Today I picked up John Hodgman’s new book of comedic essays, Medallion Status and now I’ve spent most of my night enjoying it. Most. Other parts of my night have been dedicated to the bathroom because, well, Chipotle.
I’m 50 pages in and I’ve already laughed out loud at least a dozen times. That’s crazy. Making someone laugh with just the words on a page is one of the most impressive things someone can pull off. As a writer you’re stripped of all these tools comedians can use to trick a laugh out of an audience. They can’t hear your delivery, inflection, funny voice. They don’t see your face, expressions, or what you do with your eyes. Zero physicality is possible. It’s jus the words. And somehow there are writers that can still surprise a laugh out of me. Not a quiet thoughtful exhale. Not an intellectual, “oh that’s funny,” with no actual noise. Laugh out loud.
According to Stephen King writing is a telepathy. You are transferring thoughts and images from your brain to the brain of the reader. I love the way he talks about it in On Writing. Especially this passage.
If writing is telepathy then the best comedic writing (the kind that makes you laugh out loud) is only possible by those with the most powerful psychic abilities.
Can you think of a book that has made you laugh? There aren’t that many for me. John Hodgman and Simon Rich are the only two authors who have been able to do it consistently.
What an incredible skill to have. I wish I could convince more people to read funny books. The biggest roadblock is that I think for most people humor books never end up on the list of books they feel they need to read if they’re to be respectable. With a lot of pastors it’s hard to convince them to read anything besides leadership books (not even a theology book but..you know..we don’t have to get into that). I think everyone has in their heads those books they’re “supposed” to read, but, like I’ve said in a previous post, that’s a dumb way to live your life.
Read outside your comfort zone!
If you’ve never found a book that’s made you laugh out loud, you are missing out. It’s one of the most amazing magic tricks the written word can pull off. It’s harder than you think. Don’t believe me? Go read most of Twitter and you’ll see what I mean.