Comedy Rules: From the Cambridge Footlights to Yes, Prime Minister

Author(s): Jonathan Lynn

Film/Drama

This title features 150 essential rules from the award-winning co-writer of "Yes Minster" and "Yes Prime Minister", Hollywood movie director, producer, novelist and actor. A host of hugely enjoyable examples drawn from Lynn's varied and successful career bring these rules to life, covering everything from inspiration, collaboration and the Seven Deadly Sins to the perils of unmotivated comic business, pitching screenplays in LA, sexist jokes and lunch with the Inland Revenue. Along the way, we meet a cast of luminaries including Leonard Rossiter, John Landis, Nigel Hawthorne, Paul Eddington, Jack Rosenthal and Jonathan's long-time co-writer, Antony Jay. As we travel with him from his first digs in Coventry to the sushi bars of Hollywood, "Comedy Rules" offers an enlightening journey into the world of comedy and an indispensible companion to the elusive art of its creation.


Product Information

From the co-writer of Yes Minister and Hollywood comedy director comes an insider's look at how comedy works told though hilarious anecdotes.

Jonathan Lynn's prolific career spans more than four decades as a director, screenwriter, producer and actor in films, television and theatre, as well as bestselling author and novelist. His many movies include Nuns on the Run, My Cousin Vinny, The Whole Nine Yards and Wild Target. Jonathan Lynn and Antony Jay's BAFTA award-winning political comedies Yes, Minister and Yes, Prime Minister first aired on BBC2 in 1980 and ran until 1988. Lynn and Jay also wrote three novels based on the series which cumulatively sold more than a million copies in hardback, were on the British top-ten bestseller list for three years and have been translated into numerous languages.

General Fields

  • : 9780571277964
  • : Faber and Faber
  • : Faber and Faber
  • : 0.163
  • : March 2012
  • : 196mm X 126mm X 14mm
  • : United Kingdom
  • : April 2012
  • : books

Special Fields

  • : Jonathan Lynn
  • : Paperback
  • : 1
  • : 808.7
  • : 208