Comedy Masterclass

What’s up? How’s it going? Danielle here, with a quick autumn update. My new 52-day challenge! Will I make it? Plus, quick-fire comedy awesomeness. What have you been loving? Tell me all the things…

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Hey everybody, Danielle here. 

I set out to interview 52 guests about the craft of writing narrative comedy. Oh my goodness, what an adventure and education.

And now I’m at challenge complete.

For me, these episodes have become a treasure chest of tools and approaches that I get to apply to my own work. And It’s been a delight to hear from other writers around the world who have found them helpful.

You’re always welcome to find me ...

Danielle Krage interviews Becky Holmes, author of 'Keanu Reeves is Not in Love with You'. Becky is also the creator of and voice behind the massively popular Twitter/X account @deathtospinach. Here she shares insights into how and why she uses humour to expose online fraudsters. Plus, what has helped her publish and promote her book.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

02:19 The Concept and Execution of 'Keanu Reeves is no...

Danielle Krage interviews Heidi Vanderlee, founder of Positive Jam – a public relations firm specialising in comedy, podcasting, film, live entertainment, and social justice. Heidi has worked in entertainment and PR for more than a decade; in this conversation, she shares insights that will benefit comedy writers and creators.

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Heidi Van Der Lee and Positive Jam

03:00 The Importance of Relationship Bu...

Danielle Krage interviews Kate Willett. Kate is a comedian, actress and writer who has appeared on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert and Netflix’s Comedy Lineup. 

Kate has also toured with Margaret Cho, featured with comedians like Maria Bamford, and has written jokes for Beavis and Butthead.

In this conversation, Kate shares insights from making her recent comedy special, Loopholes, and her Audible Original, Dirtbag Anthropology...

In this episode, Danielle celebrates completing 52 episodes of Comedy Masterclass and is joined by her husband, Jeremiah, as a surprise guest host. They discuss the motivation behind creating the podcast and Danielle’s own thoughts and approaches to comedy.

Note from Danielle: There are 3 more fabulous guests in this season, so listen out. :)

Chapters:

00:00 The Motivation Behind Comedy Masterclass

06:10 Exploring Different Comedy ...

Danielle Krage interviews Kay Stonham. Kay is a comedy writer-performer who has worked extensively across TV, film, theatre and radio. For example, she has written 10 original series for Radio 4, including Robin and Wendy’s Wet Weekend, and Bad Salsa.

She’s also the Co-Founder of Female Pilot Club , which was founded to amplify women’s voices and give women writers the chance to prove their jokes and characters in the room – as see...

Danielle Krage interviews Alana Schramm. Alana is a coach who works with the subconscious, the nervous system and emotions, in a way that is really practical, playful, and relevant to creativity. This conversation is a frank and fun dive into what blocks us and what motivates us effectively.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Alana Schramm and her work

01:27 Negative emotions and creativity

06:20 Embracing imperfection in writing

10:...

Danielle Krage interviews Neil Martin, Honorary Professor of Psychology at Regent's University London. Neil is the author of The Psychology of Comedy, and in this conversation he introduces and dissects some of the key research and theories in the field of laughter, humour and comedy.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Neil's Background in Comedy

03:24 The Neglect of Comedy in Psychological Research

06:44 Gallows Humour as a Coping ...

Danielle Krage interviews writer Lana Schwartz, whose interactive book ‘Build Your Own Romantic Comedy: Pick Your Plot, Meet Your Man and Direct Your Happily Ever After’ was named one of Vulture’s Best Comedy Books of the Year.

Lana has also written for The New Yorker, and is a contributor to The Onion. In this interview she shares her obsession for romcoms and the craft of comedy.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

08:57 F...

Danielle Krage interviews Suchandrika Chakrabarti and Nerine Skinner.

Suchandrika is a stand-up, who runs the monthly night Good News / Bad News in north London and writes for BBC One's Have I Got News For You. She is taking her second solo show Doomscrolling to Edinburgh Fringe this summer.

Nerine is an actress, comedian, improviser and deviser whose parodies of Liz Truss have gone viral. She was a finalist in the Funny Women Awar...

Danielle Krage interviews writer, creator, and brand builder John Derevlany. John is an award-winning writer, animator, and showrunner who has written or produced hundreds of hours of TV (including for the Jim Henson Company and LEGO). John has also been a game designer, street artist, investigative journalist and played Crackers the Corporate Crime Fighting Chicken for Michael Moore’s TV Nation!

In this episode John shares learnin...

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...

Danielle Krage interviews Caleb Warren, Associate Professor of Marketing at the University of Arizona. Caleb researches and writes about what makes things funny, what makes things cool, and what helps people reach their goals. In this conversation, Caleb shares some of his key findings about humour and how it works.

00:00 Introduction to Consumer Psychology and Humour

01:20 How Caleb Got into the Study of Humour

04:01 Physical ...

Danielle Krage interviews Dr Eric Maisel. Eric is the author of more than 50 books - many focused on creativity and the creative life - including Fearless Creating, Deep Writing, The Power of Daily Practice and The Magic of Sleep Thinking. He also writes the ‘Rethinking Mental Health’ blog for Psychology Today and is a regular contributor to Mad in America.

In this conversation, Eric shares insights and practical strategies for w...

Danielle Krage interviews Joanna Penn. Joanna is an award-nominated New York Times and USA Today bestselling author with more than 40 books across multiple genres – non-fiction and fiction (under J.F.Penn). Joanna is also a podcaster, international speaker, and award-winning creative entrepreneur. This conversation dives into Joanna’s recent book, ‘Writing the Shadow: Turn Your Inner Darkness into Words’.

Chapters

00:00 Introductio...

Danielle Krage interviews Rosie Wilby. Rosie is an award-winning comedian and creator of the global hit podcast and book The Breakup Monologues. She is also the author of ‘Is Monogamy Dead?’ and toured a trilogy of solo shows investigating the psychology of love. In this interview, Rosie shares insights for how we can use humour to unpack challenging questions.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

01:04 Using Humour to Expl...

Danielle Krage interviews novelist Ruth Leigh. They focus on her delightful Isabella M Smugge series, and what it takes to create a comic character that you can develop and sustain across multiple books. Ruth is also the author of the Jane Austen-inspired book A Great Deal of Ingenuity, and The Little Book of Unexpected Poetry.

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Background

01:57 Origin Story of Isabella M. Smugge

06:48 Creating a Fu...