurd, outlandish, vulnerable? For this, we’ll look at the work of writers like Sloane Crosley, author of the wonderful memoir Grief is for People. We’ll also flip the script and explore how to be funny on the page when you’re supposed to be funny. And how do we write across cultures and varied experiences in a way that’s rich, nuanced, page-turning, and also likely to induce belly laughs? With a generative exercise at the end of class, our goal is to hone practical tools that help us blast through shame, resist tidy morals, and sidestep cliché.
This course is for any writer who’s ever wished they were funnier on the page, and wants to drill down on how exactly to pull that off. Because ultimately, humor isn’t about being clever. It’s about seeing clearly, breaking form, and reaching for connection.
This is an in-person class held at the Munday Library (3001 S Congress Ave Building LIBR, Austin, TX 78704) on the St. Edwards College campus. It will not be recorded, or made available online. There will be paid parking ($6/day) available onsite. More details will be provided prior to the class date.
TAKE THIS CLASS IF:
You’re writing memoir or personal essays.
You wish you were funnier on the page and are looking to gain concrete techniques for crafting humor.
You’re hoping to apply humor as a tool to deepen emotional impact.
You’re writing personal narrative and want different ways to tackle your subject matter.
The deadline to register for this class is Friday, October 30 at 5:00 PM CT.
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