funny guys
o, you so funny!
This month”s stomp&pout-fest (for me) resulting from Brave New World led me straight to this week’s Friday Chat topic. Humor is my coping mechanism, and heavy books with sooper seeerious topics that don’t have any humorous relief get me down.
I like humor in my books, that’s just that. I like to laugh. Humor comes in all kinds of guises, you know, I don’t need to tell you this. It ranges from self-deprecatory (me, laughing at myself) to the humiliating bullying and ridiculing of others; from subtle puns to outlandish slapstick. Humor can have no other purpose than its own existence, or can lighten the mood of a difficult topic.
Being successfully funny is hard. Don’t tell me you’ve never stood there laughing at your own joke. And writing it is harder, as there is nothing conveyed via body language or voice. It can go on too long, fall flat, make too obscure a reference, etc.
Who, in science fiction and fantasy, makes you laugh?AND WHY? What kind of humor do they employ in their writing, do you think?
To make you guys earn your keep, I’ll go ahead and list the big names. Of course, I’ve most certainly short-changed these authors with my brief descriptions, so please expand on these if you like!
Terry Pratchett– puns, slapstick, satire
Jim Butcher– self-deprecatory (Harry laughs at himself a lot), puns, unexpected twists, lightening of a dark or heavy scene in the story, one-line zingers
Douglas Adams– humor that spirals into the ridiculous, jokes at the expense of Humanity as a whole
Christopher Moore– straight-up slapstick, satire, twists
We see a lot of folks arriving here with the search terms to find illegal pirated free downloads. If you are here for that reason, piss off. 
Thinking about this topic I’ve realized I don’t usually read much funny fiction, which strikes me as odd, at least re: the way I think about myself. Huh.
That said, Neal Stephenson can be funny, although I’m not sure I’ve ever actually laughed aloud. I get a good mental chuckle from his puns/wordbuilding, though, and the awkward/hilarious situations his poor protagonists often find themselves in.
Piers Anthony. Puns. Bad puns. Really bad puns.
Oh! Esther Freisner!
Ooo, so many choices, Jasper Fforde for the Thursday Next and Nursery Crimes novels. Then there’s Robert Rankin, my favourite being The Hollow Chocolate Bunnies of the Apocalypse. I loved the adult view of children’s stories and characters. Keith nominates A. Lee Martinez for Monster and A Nameless Witch. Don’t forget Robert Asprin: Phule & Myth series – puns galore and that’s just in the titles. Tim Scott for Outrageous Fortune. Harry Harrison – Stainless Steel Rat + Bill the Galactic Hero…
It’s not science fiction but the Stephanie Plum series by Janet Evanovitch is the funniest series ever! One for the Money also just came out in movie form and was better than I expected. Not the same as the book but they never are.