Reply To: Timing

[Linda Perret]

Djohn, stage directions can be tricky. A lot of comedians don’t want to be told how to deliver a line and most likely we shouldn’t be telling them. Any performer who buys material will make that material their own, and should make that material their own. I would recommend keeping stage directions in monologue writing to a minimum. If the direction is needed for the punch of the joke, then you may want to include it but otherwise, let the comedian tell the joke the way he or she envisions it. Scripts and screenplays are a completely different matter, though.