The Daily Carrot (Comedy)(Slice of Life)(OOC)

[Great Confederacy of Commonwealth States]

I'm having equisite amounts of fun writing Max. I think he is up there among my favourite characters.

[Mediama]

I'm having equisite amounts of fun writing Max. I think he is up there among my favourite characters.

tell me about it, never wrote comedy before.

[Talchyon]

I'm having equisite amounts of fun writing Max. I think he is up there among my favourite characters.

tell me about it, never wrote comedy before.

Here's some advice for writing comedy I came up with some time ago. Feel free to use or borrow if you wish, OP.

HOW TO WRITE COMEDY FOR RPs

Hey guys. Talchyon here. This here is advice given for comedy writers. You may have noticed that comedy RPs on NS is a special category. Everyone loves to laugh, but many don’t feel able or competent to get others to laugh. And that’s where this comes in. I can’t promise that if you follow these simple, easy steps, then you will become the next comic genius. But what I can promise is that writing comedy is never hurt by taking suggestions like this.

Disclaimer - There are some clips to funny things, movies, shows, etc. that I laugh at. I own none of the rights to these, and give all credit to those who produced them, acted in them, and are directly responsible for them, etc., etc.

A few modest suggestions.

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1. The best way to get others to laugh is to promise to pay them. I mean, since we’re all aware of how helpful money is, then money talks. And if you pay people enough, I’m sure they’d be glad to laugh. You can start by paying me. Depending on how much you deposit in my bank account, I will give anything from a chuckle and a humorous snort all the way up to laughing hysterically at what you tell me to.
   
   But… failing that, and since most of us are not that wealthy to begin with, we’ll have to come up with a different way.
   
   And perhaps that’s why the real first suggestion is MISDIRECTION. Did you notice how I began by saying, “A few modest suggestions” and then leapt into something completely ridiculous? Comedy works well like that. Lead your audience along a way where they think they’re going to end up, and then, BOOM-shaka-laka. Change where they end up.
   
   We also see this with movies. Here’s a clip from Galaxy Quest Um turn turn I said turn Turn TURN
   
   In this scene, the actors of the tv show Galaxy Quest have been brought to a real-life version of their tv starship. When Laredo is asked to drive, he does so in surprise. At first the music starts heroic. All of the proud aliens want to witness this historic event and are permitted to come onto the bridge. The Galaxy Quest theme plays. Everything couldn’t be better… except, Laredo’s an actor, not a spaceship pilot. Check out Tim Allen’s posturing from 2:22-26. Because of how close Laredo gets the ship to the starport, Tim is leaning, further and further each time, hoping that his posture will somehow prevent the ship from scraping its sides.
   
   Because you were expecting heroism and instead you got incompetence, that’s pretty funny.
   

   ---

   
   
2. Take something familiar, and use it in an unexpected way.
   
   This is partly along the lines of misdirection. Only this time, you’re playing with expected conventions. Some phrase that is well-known, perhaps. Take a fragment of a nursery rhyme. Or a famous line from a well-known commercial or show. Something people get automatically, that lurks somewhere between the subconscious and the more conscious.
   
   And then, use this familiar phrase, custom, expectation - in an unexpected way.
   
   For example, check out these clips from the tv show Whose Line is it Anyway. In each of these, Colin Mochrie is a newscaster giving a funny news report. Colin first begins with a funny name, using a stock phrase or you’d be familiar with, then turning it into his name. Then, Colin begins with “Our Top Story.” Here he excels at taking stock, common phrases, twisting them in some way (sometimes by one syllable), and making up a news story about it that ends up skewering the familiar. It’s funny because it uses something familiar in a very unfamiliar setting.
   
   Our Top Stories
   

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3. Stay in character.
   
   Each person is different. Each character in a comedy RP is also different. That means, whenever anything happens, from something normal (e.g., the characters go downtown) to something unusual (a terrorist shows up and threatens to blow the characters up), each person reacts differently.
   
   So know your character. What makes them tick? How does your character see the world? Know this, and be true to how your character thinks. That means your character may not be scared at the terrorist threat, or maybe they’ll be peeing in their pants scared. Or maybe they’re related to the terrorist. Comedy can usually ensue when you know your character.
   
   Example: Here is a stand-up comic routine from way back, from Bill Cosby. But, it involves two different characters, and both stay true to who they are. The interaction makes it funny. (Plus, it’s short, so worth a listen). Still funny after so long.
   
   Bill Cosby routine from back in the day
   

   ---

   
   
4. Running Gags
   
   A joke or funny circumstance that repeats, again, and again, and again, is actually not tiresome. Not always. Yes, there are times when someone tries something and it falls flat. To repeat that act is not only tedious, but frustrating to a reader. It’s like, “Just sit down already and take care of (insert tedious attempt at running gag here), and get on with it!”
   
   However, in the right circumstances, a repeating circumstance, inside reference, or turn of a phrase can be an effective running gag. A running gag, by definition, is returned to several times throughout the course of a series. It’s humor in the long-term sense.
   
   The classic example of a running gag is the character Wilson on the tv show, Home Improvement. Each time Wilson the neighbor came on, most of his face was always hidden. As the series went on, the writers came up with more unusual ways for Wilson’s face to be hidden (and not just the fact that he was standing behind the tall-ish fence).
   
   As another example, a little more close to home, in the NS RP The Infinites, each RP began on a Thursday night. Thursday was when the local once-a-week newspaper came out, and so there were stories that related somewhat to the plot that came out. Likewise, Thursday night is when the Minnesota Infinites had their weekly meetings. Over the course of the series and its multiple arcs, it always began the same. With the newspaper, and the Infinites meeting. It had its own structure (including saying the Infinites’ Pledge and ending with snacks). And always, at the end of the meeting, the leader of the Alcoholics’ Anonymous support group that met next door in the town hall had important plot information for the heroes.
   
   Running gags come in all forms, and if done right, the continuity leads to even funnier things.

[Mediama]

I like how at least two of the reporters we have are armed. XD

[Talchyon]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

I will make sure to do a reply and introduce Jean-Marc later tonight! Also, I guess the Daily Carrot has a bit of a gun problem, but what could possibly go wrong?

[Mediama]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

I will make sure to do a reply and introduce Jean-Marc later tonight! Also, I guess the Daily Carrot has a bit of a gun problem, but what could possibly go wrong?

KAOS raids The Daily Carrot office thinking it's CONTROL headquarters after getting the wrong address.

Nothing, nothing at all....

Also, will post a response right now so the OP can react.

[Talchyon]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

I will make sure to do a reply and introduce Jean-Marc later tonight! Also, I guess the Daily Carrot has a bit of a gun problem, but what could possibly go wrong?

Max takes journalistic criticism to a new level...

[Free Ward Marchers]

Name: Dakota Copperfeet
Age: 16
Sex: people don't know, they look androgynous, and Dakota doesn't care what they're called and doesn't tell anyone what sex they were born as
Appearance:

---

Skills you believe will make you qualified for the workplace: Creative, Great artist, highly organized, go with flow type, will take any jobs their given
Previous Employment, N/A if none: N/A
Explain More About Yourself: Dakota was born in upstate New York to two heroine addicts that lived in a tin shed outside of a chinese buffet, they was eventually found and put in the fostor care system where they bounced from home to home. During this time they focused on their school work, peticularly their drawing, and political science classes which they did dilegently and with greart effort. After 13 years of bouncing from home to home they finally had enough and ran away with nothing, but $200 and a suitcase of clothes. Dakota doesn't know how it happened, but they was walking in a snowstorm after being homeless for 2 months and somehow made it to Anywhere City, and they decided to stay for a little bit, at least that was the intention, but everytime they tried to leave something prevented them from doing so ex: bad weather, car accident blocking the main road, got really sick, ect. So Dakota decided to apply for a job at the daily carrot to get some money

Requests for your workspace (optional): Desk, pens, pencils, drawing pad, watercolors, watercolor paper, and preferably a computer (computer optional)
Request for secondary job (optional): Intern ex: getting drinks, and food and stuff for other employee's
Preferred Type of Coverage (optional): Political Cartoonist/ political journalist
Likes and Dislikes (optional): Likes: Vintage things, Denim, Leather, old people, organization, drawing/painting, wine, politics
Dislikes: Suprises, small talk, religion, prudes, millenial trends, the conservative right, shouting, beer
Running Gags (optional):When someone asks them about there gender they deflect the conversation anyway they can, will try to escape Anywhere City sometimes and will always fail
Other notes you feel are important for your employer to know (optional)

[Voxija]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

Glad my character got the heck out of there rather quickly, but she's going to have to come back soon, and then something's going to happen. I don't know what though.

[Talchyon]

Pax, Mediama, Comms and OP - I posted, and mentioned all of you guys.

Glad my character got the heck out of there rather quickly, but she's going to have to come back soon, and then something's going to happen. I don't know what though.

I think it will be a good opportunity to interact. RPs need character interaction. One of the things that is like lifeblood for an RP.

[Pax Nerdvana]

I'll try to get a post up today.

[Main Nation Ministry]

Name: Dakota Copperfeet
Age: 16
Sex: people don't know, they look androgynous, and Dakota doesn't care what they're called and doesn't tell anyone what sex they were born as
Appearance:

(Image)

---

Skills you believe will make you qualified for the workplace: Creative, Great artist, highly organized, go with flow type, will take any jobs their given
Previous Employment, N/A if none: N/A
Explain More About Yourself: Dakota was born in upstate New York to two heroine addicts that lived in a tin shed outside of a chinese buffet, they was eventually found and put in the fostor care system where they bounced from home to home. During this time they focused on their school work, peticularly their drawing, and political science classes which they did dilegently and with greart effort. After 13 years of bouncing from home to home they finally had enough and ran away with nothing, but $200 and a suitcase of clothes. Dakota doesn't know how it happened, but they was walking in a snowstorm after being homeless for 2 months and somehow made it to Anywhere City, and they decided to stay for a little bit, at least that was the intention, but everytime they tried to leave something prevented them from doing so ex: bad weather, car accident blocking the main road, got really sick, ect. So Dakota decided to apply for a job at the daily carrot to get some money

Requests for your workspace (optional): Desk, pens, pencils, drawing pad, watercolors, watercolor paper, and preferably a computer (computer optional)
Request for secondary job (optional): Intern ex: getting drinks, and food and stuff for other employee's
Preferred Type of Coverage (optional): Political Cartoonist/ political journalist
Likes and Dislikes (optional): Likes: Vintage things, Denim, Leather, old people, organization, drawing/painting, wine, politics
Dislikes: Suprises, small talk, religion, prudes, millenial trends, the conservative right, shouting, beer
Running Gags (optional):When someone asks them about there gender they deflect the conversation anyway they can, will try to escape Anywhere City sometimes and will always fail
Other notes you feel are important for your employer to know (optional)

Sorry for not checking your app last time, but here's what I got to say. While the app is interesting, it needs a bit of spit and polish with a bit of some grammar checks. After you're done, you can send the revised app for me to check.

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

[Voxija]

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I would like too, since it would be funny. It would probably be like: Isaacarine goes back to the Daily Carrot offices and then immediately goes to the meal, and then people think Smith and Consommer are pedos grooming Isaacarine. My last clause might not be in good taste.

[Mediama]

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I would like too, since it would be funny. It would probably be like: Isaacarine goes back to the Daily Carrot offices and then immediately goes to the meal, and then people think Smith and Consommer are pedos grooming Isaacarine. My last clause might not be in good taste.

Hey, if another woman is there, it can’t be bad, right?

[Main Nation Ministry]

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I would like too, since it would be funny. It would probably be like: Isaacarine goes back to the Daily Carrot offices and then immediately goes to the meal, and then people think Smith and Consommer are pedos grooming Isaacarine. My last clause might not be in good taste.

The Daily Carrot and it's use of child labor is really something controversial, isn't it.

[Voxija]

I would like too, since it would be funny. It would probably be like: Isaacarine goes back to the Daily Carrot offices and then immediately goes to the meal, and then people think Smith and Consommer are pedos groom ing Isaacarine. My last clause might not be in good taste.

The Daily Carrot and it's use of child labor is really something controversial, isn't it.

I see it as more like an open secret no one really wants to admit, but hey, you're the OP.

[Talchyon]

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

DeMarcus would come.

[Free Ward Marchers]

Name: Dakota Copperfeet
Age: 16
Sex: people don't know, they look androgynous, and Dakota doesn't care what they're called and doesn't tell anyone what sex they were born as
Appearance:

(Image)

---

Skills you believe will make you qualified for the workplace: Creative, Great artist, highly organized, go with flow type, will take any jobs their given
Previous Employment, N/A if none: N/A
Explain More About Yourself: Dakota was born in upstate New York to two heroin addicts that lived in a tin shed outside of a chinese buffet, they was eventually found and put in the foster care system where they bounced from home to home. During this time they focused on their school work, peticularly their drawing, and political science classes which they did dilegently and with great effort. After 13 years of bouncing from home to home they finally had enough and ran away with nothing, but $200 and a suitcase of clothes. Dakota doesn't know how it happened, but they was walking in a snowstorm after being homeless for 2 months and somehow made it to Anywhere City, and they decided to stay for a little bit, at least that was the intention, but everytime they tried to leave something prevented them from doing so ex: bad weather, car accident blocking the main road, got really sick, ect. So Dakota decided to apply for a job at the daily carrot to get some money

Requests for your workspace (optional): Desk, pens, pencils, drawing pad, watercolors, watercolor paper, and preferably a computer (computer optional)
Request for secondary job (optional): Intern ex: getting drinks, and food and stuff for other employee's
Preferred Type of Coverage (optional): Political Cartoonist/ political journalist
Likes and Dislikes (optional): Likes: Vintage things, Denim, Leather, old people, organization, drawing/painting, wine, politics
Dislikes: Suprises, small talk, religion, prudes, millenial trends, the conservative right, shouting, beer
Running Gags (optional):When someone asks them about there gender they deflect the conversation anyway they can, will try to escape Anywhere City sometimes and will always fail
Other notes you feel are important for your employer to know (optional)

Sorry for not checking your app last time, but here's what I got to say. While the app is interesting, it needs a bit of spit and polish with a bit of some grammar checks. After you're done, you can send the revised app for me to check.

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I fixed the grammer and highlighted them in red sorry it took so long to respond

[Main Nation Ministry]

Sorry for not checking your app last time, but here's what I got to say. While the app is interesting, it needs a bit of spit and polish with a bit of some grammar checks. After you're done, you can send the revised app for me to check.

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I fixed the grammer and highlighted them in red sorry it took so long to respond

Heroin is still heroine?

[Free Ward Marchers]

I fixed the grammer and highlighted them in red sorry it took so long to respond

Heroin is still heroine?

my bad i fixed it

[Mediama]

Not sure if I should have Carol not know how to use MS paint to go with the running gag of her being essentially a 60’s girl. XD

[Main Nation Ministry]

Sorry for not checking your app last time, but here's what I got to say. While the app is interesting, it needs a bit of spit and polish with a bit of some grammar checks. After you're done, you can send the revised app for me to check.

Also, would anyone want to dine with Jean-Marc in a possibly disastrous meal with the editor in-chief? (since Smith isn't aware of Jean-Marc's restaurant antics, he's going to go in blind).

I fixed the grammer and highlighted them in red sorry it took so long to respond

Alright. Looks good. Though, I still recommend you take your time on posts.

Overall, ACCEPTED

[Free Ward Marchers]

Not sure if I should have Carol not know how to use MS paint to go with the running gag of her being essentially a 60’s girl. XD

i would love a scene where Dakota was getting coffee's or something and see's carol struggling to use ms paint, and has to teach her how

[Talchyon]

Not sure if I should have Carol not know how to use MS paint to go with the running gag of her being essentially a 60’s girl. XD

I think you should. If DeMarcus ever finds out, he'd be like, "What's wrong with you, girl?"