How Comedy Works isn’t about screenwriting specifically but about comedy itself as an art form. David Misch presents a three-hour multimedia seminar that—tongue firmly in cheek—he guarantees will impart “no usable skills.” It’s the same promise he has delivered at Sony, DreamWorks, Lucasfilm, Disney, the Austin Film Festival, the Actors Studio, Second City, the Groundlings, Yale, Columbia, Oxford, the American Film Institute, Raindance (London), Trinity College Dublin, the VIEW Cinema Conference (Italy), CineStudio Paris, the University of Malta, the University of Sydney, and the Burbank Comedy Festival.

Despite the disclaimer, How Comedy Works is a serious (though funny) exploration of comedy’s inner workings, giving actors, writers, directors, producers, and even Crafts Service personnel an inside look at what makes humor tick. The goal: understanding comedy to better create it.

Topics include:

• The Rule of Three (why things are funnier in threes)
• Comedy vs. Logic (spoiler: they’re bitter enemies)
• Timing calculations
• Comedy cues—and why withholding them sometimes works best
• The hilarity of the human body
• The evil of punchlines
• How tension, resolution, pattern disruption, misdirection, and surprise form the mechanics of jokes

Clips from Buster Keaton, Monty Python, Bo Burnham, and others illustrate how these principles produce actual laughter.

Workshop: How Comedy Works with David Misch - Writers and Publishers Network

SAT, OCT 18, 2025  10 AM – 1 PM PT  Live on Zoom
Members: $35
Nonmembers $50

Enter any advance questions for presenters under “Additional information: Order notes (optional)” during checkout.

 David Misch is a former comedian, screenwriter (Mork and Mindy, The Muppets Take Manhattan, Saturday Night Live), and author (Funny: The Book). He has taught comedy at USC and UCLA and now gives virtual multimedia talks worldwide.

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