Gene Perret Interview: “The Secret” to Winning an Emmy for Comedy Writing
by Sergiu Floroaia
I had the honor of interviewing the brilliant Gene Perret recently. We talked about his latest books, how comedy has changed and how his career took off.
Gene Perret is the author of over 40 books, including the classic guide to comedy writing, “The New Comedy Writing Step by Step” and his latest book, “Comedy Writing Self-Taught“.
Gene Perret, during his 50-year career in comedy writing, has written for many great comedians and television shows. Gene Perret started writing jokes in the early 1960s, working for famous comedians like Phyllis Diller and Bob Hope. Perret joined Bob Hope’s writing staff in the late 1960s and became Hope’s head writer for the last 12 years of Hope’s career.
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Sergiu: Can you remember the first joke you wrote?
Gene Perret: I can remember the first professional joke I wrote – the first one I got paid for. The joke read, “There is no such thing as Sunday Drivers anymore. They’re all Friday drivers still looking for a parking space.” This gag was published in a Sunday Supplement Magazine. The interesting fact is that it was place on a page facing a big story about Bob Hope. He was my mentor when I was learning to write, so I took this as a positive omen. It turned out to be prophetic, too. Because later I was hired by Bob Hope and worked for him for about 28 years…until his retirement from show business.
Sergiu: Were there any other signs of your predisposition towards comedy before that?
Gene Perret: Oh yes, I was always interested in comedy and it was sort of a hobby for many years. I would introduce material to my fellow workers during lunch discussions and eventually was asked to emcee parties for people retiring from the workplace or celebrating anniversaries. It was a great apprenticeship. I had to create new material because the audiences were the same co-workers. And the material had to be good because I was the one who would deliver and would be the one who would be embarrassed if it weren’t good.
A sincere comedy writer knows that there is always something that can be learned… some aspect of their writing that can be improved.
Sergiu: What were your major comedic influences?
Gene Perret: Early on I was a big fan of Abbott and Costello and I still think their “Who’s On First?” is one of the greatest comedy routines ever written or performed. In grade school I was always looking for a straight man to team up with. Another comedy team had a profound influence on me – Martin and Lewis. I thought their act was brilliant. Also, the radio comics influenced me – Red Skelton, George Burns, and so on. However, the big influence was Bob Hope. I thought his material and his delivery were superb. I tried to listen to him and replicate his style every chance I could. I would tape his monologues and weeks later pick new topics and try to write a new monologue for him. It’s ironic how this paid off. When I got to Hollywood, Bob Hope called me and asked if I could do some jokes for his Academy Awards hosting chores. I wrote lots of material and he used a good portion of it. The following day he called me and said, “Boy, it looks like you’ve been writing for me all your life.” I said, “Mr. Hope, I have only you didn’t know about it.” We worked together from that point on until he passed away.
Sergiu: Why did you choose being a comedy writer over being a stand-up comedian?
Gene Perret: It wasn’t really a choice. As I mentioned I did a lot of emceeing for parties at my workplace. It went well and was great training. So I really was starting out as a standup comic, or probably more correctly a banquet speaker. I found I could handle an audience if they were all paying attention and really there to hear my remarks. However, when I tried to go to clubs and walk on stage cold, I didn’t seem to have the magnetic personality or delivery that could command attention. However, the material was good and well-known started to buy what I was writing. Phyllis Diller was among them and she was a great boost to my career.
Sergiu: What is “the secret” to winning an Emmy Award for comedy writing?
Gene Perret: The ‘secret’ really is to get on the writing staff of a popular TV show — one that has a charismatic and considerate star along with a cast that functions well as a unit. It also helps if that show has a talented, creative writing staff. I was fortunate to be on “The Carol Burnett Show” for 5 seasons. In that time our writing staff was nominated for an Emmy six times and we captured the statue three times.
I also was nominated for an Emmy for Original Music for a song I wrote for one of Bob Hope’s specials. I didn’t want to write the song, didn’t think I could write the song, but Bob Hope wouldn’t let me not write the song. I was surprised when the Emmy nominations came out and that song was among those selected. I didn’t win the Emmy, but I was thrilled to be nominated.
Sergiu: Do you think comedy has changed in the last 20 years?
Gene Perret: Yes, I do think it has changed. At one time, most standup comedy was a series of one-liners. Bob Hope, Jack Benny, George Burns, Phyllis Diller, Roseanne Barr, and folks with that particular style. Then the concept changed into more of a story-telling mode. Bill Cosby and George Carlin were influential in changing the style. Both styles work well, but the more free-form aspect is more in vogue today.
However, a big change I’ve seen is that comedy has gotten more vicious and much more raunchy. The old timers wouldn’t dare use the language that today’s comics use. And many comics seem to deliver their jokes in order to ‘hurt’ people.
I prefer the old-fashioned “let’s have fun together” humor.
Sergiu: You wrote many books about comedy writing. Which aspects of comedy writing can be taught and which ones cannot be taught?
Gene Perret: All aspects of comedy writing can be taught and can be learned. Granted there is a certain attitude and talent that is inherent in a natural born humorist, BUT there are things that even the worst writers and the best writers can learn. A bad writer can be taught to improve his or her writing and perhaps become a solid professional writer. And good solid writers can learn to be even better. A sincere comedy writer knows that there is always something that can be learned…some aspect of their writing that can be improved.
Let your subconscious do some of the work that you were forcing your conscious mind to do.
You can read the full interview at punchline.ro. Sergiu Floroaia is a Romanian stand-up comedian, comedy writer and comics writer known for his witty one-liners, musical parodies and television appearances, including Comedy Central Extra (Two 15 minutes episodes in English and two 22 minutes episodes in Romanian). This excerpt is from his comedy blog website Punchline.