Ken Pisani (Writing Comic Novels)

Comedy Masterclass

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 an Outline

08:06 Balancing Comedy and Drama

09:00 Reversing Expectations

11:20 Writing Situational and Visual Comedy

12:09 Emotional Impact of the Novel

13:30 Finding the Balance of Comedy and Drama

19:02 Creating Beleaguered Characters

20:08 The Play and Game of Comedy

21:41 Publishing and Marketing Challenges

22:03 The Challenges of Funny Novels

25:02 Dealing with Failure and Persistence

29:01 The Appeal of Muppets

33:20 The Humour in Comic Books

38:18 Recommendations

You can find out more about Ken’s work here:

https://www.kenpisani.com

https://twitter.com/kpsmartypants

You can find the transcript at:

https://comedymasterclass.com

And Danielle’s socials here:

https://twitter.com/daniellekrage

https://www.instagram.com/dekrage

https://bsky.app/profile/daniellekrage.bsky.social