What makes you laugh?
Those of us who traffic in comedy of one sort or another like to pretend that we know what works and what doesn't. We can tell you about certain sounds in words that make a joke better, or the rhythm of a sentence and why moving one word will diminish the laugh.
There is, in fact, a story that I believe is true, of the writers on Caesar's Hour, the 1927 Yankees of Comedy Writing (including, among others, Mel Brooks, Woody Allen, Larry Gelbart, Neil Simon, Lucille Callen and Carl Reiner) arguing an entire afternoon about a sketch involving a roulette wheel at a casino: What number should Imogene Coca bet on? Twelve? No. Twelve isn't funny. Forty-six? No, that's not working. It took them all day to come up with thirty-two. And these are comic geniuses.
All art is subjective, but comedy has two factors working on it at the same time: No two people have identical senses of humor (they're like snowflakes--cold and transitory), and comedy is the only art form for which everyone knows the response being solicited, one that's easily recognizable. If nobody's laughing, comedy is dead. It's win or lose, and there are no degrees of success.
The idea of analyzing a joke is anathema: E.B. White once said it's like dissecting a frog. "Few people are interested, and the frog dies of it."
But the cold, scary truth is that nobody really knows why a joke works, or when it will meet the response it seeks, laughter. Lots of bad comedies are made because the makers think all the jokes are a riot, and then they discover they've made Ishtar.
So I'm always nervous when a book is about to be released. Will the readers agree with me about what's funny? Were my editor and I deluding ourselves when we went with this joke, or should we have cut it out? And now, with A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION only three weeks (and a day) away, I'm poring over the manuscript pages, trying to figure out where I went inevitably wrong.
Of course, there's also the odd delightful moment when I get an email from a reader citing one of the jokes in the book. It's almost never one of the ones I considered a sure-fire, can't-miss, slam-dunk (insert your own cliche here) laff riot, but it's always wonderful to have someone tell you that what they read made them laugh, and I never get tired of hearing it. I don't care if you laughed at the word "and," please let me know.
So, in order to soothe my troubled mind (and manipulate you into checking out the book), please help me with this experiment: Read the first chapter of A NIGHT AT THE OPERATION. Just click here. I'll wait.
Okay. Now, assuming you found anything therein amusing, please comment on it below. Let's see if we're all agreed on what's funny, or if everyone has a different favorite. I'd really like to see the response, just to match it against my own expectation. I'll tell you this much: One of my favorite lines in the book is in that chapter. I'm willing to bet nobody thinks it's the best line there except me. Let's find out.
Gentlepeople, start your engines!
Oh, no, I'm not going to try and pick the right line here.
I like it. I can't pinpoint anything in particular that's much better or funnier than the rest. I just feel it's the kind of amusingly written book that I enjoy.
That wasn't very helpful, was it?
Posted by: bookwitch | March 16, 2009 at 05:26 AM
Here's my favorite line: "The thing about Gregory is: I have tried, on numerous occasions, to pretend he doesn’t exist, but there is scientific evidence that he does."
I know SOOOO many people like that.
Posted by: Jersey Jack | March 16, 2009 at 09:28 AM
Absolutely without a doubt:
“Still carrying a torch for me, eh?”
“Only to burn down your house.”
Posted by: Barbara Poelle | March 16, 2009 at 10:41 AM
I like the dead pan at the end. All this chaos, the reader knows what's up, but all Elliot does is blink: “Okay, so something’s bothering Sharon...”
No kidding!
Posted by: lianabrooks.blogspot.com | March 16, 2009 at 10:43 AM
I like the same line as Jersey Jack. That's good. And I like it for the same reasons.
Posted by: Maria | March 16, 2009 at 07:36 PM
I liked the line about his knitted brow.
Though knitting needles are unlikely to sting - too thick.
Posted by: www.google.com/accounts/o8/id?id=AItOawnSyN5aTvsktngCfOgfBhzzszH1Seqm9Sw | March 17, 2009 at 11:25 PM
I tell ya, your hook worked.
I read the chapter two days ago, and today it came back to me and I want to know what happens next.
You can't ask for more than that.
Posted by: venusvaughn.blogspot.com | March 19, 2009 at 04:39 PM