I got an ask from @therska about this, and it turned into a larger post.
First of all, it’s called comic relief because it relieves the tension. I can’t talk about comic relief without talking about tension.
1. A note about tension
Why would you want to relieve the tension? Research showed that if you write your tension as a steady line (horizontal but also upwards), it feels as if there is no tension at all. If you push your tension up and let it fall back again and again, the reader is on the edge of his seat, eager to know what will happen next.
Comic relief is a literary device you can use to create that breathing space that momentarily brings the tension back down.
This is a simple graph I made. In reality, I use comic relief not four but probably closer to a hundred times in a book, and the instances are not that long.
Sometimes the comic relief is only one sentence long. It doesn’t have to be
a whole comedic scene in between the thrilling ones. It can be, though.
2. A character created for comic relief
The easiest strategy is to write a character you can use again and again for the comic relief. A well-known example is the squirrel from Ice Age.
This character can be clumsy, be a goofball, have bad luck, spew funny one-liners, anything. You can use any kind of humor technique for your comic relief character. Characters like the squirrel serve no other function but comic relief, which makes them one-dimensional.
The downside of a specific comic relief character is that once readers realise it doesn’t have any other function, the relief becomes less effective. Another downside can be that it’s difficult to justify why this clumsy goofball stays part of your gang. Why do they take him along on this adventure when he keeps screwing up?
3. Comic relief ingrained in your story
A more difficult but more rewarding strategy to write comic relief is to use your existing characters or the situation in which your scene is set to momentarily bring breathing room. Again, you can use any type of humor strategy.
The advantage is that your character is well-rounded, and you don’t have to justify why the character is there. This form of comic relief makes it harder for your readers to realise what you’re doing, and if they do, they don’t feel cheated.
For example: the essence of Deadpool is his comic relief. His deadpan remarks, silly poses and sarcasm defuse the tension again and again. This results into a film that’s not an just action movie, despite all the fighting.
4. Comic relief as distraction
You can use comic relief as a strategy to distract the reader from what you’re doing. Did you just drop a big clue, or threw in some foreshadowing? Do you want to plant a red herring without making it too obvious? Throw in some comic relief immediately afterward.
J.K. Rowling does this often in her Harry Potter series. For example, when Ron and Harry are in Divination class and Harry is told his tea leaves predict the appearance of the Grim, a death omen who looks like a big dog, this foreshadows the appearance of his godfather, who takes the shape of a big dog. Immediately after that, Ron says something ridiculous he sees in his tea leaves, which deflects the readers’ attention.
I hope this was helpful. Don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, and happy writing!
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