How to Find a Show's 'Voice'
When you’re working as a comedy writer most of the time you’re writing jokes or sketches to be performed by other people. That’s just the way it is until you become a “YouTube sensation” and get your own show.
Funny jokes and lines don’t just come to performers; they’re written and rehearsed. Often the host of a tonight show or a sketch show comedian is heavily involved in the writing of the show, but normally they have at least one or two writers – if not a whole team – helping them out.
The skill of the comedian, talk show host or sketch comedy performer is to make it look like they came up with it on the spot, so it’s important it sounds like something they’d say. That’s why, if you ever find work as a comedy writer on a TV tonight show or sketch series, you need to learn to write in the show’s “voice”.
The Host’s Voice
Finding the “voice” of a host means understanding their onscreen persona and their point of view on the world.
John Oliver is intelligent, outspoken, undeniably left-leaning and – at the same time – self-deprecating and “nerdy”. He also plays on his “English-ness” and his position as the “outsider” and, as a satirist, is usually making a statement with his comedy, but often does it in a slightly surreal or playful way.
If you were lucky enough to get a job writing for Last Week Tonight you’d have to understand these things about him and incorporate them into every joke you write. The same would go for any TV show host.
Sometimes comedians who find work on a TV show are stand-ups who are used to performing their own stuff and struggle to write in another comedian’s voice. They write the way they’d tell a joke, or from their particular point of view and ultimately they don’t last long. As head writer on several comedy shows here in Australia I’ve seen this happen several times.
You don’t want to be a pushover and should always put forward what you think is funny and make suggestions on how you think it should be done. But, ultimately, it’s the person who’s performing the joke who should have the last word. They’ll always be the one who either gets praised or crucified for it depending on how the routine goes.
The Show’s Voice
When it comes to a comedic voice the same applies to the broader outlook of a show. John Oliver may not appear in a sketch or narrate a segment like “now this” on Last Week Tonight, but they still feel like they come from his point of view or are in his voice. They feel like they belong in the show.
If you want to write for any comedy show understanding the overarching style, and its broad outlook, is really important. It helps you know what does and doesn’t belong.
There are lots of different styles of comedy and a lot of crossover of styles within each show. But, most shows can be placed within a certain category. Monty Python, Tim and Eric, and, more recently, I Think You Should Leave are all broadly considered surreal sketch shows. Tonight shows are almost always topical and narrative series come in all sorts of genres. The Office is a mockumentary, Seinfeld is seen as observational and Ricky Gervais’s After Life is thought by many to be black comedy, as it deals with disturbing topics like death
But these are broad descriptions of shows that help people – firstly the person who’s commissioning the show when it gets pitched, then ultimately the viewer – to understand what sort of show they’re getting
Watch, Listen, Learn
It’s easy to work out what most shows are but what’s important for a comedy writer is to know the philosophy, style and voice of the particular show they’re writing on (or hope to write on) and to write stuff like that. This takes research.
But, relax. It’s not like finding a cure for cancer, all you have to do is watch TV.
If you’re ever thinking of writing for a TV comedy show, or are lucky enough to be asked based on your stand-up, YouTube show or TikTok sketch be sure to research thoroughly (ie. watch) the show you are going to be writing on. Not just once. Watch anything you can get your hands on several times over.
Really listen to how a host tells a joke or what kind of topics they’re covering. Practice writing jokes and sketches that are like the ones on those shows and try to imagine them being performed by those comedians.
This will not only help when you try and get a job on that show, but the more you write comedy the more you learn how to do it and the better you get, so no time is ever wasted.
Good luck!
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