Comedy is tragedy plus time

 If I ever end up writing a book, I hope it reads like Humor, Seriously, which covers one of my favorite topics -- humor -- in a fittingly hilarious way. 

To be honest, when I started reading it, I wasn't sold immediately. I was concerned that it might be one of those books that ends up overstating its case. All non-fiction books run this risk. And I don't think the writers intentionally try to mislead their readers; what I think happens is that when you spend a large chunk of your time looking at life through a particular lens, you start to believe that that is how life works. For example, in Range, the author, expounding his theory of why people should pursue a wide variety of interests, is dismissive of the notion of sticking with things even if you don't enjoy it. But if you don't show such grit, and always move on whenever something starts to bore you, will you ever become good at anything? (As noted in Atomic Habits and Grit, the most successful people are often the ones who carry on with something despite the monotony.) Quiet, the impassioned defense of introverts which I loved on first reading (and which explained to me why I speak best when I put in a lot of time to prepare and can't do impromptu speeches), is another book guilty of stretching its argument a bit too much (its length probably doesn't help -- when you're not willing to edit out the weakest examples, you make the argument weaker overall).

In the first few pages of Humor, Seriously I got the feeling that the authors were claiming that humor would solve all sorts of problems in business and in life that I couldn't see how it could possibly solve. But now that I've read a fair bit, the authors don't seem to make any over-the-top claims. One thing that's probably working in the book's favor: as the authors note, when someone uses humor, we consider that person to be smarter, and we feel happier and well-disposed toward them. So the fact that I'm finding this book very funny might be making me think that the authors are smart and making very good points. That's funny. And smart!

Pain, the book notes, is one of the key elements of comedy. It notes that oftentimes the favorite stories we tell are about times when we were in some kind of painful circumstance. Others find this funny because of the incongruity between the awfulness of the situation and the cheerful way the story is told. This resonated with me. My favorite stories to share are about the times I almost got mugged in Dhaka (yes, times. Multiple!) Of course, the tragic situation has to be far enough in the past that you see the funny side of it. There's apparently a saying for this: comedy is tragedy plus time. 

I wonder if the degree matters. Would the stories be funnier if I'd actually gotten mugged? Hmm, for some reason, I don't think so. I think the circumstances can't be too tragic. But of course, that depends on the person. Someone else might find being mugged hilarious. Many have dark senses of humor. I generally do not, but sometimes, if it's tastefully done, I can very much enjoy dark humor. Barry is one of my favorite shows while being one of the darkest shows on TV that can still be classified as a comedy. I think part of what makes it tick is the incongruity -- the juxtaposition of the dark subject matter and the slapstick humor.

You want to know what else is funny? Sleep deprivation. It's painful and causes early onset dementia. And I am suffering from it right now.

Nope, that is not funny at all. I think it still needs more time.