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Charles Horn is an Emmy-nominated and award-winning comedy writer with credits including Robot Chicken, Robot Chicken: Star Wars, and freelance for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.  Charles is also the author of The Laugh Out Loud Guide: Ace the SAT Exam without Boring Yourself to Sleep!, which uses comedy to prepare students for the dreaded SAT.  Charles has a PhD from Princeton University and holds a total of five degrees in engineering and mathematics.

Thank you Charles for answering some questions for us!  To start, please tell us a bit about The Laugh Out Loud Guide.

The Laugh Out Loud Guide: Ace the SAT Exam without Boring Yourself to Sleep! is a fun and effective SAT study guide that uses comedy to teach the material.  Students learn and remember the material more effectively by working through questions like:

1. Yo Momma so _______, when you mail her a letter, you need two zip codes.
(A) diaphanous
(B) luminous
(C) ravenous
(D) grisly
(E) corpulent

2. At a Saks Fifth Avenue store, Winona Ryder examines four distinct blouses, five distinct dresses, and two distinct handbags.  How many different combinations of items can she shoplift if she takes exactly one blouse, two dresses, and a handbag?

How did the idea for the book come about?

I would often tutor in between TV writing gigs and I realized that I was in a unique position to bring something new and useful to college test prep. Too often students are simply handed huge mind-numbingly boring textbooks that put them immediately to sleep, so they don’t even end up studying in the first place.  Research shows that comedy is an effective teaching tool in many ways, so I knew a comedic SAT study guide would be helpful and effective on multiple levels.  I designed the guide so that it could be used to enhance and supplement all traditional forms of test prep.  In other words, students can now laugh their way to a higher test score.

Is there any worry that students will become confused by questions on an actual SAT exam, which are not at all funny?

No, for two reasons.  Firstly, that worry only exists when someone mistakenly thinks I am proposing going straight from my study guide to the actual exam.  I don't propose that, and my book explicitly guides students on the importance of working through sample SAT exams.  My book is an enhancement and supplement to traditional test prep, not a replacement.  The second reason is that there's a difference between "test questions" that only serve to test your knowledge and "learning questions" that actually help you learn the material and retain it more effectively.  A smarter approach to test prep would include the comedic learning questions as part of the overall test prep process.  In other words, Learning Questions + Test Questions > Test Questions.  

Has the book received any recognition?

The book was recently voted a Best Teen Book by the teen reviewers at RadicalParenting.com. 

Do you do speaking engagements, or seminars?

Yes.  I have a fun and informative SAT talk for schools, and separately I also get asked to speak about my TV writing.  To have me speak to your school or group, please contact me at charles@learningisfunny.com.

You are an Emmy-nominated TV comedy writer.  How did you go from Princeton PhD to comedy writer?

I worked briefly as a software engineer in Silicon Valley, but I realized my first passion was comedy, so I moved to Los Angeles.  I didn't have any connections in Hollywood, so I struggled for a bit trying to get agents to read me.  Finally, I started winning some writing competitions.  A judge in one of them was an agent at William Morris, who then read more of my material and took me on as a client.  That was probably my first big break.

What does a typical work day look like for you?

It varies depending on the project.  In some cases I work at an employer's location, while in many others I work from home.  I really enjoy it when I have the ability to make my own hours.

What can you recommend for writers who are just getting started and are trying to make a name for themselves?

There is no single set path to writing.  Follow your passions and be persistent.  Also, make sure your work is the best it can be before sending it out. 

Who is your favorite writer/author? 

I tend to like smart, clever, and classic science fiction.  Asimov's Foundation series is up there.  Ender's Game.  Philip K. Dick was a great writer.

Finally, a most important question: what was the last song you sang out loud when you were by yourself?  :)

"Beautiful Day" by U2

Thank you Charles! We wish you great success with your SAT guide The Laugh Out Loud Guide: Ace the SAT Exam without Boring Yourself to Sleep!