Shubham Singh and Dhruv Bisht aka Funyaasi, talk to us about the important aspects of comedy writing

We had an insightful conversation with creator duo, Funyaasi where they shared some valuable tips for anyone who wants to get better with comedy writing.

It hurts when you come up with a cool idea for a comedy skit but suddenly find yourself stucked in formidable adversaries, hindering the creative process and stifling the flow of humor. When you look up on the internet and see everybody else doing it better than you, it must have make you wonder, how do these creators come up with such ideas and what goes behind planning those hilarious videos? Being a writer comes with having a need to be exceptional observational skills and boundless creativity. Does it require something more than that? Shubham Singh and Dhruv Bisht aka Funyaasi on Instagram are popularly known for their short comedic skits inspired from Indian TV serials. They have a series of videos that are nothing but a result of carefully crafted stories that require one to have a plan when writing them. Over time, these creators have understood the needs of the communities and have evolved their content and techniques. For someone who is just starting with comedy writing, Shubham and Dhruv have shared some valuable tips for them and we hope it helps you make the best out of your ideas.

Also Read: Through his Reels, Saurabh Ghadge makes us feel like we’re following multiple different creators

This duo had some valuable insights to share that could be useful for upcoming comedy creators

Finding strategies to come up with new comedy material

We think comedy is everywhere around you, what we try to do is observational comedy. So whatever is around us basically helps us in generating ideas. We try to observe as much as possible, maybe a funny situation or a character, maybe even a funny character from a show. Suppose you find a really interesting character, you can jot down the points that makes that character relatable and then try to add to it and improvise. It doesn’t have to be a fictional character, it can even be your neighbour aunty who you just find amusing.

Approaching writing and scripting online comedy content

We feel that whenever you’re finding or writing a script for your content it should be relatable so your target audience can be entertained. We feel that with the introduction of Reels and similar platforms, people’s attention span has reduced. So the first 10 seconds of your content should be very attention grabbing and interesting to keep them around for the rest of the video.

Shubham and Dhruv of Funyaasi

Maintaining balance between art and viral content

If you want to dabble with a different kind of audience you should not change your style that is unique to you. For example, if you usually make scripted videos but are trying to get the audience interested in the “rant” style of videos then don’t just abandon your way to do it. Try and include elements of the “rant style” into your scripts. That way you can attract that new audience base whilst still entertaining your loyal audience and it can the best of both worlds for them.

Also if you want to expand your genre and attract an audience usually interested in 'lifestyle', you can still incorporate those lifestyle elements into your niche which is comedy. For example, you can share "10 ways to travel abroad" in your own funny way. If not that, then you can maybe wear really fashionable clothes in your videos.

Influence of online community on content

We feel that the community really influences the creators. We really go through our comment section a lot just to see the feedback we are receiving and if we find something that is really funny or maybe constructive criticism we try to incorporate those in our next video. With the internet and social media in today’s day and age, new trends are coming up every day and we feel like, as content creators, it is necessary for us to be aware and subtly put those elements in our content so that our audience could be surprised by it. So yes, in that sense it does affect our comedy style, scripting and everything.

Handling writer's block or creative slumps

It’s actually really natural to get a creative block in this field. To deal with that we recommend maybe taking a small break. Relax a little and take care of your mental health rather than trying to be consistent where you might end up churning average content. A lot of creators do this, take a week long break and then come back to create amazing content. During that break try to consume some good content that you think can get your creative juices flowing, maybe watch a movie that you like.

In our case specifically we like to watch comedy movies that can inspire a few ideas for our scripts. We try to casually gain some knowledge that might inspire an idea our next video. If you are feeling particularly adventurous try and put out something completely different from your genre that you think your audience might enjoy.

Shubham and Dhruv of Funyaasi

Taking risks and addressing sensitive subjects

In today’s time we feel it’s important to know where to draw the line when posting online because you don’t know what people might find offensive. You should try to put yourself in the audience’s shoes and if you feel there is something you might find offensive or make you uncomfortable then you have to rectify that part. As creators we have a community of people that follow us, so we have to be responsible and mindful about what we put out.

Having said that, the world is a really cruel place, the internet especially so we have to be very careful of whatever it is that we put out and especially if you’re doing comedy. You need to have all the knowledge about the subject you're tackling, even comedy. At the end of the day, comedy is a serious business.

Finding strategies to adapt your material for different online formats

Well, there isn’t any particular strategy so to speak when it comes to navigating different platforms. You just need to be in harmony with your audience and have a clear picture of your target audience to figure out what works best for you. You should have basic knowledge of all the social media platforms and the newly emerging ones as well like, Threads. It’s new, people are still navigating their way through it and we’ve found that short and crisp textual content works best for it. Same way Reels or any short video format works best for Instagram and lengthy videos are best suited for YouTube, use the USPs of these various platforms and turn them into your strength.

As a content creator, what kind of content are you keen on creating? Let us know in the comments below.

For more creator-related content follow us at @socialketchup