A World War II veteran processes the devastation he witnesses from the confines of an intergalactic zoo. When an estranged parent and child meet at a packed family reunion, a little girl murmurs, "How are you?"
From behind a dirty curtain
After the death of his best friend, a lonely king travels to the end of the world in search of answers and... runs into a bar. It may seem counterintuitive, but comedy is often the key to a serious story.
As a writer, you need to make your audience experience a range of emotions, regardless of your genre. Whether you want to evoke fear, sadness, or excitement, when people experience an emotion for too long, they become desensitized to it.
Comic relief is a tried-and-true method of creating the varied emotional texture a compelling story needs. So how can you create this effect in your stories?
Whether you use characters, situations
language, or a combination of all three, timing and contrast are important. Take "The Epic of Gilgamesh." This ancient Mesopotamian tale is possibly the oldest known work of literature, and yet the story is still compelling today.
As King Gilgamesh nears the end of the world, he runs into a bar. We think we're reaching the climax of his story - only to have our expectations dashed. This short respite allows the tension to build up to a later, real climax. It relieves and creates tension.
This lesson applies to modern stories as well
by briefly lightening the mood, you can build tension in your stories exactly when it's needed. The bar moment doesn't just heighten the audience's emotional response—it also complicates it.
The wise bartender questions the purpose of Gilgamesh's quest - to set the stage for the final, more important resolution. You can use comic relief not only to contrast with serious moments, but also to comment on them.
Sidekicks are one of the most common and direct ways to do this: they can provide sneaky perceptive commentary on the main action, often simultaneously serving as erratic, impromptu punchlines.
Kurt Vonnegut's "Slaughterhouse Five" takes a different approach
the story constantly shifts between gruesome war scenes and weird sci-fi moments.
These scenes provide comic relief, but also open up a dialogue about what is usually unspoken, highlighting the arbitrary nature of human suffering in a way that makes it all the more poignant. Arundhati Roy's "The God of Small Things" takes another approach to comic relief.
The narrative style draws on the children's point of view to present a tragic story in a heartwarmingly humorous way.
When adults incorporate decades of tension about race, class, and family dynamics into their expectations of their children's behavior, you can't help but laugh in recognition when, at that moment,
Expected to perform the best of modesty, 7-year-old Rachel "stuffs herself like a sausage into the dirty airport curtain and [won't open]." At the same time, you know that his failure to behave will only add to the tension.
Afterwards, she muses, "The drama went bad
Like a pickle in a monsoon." This punchline illustrates the reality of the situation: the reunion is too forced and formal, Rachel feels as if her family are actors in a play, and she feels powerless in the storm of what's happening. .
To get the most out of comic relief, think not only about which moments in your story will benefit most from the spread of conflicting emotions, but also: What message do you want to convey? Can not say directly? What assumptions would you like your readers to question?
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