When I took this course, the special topic was humour writing. Each week, there was a three-hour lecture talking about a different aspect of or form of comedy, including standup, clowning, and sketch comedy. We discussed what makes something funny and broke down humour into its essential parts. We also watched various clips, films, and comedy specials in class. While Mark has much industry experience in humour writing, he allows the course to consist mostly of class discussion instead of formal lecture, in which he could share his expertise more pointedly. Therefore, class often dragged and felt unstructured. Assignments included performing standup for the class; an explanation of why something was funny; and a comic memoir.

While lecture could feel unstructured at times, there were often nuggets of wisdom, so I always made a point of attending.