The protagonist in your screenplay has a goal. And the action of your script follows your hero as they try and achieve that goal while facing seemingly insurmountable obstacles along the way.

From your character’s perspective, everything they do is in the service of achieving their goal. No matter what outrageous, hilarious, seemingly nonsensical action they take, it will play for the reader only if the hero has an internal logic and believes their action will help them get what they want.

If There’s An Internal Logic To Your Character’s Action, She Can Do Anything.

As humans, we take action because we think it will make our lives better. Your characters are the same. Stephen Kaplan writes about this “positive action” formula in his book, The Hidden Tools of Comedy:

“Every thing we do, we do with the hopeful (at times deluded) idea that it will improve our lives. Everything we’re wearing today, every choice we made, we made because we thought it would, even infinitesimally, make things better for us… Positive Action, or selfish-action, is the idea that with every action your character takes, your character actually thinks it might work, no matter how stupid, foolish, or naive that may make him or her appear. The hope is that the result of the action will be positive for them.”

This internal logic frees your character up to do just about anything - as long as they think it will help them.

Screenwriting Example: Superbad

Let’s look at one of the funniest scenes in Superbad (written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg) - the McLovin scene. In this scene, high schoolers Evan and Seth are desperate to buy some booze to bring to a party that night to impress some girls, when their friend Fogell shows up with his brand new fake I.D.

This scene is hilarious because it works. And it works because Fogell not only believes the choices he made will help him, but he explains the internal logic behind those choices to his friends (and the audience).

For the crazy name “McLovin,” Fogell says: “I just thought McLovin sounded old, and the chicks would dig it.” Fair enough! A name that he thinks sounds old on a fake I.D. is certainly better than one he thinks sounds young. Even Fogell’s line about the other name he was considering - Muhammad - has a logic to it: it’s “the most commonly used name on earth.”

In terms of the age on the I.D., 25, Fogell explains his thinking for that too: “Look, every day, dozens of kids roll into the liquor store with fake ID’s trying to act like Joe Casual. Each and every one of these kids just so happens to be 21 years old. Just how many 21 year-olds do you think there are?”

When you give your character a simple, internal logic for their ridiculous decision, you ground it in reality and make it play for the reader. The action is funny not because it’s supposed to be funny, but because the character really thinks it will work. Here’s Kaplan again from his book:

“Comedy gives them the permission to do what they need to do in a moment of crisis, even if it makes them look like a bad guy or an idiot. And once they have that permission, you can stop trying to be ‘funny.’ Funny stops being the sole reason for any action, reaction, or line of dialogue, and the comic nature of the character and situation takes preeminence.”

So don’t go for funny. Go for the craziest idea the character thinks will really work, and then hint at the logic so it plays for the reader.

For The Really Crazy Ideas, Make Other Characters Show Their Skepticism.

Here’s another trick to use for characters with crazy plans. Once you have their internal logic down, have another character in the scene show their skepticism. This is the classic: “Sure, this is totally crazy, but it might just work.”

This is exactly what the writers do when they have Evan say: “Calm down! It’s not terrible! This might work, but it’s up to you, Fogell. They’ll either think, ‘Oh, it’s another punk kid with a fake ID.’ Or, ‘Look, it’s McLovin, the twenty five year-old organ donor’. What’s it gonna be?”

When you have a character speak the audience’s skepticism for them, the outrageousness of the choice or action becomes easier to swallow and the comedy will likely play. Here’s Evan S. Smith explaining this in his book, Writing Television Sitcoms:

“A writer has a better chance of selling an outrageous idea if she has one of her characters proclaim that ‘That’s crazy!’ The fact that someone has acknowledged the outrageousness of the idea reassures viewers, helping them to maintain their suspension of disbelief.”

Even Your Bad Guy Must Believe His Actions Will Get Him What He Wants.

This rule applies to villains too. Bad guys don’t consider themselves bad. They are just going after something they desperately want. And they have an internal logic behind the actions they take to get it. No matter what horrific action your villain takes - be it humiliation, torture, or murder - they must really believe that their action will help them.

Here’s Kaplan again from The Hidden Tools of Comedy:

“Sure, your characters can be nasty. Very, very nasty. But not nasty for nastiness’s sake. They’re nasty because it helps them, because it allows them to win in the moment, or achieve something they’re after.”

Your character’s internal logic is the secret to getting an audience to buy any outrageous action you think up. Without it, you’ll lose the audience. But with it, you can take the audience to places they never would have considered, but desperately want to go.

Keep going and keep writing.

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ARTICLE SOURCES

Superbad, By Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg

The Hidden Tools Of Comedy: The Serious Business of Being Funny, By Stephen Kaplan

Writing Television Sitcoms: Revised and Expanded Edition of the Go-to Guide, by Evan S. Smith