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POOR YORICK
“I Also Write Serious” — Why Are Comedy Writers So Serious?
Or are they just joking?
I used to know a comedy writer who worked for the BBC in the 1990s. I didn’t know him well, but well enough to drink with. We had a few good nights out together during 1995 when I briefly lived in London, and it always struck me how utterly serious he was.
I thought comedy writers would be cracking jokes all over the place, having bar staff in stitches from dawn to dust. On the contrary, it was like going out with my dad: incredibly reserved and humble. Almost to the point of shy.
I don’t know why I assumed this. He was a comedy writer, not a stand-up. Yes, he wrote for stand-ups, but he wasn’t one himself, and had no talent for performance. In fact, he hated performing full stop. And dreaded the meetings and writing sessions he had to attend. Preferring instead to sit in his bedsit, writing on his own.
That was where I met him. In the corridor of our cramped block in Crouch End. He had locked himself out, so I said he could wait at mine until the landlord came with a spare key. We waited a while, then went to the pub that was conveniently located next door, until Mr. Sheen came with a key.
