Melvin Helitzer is one of a handful of university professors who teaches a course in humor writing. Comedy Writing Secrets takes a fun but very serious look at the art and business of writing humor. Helitzer begins by exploring why people laugh. Then he discusses different comedic techniques, targeting your audiences, and teaches how to sell your work in a variety of markets from newspapers to sitcoms to greeting cards. Helitzer's Book on comedy writing is the best book out there on the subject. He has a firm grasp on essential techniques needed to refine your raw material into comedy gold. I recommend this book for anyone seiously interested in the old addage, "if it's funny there's money!" If you perform stand-up, or just write, this is the book to read. His various examples from today's comedians are not only hilarious but keep the reader interested and the book moving along. Helitzer has written the first and best book on the subject. I teach a comedy class and I know I couldn't do it without this book.

John Vorhaus is best known as the author of The Comic Toolbox: How to be Funny Even if You're Not. This seminal book on writing comedy for television and film is now in its third printing, and continues to be a definitive source of information and inspiration for writers from Santa Monica to Scandinavia. Its follow-up, Creativity Rules! offers easy, effective, problem-solving strategies for creators of all types. Vorhaus' television writing credits include Married... with Children, Head of the Class, The Sentinel, The Flash and more. An avid poker player, he has written several books on that subject, including The Pro Poker Playbook, The Killer Poker series and Poker Night: Winning at Home, in Casinos, and Beyond.