The Cheeky Monkey by Tim Ferguson

The Cheeky Monkey
Tim Ferguson
(Currency Press)

How does one be funny? If you're Data from Star Trek you go to the holosuite and ask Joe Piscopo. If you're not yet in the twenty-fourth century and don't have access to that sort of technology then you might want to read this book.
Who is Tim Ferguson? Tim Ferguson is a very funny man and the good-looking one from the Doug Anthony All Stars. Who are the Doug Anthony All Stars? That is what youtube is for. Enough with the questions.
The Cheeky Monkey could be called 'Everything You Always Wanted To Know About Writing Narrative Comedy But Were Afraid To Ask' but that would take up way too much space on the front cover and would be a bugger asking for it at the book shop.
In his book Tim has plonked comedy on stage, ripped it's clothes off and given us a magnifying glass. He dissects gags down to their most basic of elements and challenges us to try-this-at-home with exercises after each topic.
By using examples of gags, jokes and one-liners from TV shows, Tim not only shows us what is funny but explains to us why it is funny.
Like a University degree in comedy, Tim walks us through a wide range of topics like designing a sitcom, creating characters, the need for conflict and how to cram everything into a twenty-one minute episode.
The chapter on Selling A Sitcom was most helpful with answers to questions around copyright, pitching an idea and how to make yourself a better writer by reading other people's scripts and watching all those shows you don't like - you might hate them they are successful for a reason! Even though Tim says that there is no way I'm watching a second of Two and a Half Men. NOOOOOOOOOO!
Does knowing how comedy works spoil it? Absolutely not. I don't think any comedy writer would look at a joke the same way a butcher might look at a cow, but having a greater understanding of what makes it a good joke could only increase appreciation for it.
The Cheeky Monkey is a must read for anyone writing comedy for TV or film or any other genre for that matter. Why? Coz if you don't I'LL RIP YOUR BLOODY ARMS OFF*!


* that was funny