The Deconstruction Of Humorous Fiction In A Reactionary Postmodern World, Or
From Chaos To Conformity: How To Write The Comedic Novel
When I was a graduate student at the University of Gussberry-on-Hornsplat
reading for my doctorate in “Humor and Humorlessness in Nineteenth and Twentieth
Century Proto-European Monographs,” my professors often referred to a theory
they loosely called “The Banana Peel Slide.”
This meme postulated that a humorous trope—such as the
man-falling-on-banana-peel— loses its ability to trigger amusement after it
becomes part of the greater eco-social-spiritual consciousness, leading to a
revolt by sophisticated elites against populist humor grounded in laughing at
another’s misfortune, and eventually coming round to popularity again throughout
the entire societal continuum when the joke takes on a wry postmodern irony
encapsulating the laughing-at-the-laughter-of-those-who-laugh at such simplistic
slapstick (See I.M. Gully-Bull, “They’re Laughing With Me, Not At Me, an essay
on the struggles of a stand-up comic in the world of spelunking,” Psychiatric
Journal of the Criminal Mind, Jan. 09, 43-57).
In other words, slipping on a banana peel was HIGH-LAIR-EE-YUS when first viewed
by Cro-Magnon Man until his momma rapped him on the knuckles for laughing at
another Cro-Mag hurting himself, and then became funny again when Momma started
giggling about it herself.
But humorous tropes grow stale, so the banana peel gag loses its luster (or
“lustre” as we were instructed to write at UGH) when viewed too often.
Humor, of course, varies from place to place and generation to generation (see
Habe R. Dashery, “A Most Dreadful Hat: Materialism and Comedy in the Works of
Jane Austen,” Oxford Community College Press, 1998, 90), but one thing remains
constant—laughter usually accompanies surprise. One expects the man walking down
the street in his fine new suit and boater hat to find his path smooth and
journey uneventful. Then—surprise!—banana peel, meet foot. What’s not to love?
Nonetheless, humor writing is more than the mere description of slapstick
moments which are, in reality, difficult to capture succinctly while retaining
the laughter-inspiring elements. Written humor, in fact, depends a great deal on
the effect of the words themselves, their groupings, their compilation, if you
will, into a contextual image that ignites some inner Jungian
childhood-pleasure-memory within the reader (see Diep Krappe,
“Syntastic—Grammar, Puns, and Humor from Iambic Pentameter to ‘Yo Momma’,”
Journal of Polska Witticisms, Aug. 01, pp. 3-87).
This is not to say one can’t describe slapstick effectively on the written page.
As the great humorist J.P. Sartre (not to be confused with her more well-known
and morose second cousin Jean-Paul), once wrote: Je vais cherchez du bon vin
a la cave, which, loosely translated, means: “It is possible for anything to
be funny as long as the writer knows how to effectively communicate the core
elements of the humorous situation, whether they be a physical action, a tres
amusent observation a la ‘but other than that, how did you enjoy the
play, Mrs. Lincoln,’ or even, perhaps, the acting out of despair in a completely
unexpected way. It is not the full bottle of wine in the wine cellar that makes
one smile. It is the empty bottle of wine in the . . .” (the rest was lost to
posterity, but the major components of Sartre’s take on humor appear in the
brilliant essay by Dom. Pear I. Gnon, “The Banana Peel and the Descriptive Verb:
Physical Comedy in a Linguistic Setting,” Wine, Laughter, and More Wine, Lots
More Wine, More Wine . . . Please, June 02).
So, what, aspiring authors ask, is the secret to writing a successful humorous
novel? Good spelling and grammar help (see Strunk N. White, “Spats, Spoofs and
Spelling: The Dialectics of Inter-Class Dialogue in the Works of George Bernard
Shaw,” Auckland Council Kanberry, ACK Journal of Pedants and
Proofreaders, Sept 1910). But beyond that, a funny story is really any one
that makes people laugh or smile. If it does so for you, the author, you might
be on the right path toward igniting the same reaction in others.
There’s no telling what will tickle any one particular person’s funny bone at
any one particular moment. There is no formula for success, in other words, just
a keen power of observation—keep your eye on that banana peel, sweetie—and the
ability to write characters readers care about even as they face unrealistic
situations that could make them laugh or cry (see Gloria Steinmart, “That’s Not
At All Funny,” Feminism Yesterday, April 1971).
If you’d like a peek at my latest oeuvre, MY OWN PERSONAL SOAP
OPERA, go to my website to read a first chapter. It tells the story of soap
head writer Frankie McNally, who has to deal with failing ratings, staff members
who all want to be doing something else, a leading man who broke his leg on
Dancing with the Stars, a jewel thief imitating a similar story on the show, and
oh yeah, two men who both want to win her heart.
Hope you like it—or that degree from UGH was a total waste of time!
***
Libby Malin did not
attend (nor go anywhere near) the University of Gussberry-on-Hornsplat. In fact,
she holds a bachelor’s and master’s from the Peabody Conservatory of Music. When
she finally turned to her first love, writing, she began penning women’s fiction
and young adult mysteries (which she writes as Libby Sternberg). Her first YA
mystery, in fact, was an Edgar nominee. Her three humorous women’s fiction books
(LOVES ME, LOVES ME NOT,
FIRE ME!, and MY OWN PERSONAL SOAP OPERA)
have garnered critical praise.
Frankie McNally has found the perfect solution for life’s perplexing problems:
as head writer for the daytime soap Lust for Life, she works them out on the
air!
Meanwhile, Frankie’s being courted simultaneously by the dashing older man sent
in to save the show’s sagging ratings and by the soap’s totally hot leading man.
And just when Frankie thinks the plot couldn’t get more complicated, a jewel
thief starts copying the show’s storyline-a development that could send the
show’s ratings soaring, if it doesn’t get Frankie arrested first...
In her signature blending of the hilarious with the poignant, Libby Malin’s latest
light-hearted novel combines the best of life and of fiction into an
entertaining and incredibly satisfying read.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Libby Malin is
published in women’s fiction, including FIRE ME, and is an Edgar
nominated YA mystery writer. She’s worked in public relations, as an education
reform advocate, and was a member of the Vermont Commission on Women. She lives
with her husband and three children in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. For more
information please visit www.LibbysBooks.com.
This sounds like a fun read! (Jana Cleveland 3:34am April 7, 2010)
LOVED this piece, Libby--very clever! And who knew you did your undergrad/grad work at such a prestigious school of music! Aren't you the onion, all those layers about you?! (Jenny Gardiner 8:21am April 7, 2010)
This sounds like another great book (I loved Fire Me)! Can't wait to read it. (Margay Roberge 8:40am April 7, 2010)
Thanks, ladies, for the nice comments. I had fun writing this piece. My next novel takes place in academe so I was in the mood. (Now all I need to do is get a contract for that novel - LOL!) (Libby Malin 9:06am April 7, 2010)
Loved the post. Humor really is relative. What we find humorous varies so much from person to person. I have never gotten the male "locker room" humor. To me it is just not funny. Crude, often, but to me not funny. Slapstick humor makes me groan more than laugh. I like farce, situational humor. Your books sound like fun reads and these days we all need those. (Patricia Barraclough 9:27am April 7, 2010)
I loved using the word "trope." I might start using it in all my novels. (Libby Malin 9:55am April 7, 2010)
Sounds like a great read. That's what I like about Fresh Fiction - always introducing me to a new author. (Sherry Russell 11:26am April 7, 2010)
Hi Libby~
Loved the post. It's nice to see that your degree isn't a waste. {vbg} I love all types of humor but I find situational humor is what stays with me. There so much humor in the truth, in life and love--it just takes a keen eye to recognize it and then put it down on paper. You've got that in spades. (Robin Kaye 12:18pm April 7, 2010)
I admit that I watch Soap Operas, so this book sounds especially like fun. Blessings, marjorie (Marjorie Carmony 12:19pm April 7, 2010)
I love funny books! Here's a little something to give everybody a giggle today!...
THE SILENT TREATMENT A man and his wife were having some problems at home and were giving each other the silent treatment. Suddenly, the man realized that the next day, he would need his wife to wake him at 5:00 AM for an early morning business flight. Not wanting to be the first to break the silence (and LOSE), he wrote on a piece of paper, "Please wake me at 5:00 AM." He left it where he knew she would find it. The next morning, the man woke up, only to discover it was 9:00 AM and he had missed his flight. Furious, he was about to go and see why his wife hadn't wakened him, when he noticed a piece of paper by the bed. The paper said, "It is 5:00 AM. Wake up." Men are not equipped for these kinds of contests! (Lori Roche 12:46pm April 7, 2010)
Loved that joke, Lori.
I love situational humor, too, Robin. Mayhaps I'll write an essay about that soon . . . Hmm . . . (Libby Malin 1:00pm April 7, 2010)
If you liked that one, here's my absolute favorite (I could picture this happening to my sweet but sometimes accident prone daughter!). It's a long one but I promise that it's worth it!!!!! Subject: Hair Removal
Hair Removal.... (I don't have a clue as to who wrote this, but....WHAT A HOOT!) All hair removal methods have tricked women with their promises of easy, painless removal - The Epilady, scissors, razors, Nair and now...the wax. Read on..........
My night began as any other normal weeknight. Come home, fix dinner, play with the kids. I then had the thought that would ring painfully in my mind for the next few hours: "Maybe I should pull the waxing kit out of the medicine cabinet." So I headed to the site of my demise: the bathroom. It was one of those "cold wax" kits. No melting a clump of hot wax, you just rub the strips together in your hand, they get warm and you peel them apart and press them to your leg (or wherever else) and you pull the hair right off. No muss, no fuss. How hard can it be? I mean, I'm not a genius, but I am mechanically inclined enough to figure this out. (YA THINK!?!) So I pull one of the thin strips out. Its two strips facing each other stuck together. Instead of rubbing them together, my genius kicks in so I get out the hair dryer and heat it to 1000 degrees. ("Cold wax," yeah...right!) I lay the strip across my thigh. Hold the skin around it tight and pull. It works! OK, so it wasn't the best feeling, but it wasn't too bad. I can do this! Hair removal no longer eludes me! I am She-rah, fighter of all wayward body hair and maker of smooth skin extraordinaire. With my next wax strip I move north. After checking on the kids, I sneak back into the bathroom, for the ultimate hair fighting championship. I drop my panties and place one foot on the toilet. Using the same procedure, I apply the wax strip across the right side of my bikini line, covering the right half of my hoo-ha and stretching down to (Lori Roche 1:05pm April 7, 2010)
(it's so long, I guess it'll be in sections!....)stretching down to the inside of my butt cheek (it was a long strip) I inhale deeply and brace myself....RRRRIIIPPP!!!! I'm blind!!! Blinded from pain!!!!....OH MY GAWD!!!!!!!!! Vision returning, I notice that I've only managed to pull off half the strip. CRAP! Another deep breath and RIPP! Everything is spinning and spotted. I think I may pass out...must stay conscious...must stay conscious. Do I hear crashing drums??? Breathe, breathe...OK, back to normal. I want to see my trophy - a wax covered strip, the one that has caused me so much pain, with my hairy pelt sticking to it. I want to revel in the glory that is my triumph over body hair. I hold up the strip! There's no hair on it. Where is the hair??? WHERE IS THE WAX??? Slowly I ease my head down, foot still perched on the toilet. I see the hair. The hair that should be on the strip...it's not! I touch. I am touching wax. I run my fingers over the most sensitive part of my body, which is now covered in cold wax and matted hair. Then I make the next BIG mistake...remember my foot is still propped up on the toilet? I know I need to do something. So I put my foot down. Sealed shut! My butt is sealed shut. Sealed shut! I penguin walk around the bathroom trying to figure out what to do and think to myself "Please don't let me get the urge to poop. My head may pop off!" What can I do to melt the wax? Hot water!! Hot water melts wax!! I'll run the hottest water I can stand into the bathtub, get in, immerse the wax-covered bits and the wax should melt and I can gently wipe it off, right??? *WRONG!!!!!!!* I get in the tub - the water is slightly hotter than that used to torture prisoners of war or sterilize surgical equipment - I sit. Now, the only thing worse than having your nether regions glued together, is having them glued together and then glued to the bottom of the tub...in scalding hot water. Which, by the way, doesn't melt co (Lori Roche 1:09pm April 7, 2010)
(more...)Which, by the way, doesn't melt cold wax. So, now I'm stuck to the bottom of the tub as though I had cemented myself to the porcelain!! God bless the man who had convinced me a few months ago to have a phone put in the bathroom!!!!!
I call my friend, thinking surely she has waxed before and has some secret of how to get me undone. It's a very good conversation starter "So, my butt and hoo-ha are glued together to the bottom of the tub!" There is a slight pause. She doesn't know any secret tricks for removal but she does try to hide her laughter from me. She wants to know exactly where the wax is located, "Are we talking cheeks or hole or hoo-ha?" She's laughing out loud by now...I can hear her. I give her the rundown and she suggests I call the number on the side of the box. YEAH!!!!! Right!! I should be the joke of someone else's night. While we go through various solutions. I resort to trying to scrape the wax off with a razor . Nothing feels better than to have your girlie goodies covered in hot wax, glued shut, stuck to the tub in super hot water and then dry-shaving the sticky wax off!! By now the brain is not working, dignity has taken a major hike and I'm pretty sure I'm going to need Post-Traumatic Stress counseling for this event. My friend is still talking with me when I finally see my saving grace....the lotion they give you to remove the excess wax. What do I really have to lose at this point? I rub some on and OH MY GOD!!!!!!! The scream probably woke the kids and scared the dickens out of my friend. It's sooo painful, but I really don't care. "IT WORKS!! It works and I get a hearty congratulation from my friend and she hangs up. I successfully remove the remainder of the wax and then notice to my grief and despair....THE HAIR IS STILL THERE.......ALL OF IT! So I recklessly shave it off. Heck, I'm numb by now. Nothing hurts. I could have amputated my own leg at this point. Next week I'm going to try (Lori Roche 1:10pm April 7, 2010)
(and the punch line that got cut off) Next week I'm going to try hair color!.......
Sorry that it didn't post as one story. I knew it was long but not that long!! (Lori Roche 1:12pm April 7, 2010)
Oh I love a book that can either make me cry or laugh... bring my emotions out... your book sounds great! (Colleen Conklin 1:32pm April 7, 2010)
I was lured here because I'm attempting to write a romantic comedy screenplay for Script Frenzy and neither Comedy nor Romance nor Screenplays are my normal forte. Thanks for reminding me of what I once learned from Arthur Koestler's Act of Creation that the root of comedy is in the surprise.
It also boosts my confidence some to hear that if it makes me laugh or smile I may be onto something.
Fun essay. Made me smile. (joystory.blogspot) (Joy Renee Davis 1:48pm April 7, 2010)
Thanks, Joy. Hope you like the book, too. You, too, Colleen. (Of course, I'm assuming everyone will buy it if they don't win it! LOL!) (Libby Malin 2:09pm April 7, 2010)
Laughter and or tears, either is enough to make me give a thumbs up for a book. (Lisa Richards 2:18pm April 7, 2010)
When the next Borders' coupon comes in, I will buy the book! I was always told that if it hurts somebody then it is not funny. Today, though, it is hard to say anything without hurting (or offending) somebody! (Karin Tillotson 2:18pm April 7, 2010)
Jeepers, you're a Univ of Gussberry scholar. Deep. I'm experimenting with writing. I'm using the same story in comedic, erotic and mainstream romance to see what I think I do best. I appreciate your post and have bookmarked it, so I have it at hand to refer to. Thanks. (Sandra Dickey 2:25pm April 7, 2010)
Lisa, I write tears, too -- some serious stuff. Have a serious book coming out (writing as Libby Sternberg) in September. Watch my website. Karin, thank you, thank you, thank you! Sandra, best of luck with your writing. Sounds like a good exercise. Yes, the University of Gussbery Scholar designation has provided me with stunning benefits. I've been stunned by them many times. (Libby Malin 2:39pm April 7, 2010)
I'm currently struggling with writing a book that has both humor and murder in it. When I saw the post Tips on Writing a Comedic Novel, you suckered me in! Took a few lines before I caught on. Hey, it's a slow day for me! I reread it to enjoy all the fun. And, Lori's was story is hilarious!! Sounds like something that would happen to me. WE ALL need regular doses of laughter! Thanks for brightening this rainy, gloomy day. (Sherry Weddle 3:40pm April 7, 2010)
Great insight thank you. (Mary Preston 6:11pm April 7, 2010)
You are geat and I am glad that I have learn of you. With all the bad things that are going on today this is the kind of book we need. Lets forget about the problem and have a bit of laugh. Best wishs with the book and all that follows. (Cynthia Plaza-Harney 8:09pm April 7, 2010)
I have always love a book with humor. After reading serious books, I would always go find a humorous book to wind down. (Kai Wong 9:11pm April 7, 2010)
As someone who grew up believing that the people on soaps were real ( my mom watched all the first CBS soaps, this book sounds perfect for me. (Sharon Mitchell 9:40pm April 7, 2010)
This sound like a fun book to tickle my funny bone. (Christy Hawkes 9:56pm April 7, 2010)
Hello Libby, May God bless you and all the others writing books in our beautiful country USA. Please enter me in your Contest and I love winning contests from FreshFiction.com God Bless, Cecilia [email protected] (Cecilia Dunbar Hernandez 10:45pm April 7, 2010)
I used to love watching the soaps. My favorite was Guiding Light. Can't wait to read this book. It sounds like a fun read! (Teresa Ward 11:39pm April 7, 2010)
OMG, what a great post!! It sounded just like a late cellist friend (a Brit, of course!)! So, just out of curiousity, what do you play?
Later,
Lynn R., a violist and chamber musician (Lynn Rettig 1:05am April 8, 2010)
Lynn, I studied voice. I'm a singer -- worse yet, a soprano!
Cecilia, Sharon, Christy - thanks for the comments. I hope you do enjoy the book and, of course, buy it even if you don't win! LOL! (Libby Malin 8:14am April 8, 2010)
I had to learn to work the VCR when I was 10 so my mom could record her soaps. This sounds like a good belly laughing read to remind of the early years of my like watching soaps with my mom. Thanks for your comments to everyone else's comments. LOL. (Tonya Atchley 1:08pm April 8, 2010)
HAHAHAHAHAHA!
yo mamma indeed! too hilarious and i wish i went to that university, or at least hung out with jp sartre.
I have my copy of MOPSO, and am enjoying it very much so far. Certainly encouraging me to seek out backlist. (Maya Missani 10:12pm April 8, 2010)
I took a screenwriting course where everybody was so serious. A good belly laugh always gets me every time and it's a form of exercise. I like when characters play and stumble. (Alyson Widen 4:56pm April 9, 2010)
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