Robb Lightfoot

Join Robb as he pries open comedy classics from the page and the stage to see what works and why. He’ll be posting here and elsewhere with the hashtag #decodingcomedy. Stay tuned. 🙂

Well, another year and another opportunity to step back up and create some funny stuff! We’re planning our activities for 2025, and want to ask you what YOU’D like to see. Please take a minute to complete this survey and once we have the results in, we’ll send out the invites. Create your own user feedback survey If you have questions, you can email me at [email protected].

Sign up for our free, non-spammy newsletter. You’ll get reviews, writing tips, and interviews with humorists and comic writers. This newsletter includes material that won’t be found anywhere on the web, as well as cool freebies. Sign up! Read us! Share the word! Thanks, Robb Lightfoot [email protected]

If you missed our conference, you can still see the presentations and discussions on YouTube. If you’ve paid for the coneference, then the access will be free. Otherwise, you may contact us for the links and pricing information. Paid attendees should have received a notice with information on how to access the recorded sessions. If you didn’t get such an email, and many of our CrowdCast emails…

Dave Fox shares tips in TF21 about how to take your misadventures and craft them into stories you can sell. 

We’re setting up shop on Discord, so writers can have themed/threaded discussions on various topics and even step into private areas. Discord allows for file sharing and live conferences. We’ll be doing those, too. Check it out. It’s small, but help us recruit and grow. The only requirement is that you are interested in writing, want to get better, and willing to help others make progress. 🙂

Join a panel of experienced stand-up comics as they discuss their techniques and the business of stand-up.

Mike was one of our ThinkingFunny 23 panelists, and recaps how he got his start writing a weekly column on wine focusing on the people who make it and how best to enjoy it. You can see the video session of Mike and his fellow panelists on Crowdcast, or hang around and view it later this year when it is released on Patreon to our regular supporters. Mike was gracious enough to respond to follow-up…

Hello all We’re planning our interview schedule for the coming months, and we’d love to know who you most admire, especially up-and-coming or under-appreciated writers and performers. Use this link, please, to make suggestions on our website. We’ll see if we can wrangle and interview and ask these folks some fan-questions. 🙂 Thanks. Robb Lightfoot

In addition to our conferences, workshops, and retreats, we’re offering venues for writers to meet and collaborate. Here are some options. First up, there is a forum here on this site that you can use to ask questions or offer help to others. This is a public forum, mostly. It does have private areas. These require you to create an account here and log in. This is the link to the forum. We also…

Swing by our Patreon page for Mike Stepanovich’s follow-up advice on starting and writing a recurring column. Mike has more than 30 years experience writing about a topic he loves, wine. It’s more than just the taste and pairing, Mike was wise enough to write about the people who take the plunge to become wine makers and the challenges and rewards they encounter. Here’s the link to his follow-up…

John Vorhaus offers specific, actionable advice in this 55-minutes session. Keynote speech from ThinkingFunny 2021 for our Patreon subscribers.

Our first agent’s panel, with helpful advice for all forms of writing, including humor. Available on our Patreon page. 🙂 Enjoy

Humor is helpfu, even when you’re not shooting for non-stop laughter. Anne Janzer takes us through the process of seeing how humor can help your nonfiction work to shine and stand out.

Listen in on a 90-minute conversation between Dave Masters and his former student, John Rameriz. John has worked for Disney animation and branched out into other creative endeavors, such as desiging an animated parade float and a theme-park experience. He takes us through the process of imagining, collaborating, and executing these projects.  John also demonstrates his creative drawing process by…

I recently had the opportunity to interview Ray Lesser, co-founder and emeritus editor of The Funny Times. He offers advice for humorists and cartoonists hoping to break into print.  Check out the Funny Times by clicking this link, and their submission guidelines at this link.

Here’s a insider’s look at what goes into making a funny song. From our posting over on Patreon, click here to view the video if you’re a supporter. Steve Van Zant – Banana Slug String Band, outdoor educator, singer-songwriter https://www.bananaslugstringband.com/ Jerome Kurtenbach – Formally trained composer, works with Hollywood and the Second City https://www.jeromekurtenbach.com/ Tom Smith –…