Customer Reviews

Writing Humor: Giving a Comedic Touch to All Forms of Writing

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Trying to teach somebody how to be funny is like trying to teach somebody how to be TALL. You can't. I dare you. The great thing about Ian Bernard's bouyant examination of humor is the clever way he deconstructs the eternally elusive phenomenon of: FUNNY. He does it by being a smart, witty writer who is, simultaneously, a huge fan of other smart, witty writers. The material he has chosen to analyze is hysterical. He also has famous funny friends who happily show-up in his book as if they were attending a fabulous party in his living room. As a writer of comedy myself, as well as a teacher of comedy writing at UCLA EXTENSION, I intend to force my colleagues and studentia to buy, own & read this book. Its somewhat clunky title is the only thing I feel could use a re-write. I'd call it something like... "CHERISHING HUMOR" because it's not just for writers -- it's for readers and other smart, clever people (like the author).

I was impressed with the writing and the range of literary knowledge (as a professor of English, I am familiar with a range of writing skills). But more important was the clarity of the instruction; in detail, examples, and demonstrations, it is a wonderful tool for writers. The interviews are excellent--particularly the one with Larry Gelbart.

Writing Humor is a guide for those seeking to implement humor into their writing. Ian Bernard uses examples from several genres to illustrate the use of humor and the style of techniques used to illicit comedic reactions.

Although the examples are abundant and comprehensive, I was disappointed to discover how little instruction the book contained. Detailing types of humor is useful only to the extent that one might be able to recognize forms of humor in writing, but to produce humor something significantly more is required. I recommend to any writer seeking ways to add humor into their writing to look elsewhere.

I didn't laugh until I reached the top of page 123. I don't know whether that says more about my sense of humor, or about the author's.

On the one hand, I can't recommend this book, because it's VERY light on the "how to", and VERY heavy on the quotes and examples. On the other hand, reading this book has convinced me I'd like to try my hand at writing things that make people laugh.

This book is mostly harmless - that is, I don't expect it would cause you to become a worse writer. My suggestion: borrow this book from the library, read it, and see if you get more out of it than I did.