Editing for comedy is a very specialized skill. One wrong shot – too wide, too close, whatever – can ruin the laugh. Here’s an excellent primer for new comedy writers, directors, producers, and editors. Read on and avoid all-too-easy to make beginner mistakes:
by Noam Kroll
No matter what genre they’re working in, an editor’s job is undoubtably a difficult one. That said, editing comedycomes with its own set of principles and challenges that can often make it that much harder to tackle. Unlike many other genres that have a lot of leeway in terms of pacing and timing, comedic edits need to be extremely tight and specific in order to land well with an audience.
For those of you out there cutting comedy, whether it’s in a commercial or feature-film format — these tips on how to edit comedy scenes are for you!