Laugh Tracks: What Comedy Can Teach Us About Writing
Sometime during the last few years, I’ve become obsessed with comedy. Maybe it’s the aftermath of the pandemic, or aging, or having kids that are leaving the nest, or just a way of processing the world—but I’ve come to crave shows, essays, podcasts and movies that make me laugh. Shows like Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Mike Birbiglia’s The Old Man and the Pool and Nick Kroll’s Little Big Boy. All of these have made me laugh. But, when I take a step back and look at common threads among types of comedy I most enjoy, I notice a trend. I’m not only laughing, I’m also sometimes crying.
