In observational humour, the comedian focuses like a laser beam on a pragmatic action or logical thought with the sole purpose of trying to destroy it. Commonly a cliché is used to set the train of thoughts in motion - so the comedian can derail it at any time. Language was invented because we need to communicate. Humour was invented because we need a vent to complain. We use it when we need to focus on the right target. The target can be almost anything - a person, a place, an object or an idea.
A popular target is celebrities. No doubt it is a cheap shot but, human psychology being what it is, our appetite for a dash of vinegary gossip about our heroes, heroines, or villains is unappeasable. Because the public, almost indiscriminately idolizes the famous and infamous, the media love to create new celebrities in entertainment, sport, politics and letters. Then, ironically, no sooner have the idle rich reached the climax of their media hype, than we begin to humble them with gossip and humorous digs. Humour writers take advantage of this illogical mania.
As time becomes more permissive there are new targets for humour, as all the barriers seem to be swept away.
Many performers these days also write their own material. It limits the opportunities for gag writers but if you latch on to an up-and-coming comic he/she may open a few doors for you as they go up in the world. If not, whatever happens, the experience is invaluable.
Slapstick is the most universal of all comedy forms. You've all seen the kind of sketch where the comedian would set out to do a simple thing like wallpapering the living room, and get himself into a terrible mess. Paste would be sloshed all over him, his helpers and on the floor too. They'd end up slipping and sliding into each other causing more and more havoc all the time. That, together with the traditional custard pie and banana skin, is all part of the very broad comedy we call slapstick.
Once you start these sketches they seem to write themselves because most of them are based on a chain reaction. You just plant the first seed and the rest is a natural sequence of events.
All slapstick must have a reason. Slapstick without a legitimate reason is just plain silly. Laurel and Hardy would never have thrown custard pies at each other without a good reason. Something would have happened to motivate the action. How to create visual pictures Bear in mind that TV is a visual medium and think visually. The areas in which the material for this kind of sketch can best be found are those situations where man is in conflict with machinery, or an inanimate object that does not perform as expected.
The normal formula for the long sketch is fairly straightforward. You take a theme and fill it with as many gags on that theme as you can create. It is a formula that Benny Hill used to great effect from time to time. He took a setting such as a hospital, a bus queue, a doctor's waiting room, almost any situation where a small group of people can meet, confront each other, and promote misunderstandings, and strung together a long sequence of quickies, both visual and verbal.
Watch any popular drama series on TV and note how short most scenes are, how quickly we move about, and how few scenes take place in visually boring places like offices or sitting rooms. When a director comes across a wordy, static indoor scene with two people talking to each other, his first instinct is to move the scene somewhere else: somewhere visually interesting. The longer and more wordy the scene, the more he will want to break it up with movement. Even if restrained from his wilder notions, the director would rather have characters walking sedately along a riverbank than sitting on opposite sides of a table. This gives him variety of shots and allows him to punctuate the dramatic content of the scene with movement.
Before writing a word of dialogue, always ask yourself whether any dialogue is essential at all. We don't need a competition to see how pictures can substitute for words in setting the scene, and also in telling the story. When you begin intentionally to visualise your story in terms of pictures you will be surprised how often dialogue is superfluous. If you can show it, show it! Don't talk about it.
One good visual is worth pages of dialogue.
The things the camera focuses on - particularly when we use close-ups - often speak louder than words. When we see hands clutching a rosary we do not need to be told the person is devout. When, on the wall in someone's house, we see a picture of the Queen we may guess it is the house of a patriot.