Book review: “Comedy for Animators”

I just finished reading Jonathan Lyons' "Comedy for Animators."  Lyons writes, "Many people believe you can't teach comedy.  Many comedians don't want to dissect it.  My approach is to describe the many ways people have done it before in order to simply share the valuable lessons I have found."

Lyons examines the way that comedy has evolved through history and provides valuable insight into the way that comedy works.  I especially like the way that Lyons ties modern comedy into comedy from centuries past.  For instance, he identifies modern variations of the Commedia dell'arte characters in The Simpsons and Futurama.  Drilling down to the bedrock of mankind’s comedy traditions is always a worthwhile venture for the comedy enthusiast like myself. 

Lyons, who has been employed in the animation field for over 25 years, is an accomplished at creating funny characters and putting them into funny situations.  One of Lyons' most notable credits is his animation work on the first four Pirates of the Caribbean films.

I recommend this book to comedy fans.

You can purchase the book now on Amazon.