with Neal Pollack
Tuesdays, 5-7 pm PT
$900 / Max 9 students
You hear it all the time: “Humor is dead.” “You can’t write satire anymore because life is so absurd.” “How can you laugh? We are in danger!” These are things that people who don’t have a sense of humor say. The world has never been more ridiculous and hilarious. This class will teach you how to make fun of it. Under the watchfully sinister eye of Neal Pollack, “The Greatest Living American Writer” and the most unappreciated master humorist working in the English language today, you’ll learn how to craft comic prose in a number of genres: satire, personal essay, the short story, short-form journalism, social media, the comic novel and even the dreaded listicle. Though Neal has no particular expertise in TV pilot or screenplay writing, he knows funny when he sees it, and will even offer commentary on your script, which couldn’t possibly be less humorous than Season 3 of ‘The Bear.’ This is a once- or possibly twice-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study the craft of humor writing with a good-looking man so funny someone once called him funny. Write now or forever hold your piece.
To apply, submit a statement of interest and a sample of your work of any length, up to 800 pages (less than 5 preferred).
About Neal Pollack
Neal Pollack is the author of 12 semi-bestselling works of fiction and nonfiction, including the memoirs Alternadad, Stretch, and Pothead, the novels Jewball, Keep Mars Weird, Edge of Safety, and Never Mind the Pollacks, and the cult short-fiction classic The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature. Also, don’t sleep on his Kindle Single about his failure to succeed in Hollywood, Not Coming Soon To A Theater Near You. Pollack’s “Greatest Living American Writer” satire pieces have appeared in McSweeney’s, Salon, The Federalist, The Spectator, and the Jewish Daily Forward, showing incredible ideological range. His freelance writing has appeared in every English-language publication except for The New Yorker. He is a three-time Jeopardy! champion, a certified yoga instructor, a semi-professional poker player, a Generation X legend, and the editor-in-chief of Book and Film Globe.