Comedy wise, 1st pov or 3rd pov?

[zelotwo02]

What do you think is better when writing comedy? 1st pov or 3rd pov?

 

[Ai-chan]

Depends on what kind of comedy you're writing. If the comedy is monologue, 1st would probably be the best. If it's a manzai, 3rd would probably work best.

If the comedy is satire, 2nd is probably better.


1st person: Shit! How could I have just pooped! Damn you, asshole!

2nd person: So you were talking to the cute maid at the cafe, and then suddenly it hits you. And you told her, "Sorry, I just pooped."

3rd person:
Person A: I was busy laying down the cards, talking about some amazing thing I did, when suddenly...
Person B: What happened?
Person A: I said, "Sorry, I just pooped."
Person B: [smacks Person A's head] That's not something you tell people, moron!

 

[CubicleHermit]

If the comedy is satire, 2nd is probably better.

Wondering why that's good for satire?

I'm used to seeing 2nd mainly for Choose-your-own-adventure type stuff.

One thing that I've seen work really well for satire is 3rd-person where there's a snarky/sarcastic narrative voice, rather than the traditional "tight third." See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LemonyNarrator for examples, although an awful lot of older works with an omniscient or at least somewhat prescient narrator would come across that way today.

 

[Ai-chan]

Wondering why that's good for satire?

I'm used to seeing 2nd mainly for Choose-your-own-adventure type stuff.

One thing that I've seen work really well for satire is 3rd-person where there's a snarky/sarcastic narrative voice, rather than the traditional "tight third." See https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/LemonyNarrator for examples, although an awful lot of older works with an omniscient or at least somewhat prescient narrator would come across that way today.

Because second person puts the reader on the place of the person being made fun of. So the readers feel invested in it. Below is the same sentences written in two different pov. Of course, it depends on how you write the comedy, but Ai-chan believes that satire should be something that hits the readers, making them engaged.

2nd person:
So you were walking around, minding your own business, when suddenly a bear came out of Wall Street. You were shocked but composed yourself as you ran out like a dude being chased by a crazed bear right out of Wall Street. Moral values? Don't walk on Wall Street. They never put a signboard about all the zoo animals they kept there.

3rd person:
He was walking around, minding his own business, when suddenly a bear came out of Wall Street. He was shocked, but composed himself as he ran out like a dude being chased by a crazed bear right out of Wall Street. The moral value of this story is, don't walk on Wall Street. There is never a signboard about all the zoo animals present there.

Yeah, probably not the best example, but Ai-chan can't think of anything else right now.

 

[RepresentingCaution]

If you can master a combination of 2nd person and 1st person like Soramimi Hanarejima, that's the best:

Amazon.com