The Little Book of Sitcom

BUY THIS BOOK! BUY THIS BOOK! BUY THIS BOOK!No. The world will not explode if you don't buy this book. But if you are aspiring to write for sitcom, your future career might implode if you don't buy this book!This is truly an amazing little book for the would-be sitcom writer. And when I state "amazing", I mean nothing less than "amazing". Amazing, because the author has a way of quickly throwing a ton of great information at you, yet, you don't feel as if you are suffering from lack of retention, information overload, and brain fatigue. In fact, reading this book is much like watching a sitcom, in that the entertainment is easy on the brain (as opposed to watching, say, Schindler's List), yet, you are completely engaged the whole time, picking up more and more information about the story and the characters as you watch, and in the end, you walk away satisfied with completed a story, some laughs, and a lesson learned.Amazing, because as many sitcoms as you have watched, and as many tries you may have taken at writing your own sitcom, chances are, you never knew all the common little tricks of the trade that are present in most, if not all of them. And when the author points them out to you, you feel as if you just had a significant religious experience – a revelation. And as you progress through his book, this religious experience happens again, and again, and again, and… (I felt a bit stupid, as in, *facepalm* “How could I have not noticed that before!”)Amazing, because the author cuts away all the fat and filler found in many books, and just gives you what you NEED to know. He doesn’t go into discussing how television came to be, starting from pre-history to the present. Nor does the author bring his childhood, his dog’s childhood, and his dog’s flea’s childhoods into the pages. Hence – 114 pages of raw, yet easily digestible information that rocks your aspiring writer’s world by way of practical information, which gets you on the path to writing professional sitcom scripts from the first few pages.I even tested out the author’s structure for a sitcom episode. I chose an episode of “Family Guy” at random and watched it with the book opened to the page of the structure for a sitcom episode, and compared the two. My mind nearly exploded all over the walls when I saw that the author was correct. I knew, without a doubt at that point, that the book was as good as I hoped it was based on my reading up to that point.Seriously, if you want to write for sitcom, buy the book. You will not regret it.

Reading THE LITTLE BOOK OF SITCOM feels like you've somehow appeared in a sitcom writers' room, John spotted you, and took you aside to give you a quick crash course in how to do the job.My day-job is highly specialized and extremely technical, but I could teach just about anyone to do it in a month or two -- it's about knowing which buttons to push and when, which buttons to steer clear of, and managing your time so the demanding schedule of tasks flows most effectively.This is how Mr. Vorhaus treats the reader. He knows this job inside and out, knows how we can most effectively prioritize the many technical tasks required to do the job, and encourages and inspires us! Not only is he confident we can do the job, but he's sure we'll become great at it!I can't emphasize enough how helpful John Vorhaus' approach to instruction is! Most books about writing (any medium, in any genre) come from a theoretical point of view -- the authors watched some good movies, deconstructed what works, and are happy to tell you their observations. (Which is usually most illuminating!) But Vorhaus comes from the trenches. "You've got no ideas for a sitcom story? Here's how you get some, and then here's how you flesh them out and take them all the way to finished scripts." Where other how-to books give you principals and rules, the little book of SITCOM gives you tools and exercises! (FUN exercises! The kind you can't wait to actually DO!)I have loaned-out and worn-out several copies of Vorhaus'  The Comic Toolbox: How to Be Funny Even If You're Not  over the years because there is just not a better book on writing Comedy anywhere! But as brilliant and helpful as the TOOLBOX is, I was looking for more specific information about the actual JOB (the mechanics, the grind, the getting-it-done-when-you-don't-necessarily-feel-inspired-to) of writing series Comedy. That's how I found this book, and I am so very glad I did!I have heard a truism about most creative professions: "First you go to college to learn about your craft, then you get a job and ACTUALLY learn your craft." John Vorhaus is actually teaching us our craft!And he keeps it fun! Vorhaus is obviously still enjoying being a Comedy writer, and he reminds us often that it can be and should be FUN.To recap:1. This book gives us tools to pull great sitcom stories out of thin air, even when we've got nuthin' to start with.2. This book makes writing fun.

…it’s got great insight. On the other hand it feels like one of those “subscribe with your email and receive my free book” books. You know the kind, where there a lot of repetitive fluff in between the good information:“…and you just need to put your butt in the chair and write. Sure, you could be kite flying, canoeing, making s’mores or polishing your tennis shoes, but your butt needs to be in the chair writing. Not playing hopscotch or flossing your cat’s teeth or even testing the fluoride level in your drinking water. Butt meet chair. Now sit in the chair and write. No need to peel apples for an apple pie. Or soak your hands in Palmolive. Or repainting your mailbox. The only way to write is to sit in the chair and write…”You know, that sort of thing. And it runs on and on and on throughout the book.

I recently purchased this, among other books, while working on developing a sitcom from scratch. I've read John's works before and found him one of the most down to Earth writers and brilliant and demystifying the processes of creativity.This book is deceptively short, but there is a wealth of knowledge and advice in here in condensed form. I thoroughly recommend it as it has helped me immeasurably.I've read it once and intend to read it at least two more times back to front to fully digest it.

John Vorhaus est unique et son travail inestimable !Ce livre est clair, simple et efficace sur le plan créatif, je ne peux que le recommander !Je suis tellement fan, que je l'ai dans toutes ses versions (numérique, papier et audio !)Si vous écrivez, quel que soit votre genre, lisez-le !!!!

John Vorhaus ist für mich Gottvater wenn es um Bücher zum Thema humorvolles Schreiben geht! Allein dafür also schon die fünf Sterne.Wer jedoch noch nicht Vorhaus' Standardwerk "The Comic Toolbox" gelesen hat, sollte unbedingt damit starten. Dieses kleine Büchlein übers Sitcom-schreiben ist in vielen Teilen eine Zusammenfassung der Comic Toolbox, nur dass der Schwerpunkt eben auf Sitcom liegt. Ein paar kleine Kapitel gibt es, die ganz speziell auf das Thema Sitcom eingehen, aber so viel ist es nicht.Außerdem gibt es weniger praktische Übungen in dem Buch als in der Comic Toolbox, das mag man beim Lesen vielleicht erstmal gut finden, aber es hilft einem beim Schreiben weniger weiter.Wer "The Little Book of Sitcom" nur lesen möchte, der wird es in einer Stunde durch haben, Vorhaus schreibt sehr klares, einfach zu verstehendes Englisch und umfangreich ist das Buch mit 114 Seiten und großer Schrift nicht gerade.Wer schon viel über das Schreiben für Comedy-Formate weiß und speziell etwas zum Thema "Sitcom" sucht, kann hier getrost zugreifen, Vorhaus ist es immer wert, gelesen zu werden. Wer jedoch einen ersten Zugang zum humorvollen Schreiben sucht, sollte unbedingt mit dem Klassiker "The Comic Toolbox" beginnen.

Unlike so many other books on writing scripts, Vorhaus doesn't waste your time with blah blah, but gives you just lean and clean techniques on how to write sitcoms. A quick, funny, highly enjoyable and recommendable read. If after reading his book and following his advice and writing techniques, you still can't come up with your own script for a sitcom, consider looking for another career option.

What a superb little book (small but not inadequate!)Real easy read, great advice, well written & witty.I’ve used some of the ‘techniques’ and they really work.The kind of book you’ll read multiple times during your writing process.Great stuff!! 😄