Make Me Laugh

by Eleanor Tylbor

There are times as a humor writer, and it usually happens during a spell of writer's block, that I question the reason for choosing this vocation. After all, the remuneration is sporadic at best and few of "our kind" reach the degree of success experienced by a Dave Barry and his ilk. It's not as if we made a conscious decision to face personal rejection on a regular basis, right?

The thing is that we didn't choose humor writing – "it" chose us. Can't speak for others and I wouldn't want this to get out beyond the writing community but if you've experienced the feeling that you're being watched, chances are there's a humor writer lurking nearby. Humorists will agree that the best material is obtained by observing your everyday, "normal" people go about their daily lives.

For example some of my best material is obtained while shopping for groceries at the supermarket. It's amazing the amount of people that carry on one-way conversations with their inner selves focusing on over-priced items. They ask themselves questions and then immediately provide the answers. Far be it for me to interfere and is it my fault I happen to be passing by with a small pad and pen to take notes? The absolute best and most memorable incident was the person standing in front of the lobster tank, and apologizing for what was about to happen to some of the chosen few. Priceless!

The best subjects to document are family members and close friends and who better to capture relationship idiosyncrasies than an on-the-spot humorist?

The best thing that non-humor-type people can do to ensure that there will be continual reading material in the future is to…keep doing the same things as they're doing.

Let's face it. Very few professions offer the perks that we experience. Again, speaking for myself as a humorist, I continue to pursue this line of writing for:

1) The joy of being able to tell a person during social occasions that I'm a humor writer, after which they will invariably ask: "so, say something funny!"

2) Having a work wardrobe that consists primarily of jeans, tee-shirt…more jeans, more tee-shirts…and being able to wear slippers on the job

3) Free lunches that are as close an open refrigerator door and an endless supply of beverages at no cost

4) Frequent soap opera breaks or workout session when the mood hits

5) The ecstasy of being free to take a shopping break…for inspirational purposes of course

Writer Larry Gelbart of "MASH" fame said it best: "One doesn't have a sense of humor, it has you." Ain't it the truth!

Humor Notes of Interest

Registration for the 2004 Erma Bombeck Writers' Workshop will open next month and participants will be able to register online using a credit card.

Speakers for the two-day event, which takes place from March 26-27, 2004, include:

* Craig Wilson (USA Today columnist and author of It's the Little Things: An Appreciation of Life's Simple Pleasures)

* Karyl Miller (Emmy award-winning writer-producer who worked on "The Cosby Show" and "The Mary Tyler Moore Show")

* Dan Zevin (humor columnist and author of The Day I Turned Uncool: Confessions of a Reluctant Grownup)

* Nancy Cartwright (voice of Bart Simpson and author of My Life as a 10-Year-Old Boy)

* Bruce Cameron (syndicated humor columnist and New York Times best-selling author of 8 Simple Rules for Dating My Teenage Daughter)

* Laura Pulfer (Cincinnati Enquirer columnist)

* Jeff Herman (founder of The Jeff Herman Literary Agency and author of Writer's Guide to Book Editors, Publishers, and Literary Agents)

* Don Novello (author of The Lazlo Letters book series and best known for his Father Guido Sarducci skits on "Saturday Night Live")

* Katie Struckel Brogan (editor of Writer's Market and former associate editor of Writer's Digest magazine)

* Tony Cochran (creator of the nationally syndicated Agnes comic strip)

* Mary McCarty (Dayton Daily News columnist)

* Lee Salem (executive vice president and editor of Universal Press Syndicate)

* Kevin Williams (executive editor, Oasis Newsfeatures)

* Newspaper editors from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Florida Today, Detroit Free Press and Dayton Daily News

The cost for the workshop will be $249 and registration information will be made available in September.

Eleanor Tylbor is a freelance writer/columnist and humorist.