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From Headlines to Punchlines: Humor Writing Boot Camp for Journalists

Do you ever read a satire on the Times op-ed page and think, "Why didn't I think of that?" Are The Onion and The Daily Show with Jon Stewart your chief sources of news? Do you want to be David Sedaris, Fran Leibowitz or Calvin Trillin when you grow up? This course may be for you. Being funny, especially published funny, is not all in the delivery. It's mostly in the writing and, when it comes to news and trends, the timing. So if you're a journalist with an ear for the funny, or if your inner essayist/parodist is looking for a way out, you're on your way to writing and publishing humorous non-fiction.

Part discussion group, part writing workshop, part guest lecture series, this course will take you from the philosophical (What is the essence of humor?) to the practical (What are the mechanics of joke structure?) to the procedural (Whom do you have to offer your soul to get into "Shouts & Murmurs"?). You'll learn to weave facts into comedic riffs, the personal into the universal, the tragic sensitively into the comic, the finished into the published. Skilled humorists such as Andy Borowitz and Dan Zevin and representatives from funny publications (like MAD and The Onion) will visit to show you how it's done (and sold).

In this class, students can expect to:
  • Explore he two broad types of non-fiction humor—personal essay and topical satire/parody
  • Read and dissect great comedic writers
  • Sharpen your sense of humor and your ability to make people both laugh and think with in-class writing exercises
  • Discuss which magazines are easiest to break into and which sections are most "freelancer-friendly"
  • Learn to edit yourself for maximum comedic effect
By the end of class, students can expect to have:
  • Completed versions of at least one personal essay and satire piece, plus ideas for (or drafts of) others
  • The experience of reading your work in public
  • A sharper eye for ideas, a more attuned ear for comedy
      Admission requirements:
      To be considered for this class, you must submit a writing sample (up to 2,000 words; sample does not need to have been published to be considered) and a letter of interest (hint: Funny letters of interest get an edge).

Instructor Bio

Lynn Harris
Lynn Harris is a journalist, essayist, author, comedian, and commentator on matters of culture, gender, and "the deal" with Brad and Jen. She is author of the comic novel Miss Media, hailed by New York magazine as a "sharp, smart satire." She writes frequently for Salon, Nerve.com, and Glamour, and has contributed to the New York Times, New York Observer, New York magazine, Entertainment Weekly, GQ, Slate, and more. Lynn was co-creator (with supergenius Christopher Kalb) and alter-ego of the cultishly popular advice columnist/superhero Breakup Girl, who helps men and women handle all matters of love, or lack thereof; she is author/co-author of three other books, including Breakup Girl to the Rescue!.

Lynn was co-producer of the Breakup Girl television series (directed and animated by Chris Kalb, with Mike Lee) and co-writer and star of "Breakup Girl LIVE", Gotham Comedy Club's longest-running variety show. She has also appeared on Good Morning America, Today, ABC News, CNN, Queen Latifah, Montel Williams, and Lifetime television, plus numerous other talk and radio shows. A semi-retired standup comic, she's a fixture at literary readings around the city.
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