I sure hope not because that's all I do! I have been writing feature BROAD comedy specs for 12 years and it seems that it gets harder and harder to find producers or agents who are interested or even know how to read and evaluate this type of comedy. Or for that matter, comedy writers willing to collaborate on broad comedy screenwriting. 

Whatever happened to "screwball" comedy? Those great films of the 30's, 40's and 50's? Thigh slapping, wet your pants comedy? Practiced only by Jim Carrey, Steve Martin and perhaps a few others nowadays.

Well, I may know what happened to it! A very talented screenwriter by the name of Irwin Cohan keeps the tradition going.  He simply refuses to write gross, obscene over sexed scripts but instead handles sex and such in an intelligent and suggestive manner the old fashioned way keeping his scripts General audience or PG-13.

His scripts are tight, high concept and unusual with hilarious characters and situations but even though he writes broad comedy his stories capture and hold the attention of an audience. Dialogue is short and sweet, never talky.  The scenes are short and he keeps the story MOVING! His stories are SOLID!

His scripts are low to medium budget without expensive sets and special effects. Can you imagine - stories without car crashes and explosions? Unheard of in Hollywood today - a cheap way to treat the audience instead of providing them with real comedy and non-stop laughter.

Here are a few loglines demonstrating the wide range of comedies Irwin writes:

Brief Bio:

I have been writing feature comedy specs, mainly broad comedies for a number of years and have had several optioned with production companies. I write all of the comedy sub-genres such as sci-fi, action, adventure, buddy, fantasy and family, mostly all medium budget broad comedies, high concept and very unusual. Most are PG-13, some general audience, highly castable with strong male/female lead roles.

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Logline:  Topless in Beverly Hills  ( buddy comedy)
Two young unemployed brothers inherit an Indian snake oil potion from their dying Grandfather who claimed that it can fully restore a person's hair in 30 days.

Not sure if the tonic really works but being broke they con their way into raising money to open a clinic, hire a sexy exotic dancer as their nurse in order to lure bald male customers, and turn Beverly Hills upside-down with their antics.

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Logline:  Follow That Casket  (action comedy)

A sales manager at a Vegas Funeral Director's trade show must deliver a prototype casket to San Francisco within 3 days for a large order to save his job and his company from bankruptcy.

At show end he accidentally gets knocked into the casket unconscious, gets shipped out by truck and spends 3 days in and out of the coffin being pursued by hired thugs as a rival company tries to stop him.

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Logline:  Love is in the Air  (fantasy comedy)

A lonely man wishes to attract women and during a near death experience he is granted high-tech match making powers by Venus the goddess of love but is not allowed to have a personal relationship.

His options are death or fulfilling his commitment with Venus. Despite the real Cupid's wrath he becomes the mortal God of love on earth.

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Logline:  That Neil Guy  (sci-fi comedy)

A human like alien on a peaceful mission to benefit Earth is abducted by two greedy brothers intent on exploiting the friendly and gullible alien for their own financial gain. They succeed but impede the alien's mission in the process.

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Logline:  ATTIDUDES  (teen buddy comedy)

Two teen age genetic lab janitors mistakenly discover chemicals altering an attitude gene which turns negative people positive, sad folks happy, making criminals reform, turning the teens into celebrities, only their secret formula gets stolen getting them into trouble with the Mafia, the FBI and they become hunted fugitives.

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LOGLINE:  15 Minutes of Fame  (comedy)

Down on their luck friends start a low budget business called  Celebrity for a Day to fulfill the fantasies of average people who hunger for their 15 Minutes of Fame and want to become celebrities.

They stage fantasy events that are so realistic that the media and public assume are actual, with the resulting publicity getting them into trouble with the F.B.I., starting a gang war almost getting them killed and they get into trouble for stock fraud.

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Logline:  Boy-Toy Blues  ( comedy)

Three men committed to different convalescent homes accidentally discover that they all are still married to the same woman,  a greedy, ruthless psychiatrist who initiated their nervous breakdowns for financial gain, keeping them drugged and helpless until they finally escape to seek revenge.

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Logline: The Doomsday Dude  (action comedy)

A financially challenged security guard covertly receives a brain implant of a prototype computer chip to transfer his human emotions into humanoid robots so as to give them human traits. The implant must be removed in ten days or it will become fatal. Thugs are hired to steal the chip but instead they kidnap the guard and use his computing powers to extort money from major cities, win in Vegas, control the stock exchange and almost start a nuclear war.

 

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For synopses of the above or loglines of others OR complete scripts please contact:

 

Email:  gocomedy@gmail.com

 

Phone:  702-361-0933