Using the Programme Guide of the World
Science Fiction Convention in Helsinki Finland in August 2017 (to which I will
be unable to go (until I retire from education)), I will jump off, jump on,
rail against, and shamelessly agree with the BRIEF DESCRIPTION given in the pdf
copy of the Programme Guide. The link is provided below…
Humour in SF: Science
fiction and fantasy are serious genres, but of course there are very humorous
works as well. Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett - and many more! Who are the
others? Come hear our panelist discuss the lesser well-known humorous SF
fiction!
Laura Pearlman: stories
have appeared in Shimmer, Flash Fiction Online, Daily Science Fiction, and a
handful of other places; her LOLcat captions have appeared in McSweeney's
Phazedout: Irish
and Finnish Geek, dwarven singer, wandering podcast writer and bibliophile
Craig Macbride:
old science fiction fan
Ian Stewart: popular
science writer on mathematical themes, published more than 120 books on a
number of different fields of science; The Science of Discworld series with Sir
Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen; two science fiction novels, Wheelers and
Heaven, Jack of All Trades, The Living Labyrinth (with Tim Poston)
Must have been a
strange session, because as far as I can tell, nobody here has WRITTEN humorous
science fiction, fantasy, or horror (of COURSE there’s such a thing. Just watch
“The Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”…)
So, all I can do
here is talk about the humorous SF I have read and attempted to write.
For example, this
was supposed to be funny: http://stupefyingstories.com/
(Scroll to December 6, 2017…) It was called “The Bogfather”. It was intended to
be a play on words using a drifting bog island in northern Minnesota as a
setting…
As there have been
no rave reviews (or even any comments, for that matter), I have to assume that
the humor was lost on anyone but me (and maybe Bruce Bethke…).
But what IS humor –
putting speculative fiction aside for a moment – and is it either definably or
is it something that can be intentionally created?
One definition: “the
tendency of particular cognitive experiences to provoke laughter and provide
amusement”. To me, this means that how you evaluate an experience forces you to
either make a barking sound or feel something (probably pleasant).
Ah! Here’s a REALLY
helpful theory of what humor is, it’s even “endorsed by Peter McGraw [an
associate professor of Marketing and Psychology at the University of Colorado
Boulder], attempts to explain humour's existence. The theory says ‘humour only
occurs when something seems wrong, unsettling, or threatening, but
simultaneously seems okay, acceptable or safe’.” (Wikipedia)
I’ve written on
humor in speculative fiction before. In the article (http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/search?q=Humor),
I noted, “I have a COMEDY WRITING SECRETS book; I read THE HUMOR CODE)…I’m a
funny guy. I’ve read collections of science fiction humor, too like ANALOG
Science Fiction and Fact’s THE FUNNY SIDE (an old collection) and the Kelvin
Throop III stories. Spider Robinson’s CALLAHAN’S CROSS TIME SALOON books.”
Also, here: http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2017/05/possibly-irritating-essay-laughing.html;
and here http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/2014/03/slice-of-pie-james-thurber-o-henry-mash.html;
and here http://faithandsciencefiction.blogspot.com/search?q=Humor
I love to laugh,
and my humor of choice is slapstick. I LOVE a good pratfall! My wife and I just
finished watching Despicable Me 3 – which is just one sight gag after another.
I spent most of the movie laughing out loud.
I should just say
that she doesn’t get it. Her sense of humor is much more subtle than mine is.
She enjoys the cerebral humor of M*A*S*H (which I do as well) and the movies
made from the Jane Austen books. She likes the gentle humor of Barbara Streisand
rather than the slapstick of Ellen DeGeneres.
I made my first
sale to ANALOG with a humorous piece called “Absolute Limits” in which I
hyper-exaggerated the search for a FTL drive and the tendency of Americans to
take speed limits set by law enforcement to be suggestions. “Bogfather”, linked
above is funny, as is one I’m shopping around called, “Titan Mission Drops Bomb”;
though I confess that that one is a bit of scatological humor that even I’m
uncomfortable with!
It also happens to
be the only story I’ve ever submitted to Daily Science Fiction that made it into
the “Hold for further consideration” category, so maybe I’m finally getting
close.
At any rate, as no
one in this group actually wrote humorous speculative fiction (at least as far
as I can tell), I guess I didn’t miss anything…
Humorous SF Fiction
Lists: https://theportalist.com/13-science-fiction-books-that-will-tickle-your-funny-bone,
https://www.tor.com/2016/07/14/in-praise-of-humor-in-fantasy-and-science-fiction/,
https://best-sci-fi-books.com/19-funniest-science-fiction-books/,
http://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/humor,
http://greatsfandf.com/humorous-books.php
(this is a REAL list!), https://io9.gizmodo.com/5950437/the-best-science-fiction-and-fantasy-novels-to-cheer-you-up-when-youre-feeling-blue,
https://alexshvartsman.com/ufo-unidentified-funny-objects/,
https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/4967.Best_Humorous_Fantasy_and_Science_Fiction_
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