When I took theatre, my teacher said that comedy was the hardest genre to write. I have to agree with him on that.
Not only is writing comedy one of my weakest areas in writing, but there is such a thin line you can walk with it. This guide is mainly what my teacher taught me, but please be aware that I’m not the best when it comes to comedy writing.
One good feature of good comedy is intelligence and wit. This can be very difficult to accomplish, which is one of the reasons why most modern comedies use “dumb” characters and slapstick jokes.
Does this mean that those comedies are bad?
Of course not! But there does need to be a moderation of how much of it you use because the audience/player can get irritated or annoyed. This is the thin line I was talking about. You want to make the player laugh or at least smile, but you do not want to get to the point of being annoying, unless you have a scene that requires the player to feel a short term irritation in order to follow through with the joke.
One of the more difficult parts of comedy is what is a joke and what is offensive. My teacher gave a heavy warning to not rely on stereotypes for humor since it’s a cheap way to try to get laughs. However, I see it as a bit of a gamble instead of being a “cheap” way to get laughs. There is a better change of someone getting upset instead of laughing.
So, how do we get the best laughs?
The answer is through characters and surroundings.
With the characters, the better developed they are, the better the humor can play off them. If you have the humor compliment the personality of the character, then the humor will come off natural.
One way to do this is to have two characters with contrasting personalities try to get through an event. Or, even more simple, have a conversation. What you’re aiming for is to have both characters well developed enough that they have chemistry in order to carry the scene and the joke.
You can also use your surroundings as a way to make humor. If a character is in a strange surrounding and out of their element, this can set up for some humor depending on how you play it out. You can use actions or even the character talking to one’s self as a way to further express the humor.
One thing you need to watch out for is how far you take a joke with two characters. It’s a very thin line from going to something being funny to being very spiteful. This can cause problems if the audience, instead of laughing, feels sympathetic towards the victim of the joke and see it in poor taste.
There are comedies that can pull off violence in comedy. If you do want to use violence as comedy, the best advice I can give on that is to make it as over the top as you can.
With parodies, the one important thing is to know the original source well. It’s also important to research the original source material to understand the environment and characters. To get a good idea of a good parody, I would suggest Young Frankenstein.
I hope this guide helps a little bit, and I’m sorry if it’s not as detailed as my other one. Comedy is my weakest genre in writing, so if you do have more questions, I can try to find some links on comedy writing to help you out. 
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