Dave Cohen - The Art of Injecting Humor into Any Fiction Genre

The Publishing Performance Show

Dave Cohen, a writer, comedian, and Edinburgh Festival Perrier Award nominee, has been a constant presence on the British comedy scene for over 35 years. As a founder member of the Comedy Store Players and writer for successful TV shows like Have I Got News For You, Spitting Image, and BBC sitcoms Not Going Out and My Family, Dave has also written nearly 100 songs for the multi-BAFTA winning BBC hit Horrible Histories. With experience in stand-up comedy, radio shows, and as the lead singer of the world's first Jewish heavy metal band Guns'n'Moses, Dave has now turned his attention to novel writing and teaching comedy writing. In this episode, he discusses his career and approach to adding humor to fiction.
In this episode:

• Dave's journey from stand-up comedy to writing for TV and radio
• The process of transitioning from writing scripts to novels
• Techniques for adding humor to different fiction genres
• Tips for aspiring comedy writers
• Insights from Dave's new book "Funny Up Your Fiction"
• Marketing strategies for self-published authors

Resources mentioned:

• "The Complete Comedy Writer" by Dave Cohen
• "Save the Cat" writing method
• "Funny Up Your Fiction" by Dave Cohen

Book recommendation:

• Jonathan Fairfax series by Christopher Shevlin

Connect with Dave Cohen:

• Website: https://www.davecohen.org.uk/
• Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/sitcom-geeks/id1014489955

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1. Introduction to the show and Dave Cohen (00:00:00)

2. Dave's background in comedy writing (00:01:13)

3. Shows Dave has worked on (00:03:08)

4. Discussion of "The Complete Comedy Writer" book (00:05:27)

5. Key elements of storytelling in comedy (00:07:13)

6. Differences between sitcom and novel writing (00:09:59)

7. Dave's transition to novel writing (00:14:00)

8. Dave's approach to plotting and structure (00:16:31)

9. Use of the "passenger" technique in writing (00:20:38)

10. Discussion of Save the Cat method (00:22:26)

11. Introduction to "Funny Up Your Fiction" book (00:23:57)

12. Adding humor to different fiction genres (00:26:51)

13. Tips for making characters funny (00:31:00)

14. Advice for aspiring comedy writers (00:34:44)

15. Book recommendation (00:44:15)