All of a sudden, I know something
Podcast: The One Minute How-To
Date: November 1, 2007
Title: Episode 193
Download the show: How To Write A Funny Song
I contend that nobody knows nothin’ about nothin’, which is why we’re in such a mess. I’m just sayin’.
But George Smyth over at the The One Minute How-To finds experts everywhere, and lines ‘em up all week long to explain, in 60 seconds, how you can do what they say they know how to do.
Normally, I don’t like to give away any secrets. But at George’s request, and because there’s no way he was going to feature my profane melodies on his mellow music podcast, Eclectic Mix, I agreed to speak to the folks about my favorite subject, How To Write A Funny Song (Show 193).
How to: remove your bra
George displays a natural curiosity, which helps convince his guests that they have something interesting to say, and has produced an intriguing range of topics. Interview included, shows generally run three or four minutes.
Some of the most popular subjects, George said, have been How To Pick A Lock (Show 76, Will Ross) and How To Remove Your Bra Without Taking Off Your Shirt (Show 52, Laura Ross). (Are the Rosses related? Both their topics are suspiciously clandestine.)
For you podcasters keeping score, George said the site averages about 1700 downloads per day, with each new show logging up to 2500 downloads in its first couple of weeks.
The show’s a winner
The One Minute How-To was named Best Short Podcast in the Fall 2006 Podcast Peer Awards competition, and was a finalist in the same category this summer.
Check out the complete list of One-Minute How-To topics. You might learn something!
Meanwhile, here’s what I told George:
How to write a funny song
First thing: What makes you laugh?
Watching other people fail? Celebrities getting torn to shreds in the media? Or that funny thing your kid said before she spit up?
You decide what’s funny. When inspiration strikes, don’t wait! Write it down.
Pick a subject: love, work, fear of death, bodily functions. These themes are familiar to other people, and you’re just like other people. Only funnier. Ask, “What if? What if I still had hair? I bet people would like me.”
Collect your notes. Think deeply about your subject.
Then write. Just let it flow. Free your mind. Don’t censor yourself.
Write the way you talk. People speak in melodic rhythm.
Break your topic down into three or four points and make each one a verse. Boil it down to one point and make that the chorus.
Build to a conclusion. Sum it up:
“My wife drives me crazy/But doggone it, I love her!”
Hum while you write and a melody will come to you.
Or borrow a melody. Lots of people do it. I make my own, but that’s just me. I’m a craftsman. You do what you want.
Try your song out on people. If they don’t like it, they’re just jealous.
Going out on the town but short on scratch? Get a cash advance!
Posted in: at 1:06 am Sat, Nov 3, 2007.
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