Where Danielle Krage interviews creators about the craft of writing comedy.
Danielle Krage interviews Alana Schramm. Alana is a coach who works with the subconscious, the nervous system and emotions, in a way that is really practical, playful, and relevant to creativity. This conversation is a frank and fun dive into what blocks us and what motivates us effectively.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction to Alana Schramm and her work
01:27 Negative emotions and creativity
06:20 Embracing imperfection in writing
10:...
Danielle Krage interviews Neil Martin, Honorary Professor of Psychology at Regent's University London. Neil is the author of The Psychology of Comedy, and in this conversation he introduces and dissects some of the key research and theories in the field of laughter, humour and comedy.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Neil's Background in Comedy
03:24 The Neglect of Comedy in Psychological Research
06:44 Gallows Humour as a Coping ...
Danielle Krage interviews writer Lana Schwartz, whose interactive book ‘Build Your Own Romantic Comedy: Pick Your Plot, Meet Your Man and Direct Your Happily Ever After’ was named one of Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of the Year.
Lana has also written for The New Yorker, and is a contributor to The Onion. In this interview she shares her obsession for romcoms and the craft of comedy.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
08:57 F...
Danielle Krage interviews Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Nerine Skinner.
Suchandrika is a stand-up, who runs the monthly night Good News / Bad News in north London and writes for BBC One's Have I Got News For You. She is taking her second solo show Doomscrolling to Edinburgh Fringe this summer.
Nerine is an actress, comedian, improviser and deviser whose parodies of Liz Truss have gone viral. She was a finalist in the Funny Women Awar...
Danielle Krage interviews writer, creator, and brand builder John Derevlany. John is an award-winning writer, animator, and showrunner who has written or produced hundreds of hours of TV (including for the Jim Henson Company and LEGO). John has also been a game designer, street artist, investigative journalist and played Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken for Michael Moore’s TV Nation!
In this episode John shares learnin...
Danielle Krage interviews Ken Pisani. Ken is a screenwriter, TV writer and producer, playwright, comic book author, former cartoonist, and novelist. His novel, AMP’D, was a Thurber prize finalist, and in this episode he takes us behind the scenes of creating this comic work.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:18 The Concept of AMP’D
05:01 Choosing the Novel Format
06:09 Challenges of Writing Prose
07:36 Writing Without...
Danielle Krage interviews Caleb Warren, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona. Caleb researches and writes about what makes things funny, what makes things cool, and what helps people reach their goals. In this conversation, Caleb shares some of his key findings about humour and how it works.
00:00 Introduction to Consumer Psychology and Humour
01:20 How Caleb Got into the Study of Humour
04:01 Physical ...
Danielle Krage interviews Dr Eric Maisel. Eric is the author of more than 50 books - many focused on creativity and the creative life - including Fearless Creating, Deep Writing, The Power of Daily Practice and The Magic of Sleep Thinking. He also writes the ‘Rethinking Mental Health’ blog for Psychology Today and is a regular contributor to Mad in America.
In this conversation, Eric shares insights and practical strategies for w...
Danielle Krage interviews Joanna Penn. Joanna is an award-nominated New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than 40 books across multiple genres – non-fiction and fiction (under J.F.Penn). Joanna is also a podcaster, international speaker, and award-winning creative entrepreneur. This conversation dives into Joanna’s recent book, ‘Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness into Words’.
Chapters
00:00 Introductio...
Danielle Krage interviews Rosie Wilby. Rosie is an award-winning comedian and creator of the global hit podcast and book The Breakup Monologues. She is also the author of ‘Is Monogamy Dead?’ and toured a trilogy of solo shows investigating the psychology of love. In this interview, Rosie shares insights for how we can use humour to unpack challenging questions.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:04 Using Humour to Expl...
Danielle Krage interviews novelist Ruth Leigh. They focus on her delightful Isabella M Smugge series, and what it takes to create a comic character that you can develop and sustain across multiple books. Ruth is also the author of the Jane Austen-inspired book A Great Deal of Ingenuity, and The Little Book of Unexpected Poetry.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
01:57 Origin Story of Isabella M. Smugge
06:48 Creating a Fu...
Hey lovely listeners. That's the end of Season 5. I'll be back on March 6th with more fabulous Comedy Masterclass guests.
Danielle Krage interviews Scott Dikkers, founder of the renowned humour site, The Onion. Scott is a New York Times and Amazon best-selling humour author. He has won a Peabody Award, the Thurber Prize for American Humor and over 30 Webby awards. Plus, he has consulted for top entertainment companies like NBC, Comedy Central, and Pixar.
Scott’s How to Write Funny series is packed with helpful insights and frameworks for getting humou...
In this episode, Danielle shares the writing advice of Ray Bradbury, a writer who has influenced her own writing process. She introduces Bradbury and his book 'Zen and the Art of Writing', highlighting his practical and joyful approach to writing. Danielle discusses two main practices recommended by Bradbury: the 52 Short Story Challenge and the Thousand Nights Challenge. She shares her own experiences with these challenges and off...
Julia McKenzie is the Commissioning Editor for Comedy and Entertainment at Radio 4, and prior to that was Creative Director of BBC Studios Audio for 7 years, specialising in comedy and entertainment production.
In this conversation, Julia provides helpful insights for comedy writers who want to understand the audio landscape and find ways to get their work produced.
00:00 Introduction and Background
02:06 Starting in Audio and Come...
Danielle Krage interviews Lynne Parker, Founder and Chief Executive of Funny Women. She created the organisation over 20 years ago now and has made such a contribution to the comedy community, including producing the Funny Women Awards. In this conversation, Lynne shares invaluable advice for women building their careers and networks in comedy.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Background
03:10 The Creation of Funny Women
09:45 Th...
Danielle Krage interviews author Fran Hill about ways to develop your observational humour skills as a writer. Fran is a former English teacher, and had a monthly satirical column about education in the Times Educational Supplement. She further shared her experiences in diary form in her memoir ‘Miss, What Does Incomprehensible Mean?' And she published her novel, ‘Cuckoo in the Nest’ in 2023.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Bac...
Danielle Krage interviews Billy Mernit - screenwriter, novelist and author of Writing The Romantic Comedy: The Art of Crafting Funny Love Stories for the Screen. Billy has served as a story analyst and script consultant at Universal Pictures, an instructor for the UCLA Extension Writers' Program, and has published some 20 romance novels under a female pen name. In this conversation, he shares really practical ways of approaching wr...
Back January 10th 2024 with more Comedy Masterclass guests.
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations.
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Every week comedian and infamous roaster Nikki Glaser provides a fun, fast-paced, and brutally honest look into current pop-culture and her own personal life.
Shootings are not unusual in Belize. Shootings of cops are. When a wealthy woman – part of one of the most powerful families in Belize – is found on a pier late at night, next to a body, it becomes the country’s biggest news story in a generation. New episodes every Monday!
A straightforward look at the day's top news in 20 minutes. Powered by ABC News. Hosted by Brad Mielke.