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Ask the Expert: How to be funny?

by | Aug 6, 2020 | Interviews

Hillary Homzie

author of Queen of Likes, the Ellie May series, the Kate the Chemist series, and more

Hillary Homzie
Hillary Homzie  is the author of  Queen of Likes, Things are Gonna Get Ugly, a Justice Book-of-the-Month, which was optioned by Priority Pictures, as well as Pumpkin Spice Secrets,  Apple Pie Promises, The Hot List.  She also wrote the chapter book series Ellie May on Presidents’ Day and Ellie May on April Fools Day, as well as the new middle grade series with Dr Kate Biberdorf, Kate the Chemist. Other titles include the humorous chapter book series, Alien Clones from Outer Space, which was bought by ABC Australia.  Besides teaching online at the Children’s Book Academy and Sonoma State University during the year, Hillary teaches in the summer MFA program at Hollins University. Visit her on the web at www.hillaryhomzie.com and follow her on twitter @HillaryHomzie.  
Me: Tell us about your background in comedy.

Hillary: I love that you’re asking about my background in comedy. Two years after college, I moved to New York and studied comedy with Stephen Rosenfield of the American Comedy Institute. For a year, I performed sketch comedy with Rubber Feet, a sketch comedy troupe directed by Rosenfield. During that period, I had an intensive introduction to the study of comedy, and we created all of our sketches through improvisational techniques. We had a weekly midnight show at Don’t Tell Mama, right before the Kathy (Najimy) and Mo (Gaffney) show.

The late Steven Arvanites, a gifted comedic actor, and I formed a comedy duo together and performed as a team at various venues in New York City, including the Boston Comedy Club, 55 Grove Street, and Schecky’s Big Fat Cantina with Sarah Silverman.  Steven would go on to be a regular on the David Letterman Show, perform roles in television shows, films and national commercials like Oxy Deep. Steven was born funny. He was funny on stage and in person.  I’ve never met a funnier person and I was honored to be his friend. I learned so much from him and miss him every day.

Me: What do would you recommend to someone who wants to learn to be funnier?


Hillary: To learn to be funnier, I would recommend taking an improv class. It’s so much fun and you learn helpful comedic principles that allow you to learn how to escalate a scene. Stephen Rosenfield taught me that if a scene starts with an inch of water in the basement by the end, it should be up to your neck. In other words, you want to increase pressure and stress. For more tips on how to be funny, I recommend Judy Carter’s Comedy Bible and workshop.


Take the workshop and webinar on writing humor for kids at the Children’s Book Academy.  Also sign up for the live Middle Grade Mastery course with me and co-teachers Mira Reisberg (editor Spork) and Rosie Ahmed (Assistant Editor Random House Dial) where we definitely go over humor. There’s also a chapter book course on-demand that goes over humor as well.


Me: What tips do you have for making people laugh?


Hillary: I think in order to make people laugh you want to start by getting in the habit of writing down your observations about daily life. If you don’t write it down, it will slip away.
For example, as I type this I’m noticing that my fingernails are dirty. How is it that they get this way? Are there invisible elves sticking mud into my cuticles while I sleep at night? If I pick out the dirt with one nail, it just gets stuck into the other, and I can get keep like this all night. It’s weird. I don’t notice how uneven my nails are until I start picking out the dirt.


Why do nails need to be even anyway? Our fingers aren’t even. Why should our nails be that way? Do we chop off the top of our fingers to make them the same size? Nooooo. I don’t get it. Also, hair should be even if you get a cheap cut. But if you pay a lot of money for a haircut at a hairstylist you don’t call it uneven, you call it layered. Can I just call my nails layered?


Learning to observe and riff, helps you to see little everyday things we all experience but maybe we don’t always articulate. It’s funny when we express something felt and experienced but often previously un-voiced. Also, consider using overstatement as well as understatement in your writing. In general, exaggeration is funny.


Me: How do you approach humor in your writing?


Hillary: I actually don’t consciously try to be funny when I write. I just get to know my characters and allow them to express myself. I don’t think you should force humor. Instead, observe people and then try to exaggerate some of their characteristics. Watch shows like The Office and The Larry David Show to see masterful but exaggerated characterization.


Here’s an example of exaggeration in my chapter book Ellie May on Presidents’ Day.

“I”m going to tell Dad!” Midge grew a giant grin. She looked way too happy.

Ugh. Dad would give me a time-out. And take away my dessert.

“Don’t you want to help your country?” I asked.

“Yes,” said Midge. “Yes! Yes!” She licked her fingers. “What’s a country?”

“It’s a place where you live, Midge. Like a house only”—way bigger.”

“But I already have a house,” said Midge. “Don’t need a country. I’m going to tell!”

You’ll notice it’s funny at the end because Midge is speaking the truth of a three-year-old. Why would she need a country if she has a house?


Often just getting into a kid’s headspace is enough. In the first chapter in my chapter book Ellie May on April Fools’ Day the teacher says:

“It’s time for everyone to put your hands in your laps,” said Ms. Silva. “Lock them and freeze them.” She demonstrated.

I put my hands in my lap, clasped my hands together, and tried to think about them being frozen like ice cubes or popsicles.

Kids just taking things literally can be amusing, for sure.


Me:   Can you recommend a few funny books?

 

Hillary: Here are some funny middle grade books which I really enjoy: Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar, Millicent Min Girl Genius by Lisa Yee, The Strange Case of Origami Yoda by Tom Angleberger, Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume, Ramona the Pest by Beverly Cleary, Hamster Princess: Harriet the Invisible by Ursula Vernon, Clementine by Sara Pennypacker, and The Magnificent Mya Tibbs by Crystal Allen.

 

Hillary’s book Ellie May on April Fools’ Day is featured on this Children’s Book Day post.