Wit! You can't describe it but you know wit when you see it. It's coming up with the perfect quip at the right moment, but how does one master the art of being witty? As Humphrey Bogart said in "The Barefoot Contessa", there's more to talking than just words (that's a paradox).

What do William Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, Billy Wilder, Peter Greenaway, Groucho Marx and you two hours too late have in common? We'll go through some of the wittiest movies ever written like "Ridicule", "All About Eve", "The Thin Man", "His Girl Friday", "Casablanca", "The Belly of an Architect", "The Lion in Winter", "Closer", "Kind Hearts and Coronets" and "Sweet Smell of Success" to find out.

This video essay will reveal the simple formula that can make you a master of wordplay, repartee, paradox, quipping or what you will. I know you're already a master of double entendre.

00:00 Ridicule
00:57 Wit
01:50 Wordplay
02:58 Double entendre
03:38 "Misinterpretation"
04:09 Thinking Wit
06:11 Sweet Smell of Success
07:00 Specificity
08:30 Esprit d'escalier

#videoessay #dialogue #screenwriting #cinema #screenwritingtips #film #witty

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Danse Macabre by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Investigations by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Consort for Brass - Classical Rousing by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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Brandenburg Concerto No4-1 BWV1049 - Classical Whimsical by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/...
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