'The Six Hidden Tools of Comedy' by Steve Kaplan

So what’s comedy? The paradigm of comedy is an ordinary guy or gal struggling against insurmountable odds without many of the required tools with which to win, yet never giving up hope. It can almost be stated as an equation: An ordinary guy or gal—Jackie Gleason used to call him a moke—struggling against insurmountable odds, without many of the required tools with which to win, yet never giving up hope. From this paradigm or equation, we can draw we can draw usable, practical tools, what we call the Hidden Tools of Comedy. The tools are:

1. Winning Winning is the idea that, in comedy, you are allowed to do whatever you think you need to do in order to win. Comedy gives the character permission to win. In winning, there are no “shoulds.” Even if it makes you look stupid, you can do what you think you have to do in order to win. You’re not trying to be funny, just trying to get what you want, given who you are.
2. Non-Hero Non-hero is the ordinary guy who lacks some, if not all, of the required skills with which to win. Note that we don’t say comic hero, but a non-hero. Not an idiot, not an exaggerated fool, but simply somebody who lacks something. Or many things, but is still determined to win. The more skills your character has, the less comic and the more dramatic the character is. This is how you can shape the arc in a romantic comedy: in the romantic moments, the heretofore clumsy or obnoxious hero becomes more sensitive, more mature. Don’t believe me? Take a look at Bill Murray in Groundhog Day.
3. Positive Action ...or selfish-action, or hopeful action, is the idea that every action your character takes, your character actually thinks is going to work, no matter how stupid, or foolish or naive that might make him or her appear. It also takes the nasty edge off of characters such as Basil Fawlty in Fawlty Towers or Louie DePalma in Taxi.
4. Active Emotion Active emotion is the idea that the emotion that occurs naturally in the course of trying to win. The emotion that is created simply by being in the situation is the exact right emotion to be having.
5. Metaphorical Relationship Metaphorical relationship is the idea that beneath every surface relationship is a true, or essential, metaphorical relationship. Each character perceives others around him, and the world itself, in specific, metaphorical ways. Think about the couples you know. Even though they’re a married couple, their metaphorical relationship is that of nose-to-the-grindstone business partners. It’s Oscar and Felix, two middle-aged divorced roommates, acting like an old married couple. And it’s Jerry and George, sitting in the back of a police car, acting like kids: “Hey, can I play with the siren?”
6. Straight Line/Wavy Line And last, but not least, the tool that challenges the conventional view of comedy: Straight Line/Wavy Line.

John Cleese once said that when they started Monty Python, they thought that comedy was the silly bits: "We used to think that comedy was watching someone do something silly...we came to realize that comedy was watching somebody watch somebody do something silly."

SOURCE: http://www.raindance.co.uk/site/the-6-hidden-tools-of-comedy