Squeeze Those Scenes!
Once you've figured out your story, write an outline with a scene-by-scene breakdown. Once you have the outline and a story that makes sense — relax.
Now concentrate of getting as much out of a scene as you can. You want to get all the needed information and exposition into each scene, but you want to do it in an efficient and funny way.
It's the economy, stupid! In all comedy, but especially film, you need to get to the joke in an economic and efficient way. You need to cut any superfluous dialogue — every word in the script has to help you get to the joke without the distraction of unnecessary dialogue.
Look at each scene and ask yourself: Does this need to be a really funny scene, a serious scene, or something in between? If it's a serious scene, can a joke ruin the moment or make it stronger and more emotional? How can you give each comedic scene a funny beginning, middle, and end? How can you make a scene work almost as a sketch by itself?
Have you ever seen an actor on a talk show promoting his new comedy and show a clip from the film that isn't funny or doesn't make any sense out of context? Wouldn't it be great if every scene in your movie had clips that were funny and told a story? Wouldn't it be great if each and every scene could stand on its own?
A great example of a movie where every single scene is funny and works on its own as a perfect ‘mini-sketch’ is Paul Reubens's and Tim Burton's 1985 film Pee-Wee's Big Adventure. The plot couldn't be simpler: Pee-Wee Herman's beloved bike is stolen and he travels across the country to find it. But the film takes you on an amazingly funny trip.
