Wednesday, May 1, 2013

Punching Up/Punching Down

A nice examination of what makes comedy mean-spirited, and what makes it uplifting. With George Carlin examples, no less!

Monday, April 29, 2013

Picking Sondheim's Brain

It'll probably surprise a few readers to know I love musicals. It probably won't surprise people to know that I like musicals on the darker, more snarky end of the spectrum, like Chicago, Assassins, and the musical adaptation of Evil Dead (which featured blood pumped on stage through a visible garden hose and a number called the "What the Fuck Tango").  The form is, in and of itself, so artificial and so goofy that I think it lends itself especially well to a really surreal experience that, if it's done right, can be moving, creepy, and downright hilarious. That said, I will gnaw my own arm off to avoid sitting through a whole Gilbert and Sullivan musical.

There's a lot of amazing thought that goes into these things. Here are the creators of Assassins breaking down the pace, the tone, the strategy, and the music of a jazz-handed upbeat revue about murdering presidents (video link).

Friday, April 26, 2013

The Perils of Themed Anthologies

K. H. Vaughan talks to several editors, including your friend and mine K. Allen Wood, about writing stories specifically for themed anthologies... and then trying to sell them elsewhere

Thursday, April 25, 2013

BestScienceFictionStories.Com

It's a wonderful resource for free science fiction online. In case you didn't have enough to do.