Weekend Input
Hi all! Here’s a brief collection of inputs for you take into the weekend. These are things I personally found interesting/thought-provoking/inspiring this week, and added them to the “input” column of my tracking sheet.
For funsies, I connected them through one element of each leading to the next:
This Reddit thread on the phenomenon of Third Man Syndrome. From Wikipedia: “The third man factor or third man syndrome is the reported situations where an unseen presence, such as a spirit, provides comfort or support during traumatic experiences…The "cultivated inner character" lends imagined support and comfort.” Not only do I think this is a FANTASTIC narrative device that I want to try using someday, but I remembered that I had read a book that employed it before. I scanned my bookshelf, which made me realize…
…it was from a chapter of the book World War Z by Max Brooks (I LOVE THIS BOOK MOVIE IS TRASH). A character experiences this effect—a pilot who crash landed amongst zombies claims that someone talked her through how to escape over a CB radio channel, yet the button at the end of the chapter reveals that there was never anyone existing by that radio call sign and she had been coaching herself to survive. I find Max Brook's’ intense focus on zombies very interesting, considering that he is the son of…
…famed comedian Mel Brooks, and I’ve been wanting to read his biography from 2021, All About Me!: My Remarkable Life in Show Business.” Thinking about the entirely of a carer reminded me…
…of this quote, which I saw in James Clear’s newsletter from the Poet Wislawa Szymborska on the source of inspiration, emphasis mine:
"Inspiration is not the exclusive privilege of poets or artists. There is, there has been, there will always be a certain group of people whom inspiration visits. It's made up of all those who've consciously chosen their calling and do their job with love and imagination. It may include doctors, teachers, gardeners — I could list a hundred more professions. Their work becomes one continuous adventure as long as they manage to keep discovering new challenges in it. Difficulties and setbacks never quell their curiosity. A swarm of new questions emerges from every problem that they solve. Whatever inspiration is, it's born from a continuous I don't know."
Source: The Poet and the World
I hope you can feel a sense of that being somewhere on that one continuous adventure this weekend,
Caitlin
In the wake of Catapult closing their online school, I put together this list of other venues that offer consistent, accessible online writing courses. I'm aware this is incomplete! If you have a place you recommend, please reply and I’ll update the post. I aim to keep growing this as an easily shared resource.
ABOUT ME: My name is Caitlin Kunkel and I’m a comedy writer, long-time teacher, and creator of The Second City’s Online Satire Writing Program. I’ve also taught for Catapult (sadly recently deceased) and taught/spoken at a slew of colleges, including Northwestern, Yale, Brown, Pacific Northwest College of Art, Penn State, and lots of others. I currently teach classes and consult on gift book proposals, modern adaptations of classic works, satire, and modern comedic literature. I co-founded The Belladonna Comedy and the Satire and Humor Festival, and I co-wrote the satirical gift book New Erotica for Feminists: Satirical Fantasies of Love, Lust, and Equal Pay, named one of the Top 10 Comedy Books of 201 by Vulture.
Thanks for this!
Mel Brooks’ book is a fun read and a great historical perspective on comedy. What a legend.
I recommend re-watching a few of his movies beforehand since he has so many great backstories.
This is great! Thanks, Caitlin!