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Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward – Captivating Biographical Portraits of the Western World's Greatest Wits
“It is Johnson’s gift that he can make his subjects human and fallible enough that we would…recognize them instantly, while also illuminating what made them heroes.” — Washington Post Book World on Heroes “Johnson is a clear, intelligent, forceful writer, and nothing if not thorough.” — Wall Street Journal Paul Johnson, the acclaimed author of Creators , Heroes , and the New York Times bestseller Intellectuals , returns with a captivating collection of biographical portraits of the Western world’s greatest wits and humorists. With chapters dedicated to history’s sharpest tongues and most piercing pens, including Benjamin Franklin, Toulouse-Lautrec, G.K. Chesterton, Damon Runyan, W.C. Fields, the Marx Brothers, and many more, Johnson’s Humorists is an exciting compendium of our most enduring comical and satirical innovators.
272 pages, Paperback
First published October 29, 2010
30 people are currently reading
230 people want to read
About the author
Paul Johnson
134 books835 followersPaul Johnson works as a historian, journalist and author. He was educated at Stonyhurst School in Clitheroe, Lancashire and Magdalen College, Oxford, and first came to prominence in the 1950s as a journalist writing for, and later editing, the New Statesman magazine. He has also written for leading newspapers and magazines in Britain, the US and Europe.
Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815—1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).
Paul Johnson has published over 40 books including A History of Christianity (1979), A History of the English People (1987), Intellectuals (1988), The Birth of the Modern: World Society, 1815—1830 (1991), Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the Year 2000 (1999), A History of the American People (2000), A History of the Jews (2001) and Art: A New History (2003) as well as biographies of Elizabeth I (1974), Napoleon (2002), George Washington (2005) and Pope John Paul II (1982).
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
February 27, 2012
I don't know what to say about this one. Johnson presents a series of short biographies about people he considers the greatest Western humorists. He also introduces a thesis -- that all humor either stems from order or chaos -- and attemps to prove that point through the work of his selected funnymen. (And they are all men, btw.) Little mini-biographies arranged around a central theme are actually a great pleasure: you learn just enough to stay interested, you're given a lens through which to consider the subject's life, and then it's on to the next one. But the selection of humorists is a little puzzling, the thesis (I thought) not well proven, and in the final, meandering chapter, he literally blames "municipal librarians" for the (alleged) decline of modern humor... because we enforce politically correct speech. (We do?) So, uh, as a municipal librarian, I take offense. I am not the killer of funny! What happened to this guy? Did he walk into a library and not like a subject heading in the catalog, or something? It honestly read like someone else borrowed the manuscript on its way to the publisher and tacked a short but crazy diatribe onto the end.
Listend on audiobook.
Listend on audiobook.
March 21, 2017
Gliding over the lives of these humorists, Johnson creates a philosophy of humor.
Many of these funny-men had very sad lives, but his chapter on G.K. Chesterton made up for the gloominess.
Many of these funny-men had very sad lives, but his chapter on G.K. Chesterton made up for the gloominess.
November 30, 2019
It’s gobsmacking to see how people misidentify humor with mockery or sarcasm in their misconception about laughter (the loud the better) as a product of a merry heart. Whereas humor should be appealing not only to the senses but also to Reason with a natural assistance of wit to discern the light side of life and to elevate it to wisdom of life it bears, people tend to derive funniness from faux-pas and gaucheness of targeted individuals as if they were Olympian gods and goddesses laughing at the sorrow and travail of mortals on earth. That being said, this aptly witty book by Paul Johnson is an intelligent receipt against the philistine understanding of humor drawn on his erudition and sharp witticism.
Johnson sees humor as a handmaid to hope in life that gives a jolt to a meaning of life, a mental and physical therapeutic means to make the strains of existential malaises bearable, and presents us a society of famous artists who shares the same views on the pristine essence of humor. Life is indeed a comedy in a long shot and a tragedy in close-up. If our human existential life is a tragedy at the core, it also has a periphery of comedy, which helps us to understand and embrace the attitude of “Amore Fati” Love of Fate, regardless of a boundary of classes, races, and genders. Accordingly, finding humor in human suffering is one of the manifest functions of arts in sublimating human emotions and thoughts into the aesthetically pleasing and intellectually satisfying artifacts.
From Johnson’s humorists, the persons of Charles Dickens and G. K. Chesterton strike me as scintillating artists of classless humor whose abilities to draw humor upon people of all walks of life and to look upon the bright side of existential life and kindly side of human nature, for human nature is the same in all professions as it is in water, not stone. Even madness does not look grim and dismal in the eyes of amiable Chesterton: “The mad man is the man who has lost everything except his reason.”
This is the fourth book by Paul Johnson I have read, and it never ceases to amaze me with his erudition and wit manifested across pages after pages at the expanse of his will to enlighten general readers in plain English accessible to all. If you think abrupt peals of boisterous laughter in disguise of hearty mirth in public places are none other than a sign of incivility and citizenship, then this is a fit read that you will enjoy to your quiet hear’s content.
Johnson sees humor as a handmaid to hope in life that gives a jolt to a meaning of life, a mental and physical therapeutic means to make the strains of existential malaises bearable, and presents us a society of famous artists who shares the same views on the pristine essence of humor. Life is indeed a comedy in a long shot and a tragedy in close-up. If our human existential life is a tragedy at the core, it also has a periphery of comedy, which helps us to understand and embrace the attitude of “Amore Fati” Love of Fate, regardless of a boundary of classes, races, and genders. Accordingly, finding humor in human suffering is one of the manifest functions of arts in sublimating human emotions and thoughts into the aesthetically pleasing and intellectually satisfying artifacts.
From Johnson’s humorists, the persons of Charles Dickens and G. K. Chesterton strike me as scintillating artists of classless humor whose abilities to draw humor upon people of all walks of life and to look upon the bright side of existential life and kindly side of human nature, for human nature is the same in all professions as it is in water, not stone. Even madness does not look grim and dismal in the eyes of amiable Chesterton: “The mad man is the man who has lost everything except his reason.”
This is the fourth book by Paul Johnson I have read, and it never ceases to amaze me with his erudition and wit manifested across pages after pages at the expanse of his will to enlighten general readers in plain English accessible to all. If you think abrupt peals of boisterous laughter in disguise of hearty mirth in public places are none other than a sign of incivility and citizenship, then this is a fit read that you will enjoy to your quiet hear’s content.
June 1, 2018
A series of un-thorough biographies of a random assemblage of notable public figures whom Johnson has decided (through no clear method) are "humorists." His claims are often not cited and many chapters are marked by non sequiturs toward tangential issues beyond the scope of the humorist being discussed. Some chapters, by contract, spend entire paragraphs listing witty quotations authored by their subjects. Finally, and perhaps most damningly, female and non-white humorists are almost completely absent from these narratives with the exception of a jarring discussion of Dorothy Parker during the Thurber chapter.
The introduction is useful. The rest could be more helpfully addressed by getting yourself in a Wikipedia hole about literary comedians.
The introduction is useful. The rest could be more helpfully addressed by getting yourself in a Wikipedia hole about literary comedians.
March 4, 2012
«Johnson es un escritor con un don genuino. La habilidad de transformar vastas extensiones de la historia en una narrativa absorbente le asegura público durante años.»
THE NEW YORK TIMES
«El talento de Johnson contando historias vívidas se combina con un asombroso dominio de grandes y complejos temas y con una inagotable capacidad de convertirlas en algo comprensible y absorvente.»
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
«Johnson teje de forma magistral un hilo narrativo entre estas figuras, muchas de las cuales no nos vendrán a la mente como cómicos, con un profundo reconocimiento por su ingenio en la escritura, el cine, la pintura y en la vida.»
BOOKLIST
«Johnson es un escritor claro, inteligente, contundente y meticuloso.»
WALL STREET JOURNAL
«Paul Johnson ensambla una realmente instructiva e interesante historia del humor.»
WASHINGTON POST
«Un amplio conjunto de ensayos… Johnson peina una zona amplia y recoge buen material… Buenas anécdotas, ejemplos, puntos de vista… Escrito magníficamente.»
THE ECONOMIST
«Johnson consigue contener sus ganas de sobreanalizar los elementos biográficos y dejar que los sujetos ⎯y su extraordinario trabajo cómico⎯ hablen por sí mismos.»
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
THE NEW YORK TIMES
«El talento de Johnson contando historias vívidas se combina con un asombroso dominio de grandes y complejos temas y con una inagotable capacidad de convertirlas en algo comprensible y absorvente.»
LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK REVIEW
«Johnson teje de forma magistral un hilo narrativo entre estas figuras, muchas de las cuales no nos vendrán a la mente como cómicos, con un profundo reconocimiento por su ingenio en la escritura, el cine, la pintura y en la vida.»
BOOKLIST
«Johnson es un escritor claro, inteligente, contundente y meticuloso.»
WALL STREET JOURNAL
«Paul Johnson ensambla una realmente instructiva e interesante historia del humor.»
WASHINGTON POST
«Un amplio conjunto de ensayos… Johnson peina una zona amplia y recoge buen material… Buenas anécdotas, ejemplos, puntos de vista… Escrito magníficamente.»
THE ECONOMIST
«Johnson consigue contener sus ganas de sobreanalizar los elementos biográficos y dejar que los sujetos ⎯y su extraordinario trabajo cómico⎯ hablen por sí mismos.»
PUBLISHER’S WEEKLY
May 1, 2013
Some parts of this were quite good; however, some of the humorists indulged in various kinds of bawdy humor, which was not exactly pleasant reading.
November 1, 2024
Today I bring you a very satisfying book/comedic journey from historian Paul Johnson who channels W.C. Fields: "We know what makes people laugh. We do not know why they laugh."
Johnson, with his unique style of short historical chapters, elegant writing, and deep insights, delivers a cavalcade of comedy--while spotlighting an amazing list of humorists and their secret formulas for making us laugh.
"Broadly speaking," says Johnson, "humour is a matter of chaos or character." So here's a little April Fools' Day dessert for my more discriminating readers who delight in tickling various funny bones (their own and others). Warning! If you are a public speaker and think yourself witty--think again.
LO! & LOL: ABRAHAM AND SARAH. Paul Johnson says "the Old Testament contains 26 laughs, which do not form any particular pattern or expand our knowledge of why people laugh. The first occurs in chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, and is the first time a case of laughter was recorded in words, about 1500 BC." (It's when God appeared to Abraham. "Lo! Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son!" Read Johnson or Genesis for the punch line!)
PRE-TWITTER: 1709-1784. "The sayings of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson, which are memorable or at any rate remembered, amount to at least a thousand by my reckoning. The "Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" lists 276, which puts him fourth after Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, and Kipling."
"He would often say, Mrs. Thrale records, `that the size of a man's Understanding might always be known by his Mirth."
Johnson on Johnson: "For neatness, profundity, or aptness, pith, and force, they are an unrivalled collection."
The author has high regard for humour. If you've read Johnson's other books (including "Churchill" and Jesus: A Biography from a Believer.), you may be surprised. "In this series of books collecting together intellectuals, creators, and heroes, I reckon the comics are the most valuable."
DICKENS: EGREGIOUS AND ECCENTRIC. "Dickens was not a comic who raised a laugh by creating chaos. He was the other type: the comic who relies upon individual character. He looked at the mass of humanity and plucked out of it the egregious and the eccentric for our delight."
Chuckle along as you read Paul Johnson's pithy descriptions of Dickens' characters (more than 3,000 "adorn" Dickens' novels). And you'll be reminded of "the equally characteristic British device, the verbal running gag." (Were Leno or Lettermen devotees of Dickens?)
"He took trouble over the names of inanimate objects too, especially places." Names like: Slamjam Coffee House, Willing Mind tavern, and the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. "The Tilted Wagon inn is yet another invented pub: Dickens complained that `real inn names are so peculiar it is hard to outdo them.'"
BUT SERIOUSLY. On G.K. Chesterton, "He never made a joke against the female sex, as such, because to GKC the act of making a joke was one of the most serious decisions you could possibly make, on a par with publishing a political manifesto, or a declaration of war."
Chesterton remarked, "It is easier to make a man laugh at a bad joke, but more worthwhile to get a woman to laugh at a good joke."
GAG ME WITH A SHOE. Charlie Chaplin developed his craft (more than 50 gags) under Fred Karno, "probably the greatest instructor of every kind of comic talent who ever lived." Karno required six months to coach wanna-be comedians.
Chaplin: "The best gags are the simple ones which look easy but require the most rehearsal." Some of his best: funny walks in oversized shoes, stamp licking, and more.
Sadly...Chaplin--and many others featured in this rare book--"was scarred for life by a sad and impoverished childhood, which left him with a monumental self-pity."
Note: Johnson doesn't sugarcoat the dark side of these funny faces (Chaplin included). You may want to skip some chapters and profiles. Pastors, though, could profitably use the contrasts (hilarious versus hellish) in numerous sermons.
3 CLERGYMEN WALK INTO A BAR. If you're looking for a joke book, this is not it. If you'd enjoy a deep dive into a British historian's hunches on humour--have at it.
Johnson profiles 15 humorists including Benjamin Franklin, G.K. Chesterton, Toulouse-Lautrec, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, James Thurber, Noel Coward, and others. He includes Groucho's famous line, "I don't want to belong to a club which would have me as a member."
Johnson, with his unique style of short historical chapters, elegant writing, and deep insights, delivers a cavalcade of comedy--while spotlighting an amazing list of humorists and their secret formulas for making us laugh.
"Broadly speaking," says Johnson, "humour is a matter of chaos or character." So here's a little April Fools' Day dessert for my more discriminating readers who delight in tickling various funny bones (their own and others). Warning! If you are a public speaker and think yourself witty--think again.
LO! & LOL: ABRAHAM AND SARAH. Paul Johnson says "the Old Testament contains 26 laughs, which do not form any particular pattern or expand our knowledge of why people laugh. The first occurs in chapter 17 of the book of Genesis, and is the first time a case of laughter was recorded in words, about 1500 BC." (It's when God appeared to Abraham. "Lo! Sarah, thy wife, shall have a son!" Read Johnson or Genesis for the punch line!)
PRE-TWITTER: 1709-1784. "The sayings of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson, which are memorable or at any rate remembered, amount to at least a thousand by my reckoning. The "Oxford Dictionary of Quotations" lists 276, which puts him fourth after Shakespeare, Alexander Pope, and Kipling."
"He would often say, Mrs. Thrale records, `that the size of a man's Understanding might always be known by his Mirth."
Johnson on Johnson: "For neatness, profundity, or aptness, pith, and force, they are an unrivalled collection."
The author has high regard for humour. If you've read Johnson's other books (including "Churchill" and Jesus: A Biography from a Believer.), you may be surprised. "In this series of books collecting together intellectuals, creators, and heroes, I reckon the comics are the most valuable."
DICKENS: EGREGIOUS AND ECCENTRIC. "Dickens was not a comic who raised a laugh by creating chaos. He was the other type: the comic who relies upon individual character. He looked at the mass of humanity and plucked out of it the egregious and the eccentric for our delight."
Chuckle along as you read Paul Johnson's pithy descriptions of Dickens' characters (more than 3,000 "adorn" Dickens' novels). And you'll be reminded of "the equally characteristic British device, the verbal running gag." (Were Leno or Lettermen devotees of Dickens?)
"He took trouble over the names of inanimate objects too, especially places." Names like: Slamjam Coffee House, Willing Mind tavern, and the Anglo-Bengalee Disinterested Loan and Life Assurance Company. "The Tilted Wagon inn is yet another invented pub: Dickens complained that `real inn names are so peculiar it is hard to outdo them.'"
BUT SERIOUSLY. On G.K. Chesterton, "He never made a joke against the female sex, as such, because to GKC the act of making a joke was one of the most serious decisions you could possibly make, on a par with publishing a political manifesto, or a declaration of war."
Chesterton remarked, "It is easier to make a man laugh at a bad joke, but more worthwhile to get a woman to laugh at a good joke."
GAG ME WITH A SHOE. Charlie Chaplin developed his craft (more than 50 gags) under Fred Karno, "probably the greatest instructor of every kind of comic talent who ever lived." Karno required six months to coach wanna-be comedians.
Chaplin: "The best gags are the simple ones which look easy but require the most rehearsal." Some of his best: funny walks in oversized shoes, stamp licking, and more.
Sadly...Chaplin--and many others featured in this rare book--"was scarred for life by a sad and impoverished childhood, which left him with a monumental self-pity."
Note: Johnson doesn't sugarcoat the dark side of these funny faces (Chaplin included). You may want to skip some chapters and profiles. Pastors, though, could profitably use the contrasts (hilarious versus hellish) in numerous sermons.
3 CLERGYMEN WALK INTO A BAR. If you're looking for a joke book, this is not it. If you'd enjoy a deep dive into a British historian's hunches on humour--have at it.
Johnson profiles 15 humorists including Benjamin Franklin, G.K. Chesterton, Toulouse-Lautrec, W.C. Fields, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers, James Thurber, Noel Coward, and others. He includes Groucho's famous line, "I don't want to belong to a club which would have me as a member."
August 12, 2020
This book of essays spotlights several people whose wit – sometimes refined, sometimes downright bawdy – illuminated (mostly) English-speaking society from the 18th century to the 20th. Some of them told jokes; others brought smiles, chuckles and flashes of clarity (mingled with a touch of hilarity) to their subject matter by delivering pithy sayings, drawing antic pictures or cartoons, writing inimitable books and creating gags for the stage and screen. Paul Johnson distinguishes between comedians of chaos and of character and even finds sources of merriment in people who were not, personally, barrels of laughs.
His main subjects include authors Charles Dickens, G.K. Chesterton, Damon Runyon (Guys and Dolls) and Nancy Mitford; artists Hogarth, Rowlandson and Toulouse-Lautrec; comedians W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers; such multi-disciplinary geniuses as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Johnson, Noel Coward and (by virtue of being both a cartoonist and a writer) James Thurber. He also touches on Shakespeare, P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy Parker, Charles Addams, Charles Lamb, the "U" (as in "upper class") vs. "non-U" class politics of mid-20th century Britain, the gender warfare humor that made The New Yorker a success; and many other figures, acknowledged in passing. (I find Mark Twain to be a bizarre omission; maybe I've missed something about Johnson's central thesis.)
Johnson writes engagingly, not only assimilating what appears to be an enormous amount of research but also, in a surprising number of instances, able to report that he personally spoke to some of the characters named – from Jean-Paul Sartre to Coward, Mitford and Groucho Marx. He doesn't overtax you with thoroughness, though; for example, I had examples in mind from Dickens' works that he could have cited, but didn't. On the other hand, he digresses freely, sometimes abandoning his initial subject (as in the case of Thurber) and moving on to other people by casual association. At the same time, he draws attention to a golden vein of humor running through modern arts and letters that you might never have previously noticed, and will now most certainly be interested in seeking out.
Johnson's introduction even furnishes us with a reasoned essay about the history of laughter, concluding that his study of comics may be more valuable even than those of history's great creators, heroes and intellectuals, because
His main subjects include authors Charles Dickens, G.K. Chesterton, Damon Runyon (Guys and Dolls) and Nancy Mitford; artists Hogarth, Rowlandson and Toulouse-Lautrec; comedians W.C. Fields, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and the Marx Brothers; such multi-disciplinary geniuses as Benjamin Franklin, Samuel Johnson, Noel Coward and (by virtue of being both a cartoonist and a writer) James Thurber. He also touches on Shakespeare, P.G. Wodehouse, Evelyn Waugh, Dorothy Parker, Charles Addams, Charles Lamb, the "U" (as in "upper class") vs. "non-U" class politics of mid-20th century Britain, the gender warfare humor that made The New Yorker a success; and many other figures, acknowledged in passing. (I find Mark Twain to be a bizarre omission; maybe I've missed something about Johnson's central thesis.)
Johnson writes engagingly, not only assimilating what appears to be an enormous amount of research but also, in a surprising number of instances, able to report that he personally spoke to some of the characters named – from Jean-Paul Sartre to Coward, Mitford and Groucho Marx. He doesn't overtax you with thoroughness, though; for example, I had examples in mind from Dickens' works that he could have cited, but didn't. On the other hand, he digresses freely, sometimes abandoning his initial subject (as in the case of Thurber) and moving on to other people by casual association. At the same time, he draws attention to a golden vein of humor running through modern arts and letters that you might never have previously noticed, and will now most certainly be interested in seeking out.
Johnson's introduction even furnishes us with a reasoned essay about the history of laughter, concluding that his study of comics may be more valuable even than those of history's great creators, heroes and intellectuals, because
The world is a vale of tears, always has been and surely always will be. Those who can dry our tears, and force reluctant smiles to trembling lips, are more precious to us, if the truth be told, than all the statesmen and generals and brainy people, even the great artists. For they ease the agony of life a little, and make us even imagine the possibility of being happy.Judging by the author's preface, this book is part of a series of collections of essays about cultural figures organized under such titles as Creators, Heroes and Intellectuals. A long-time journalist and a prolific author, he has (I understand) moved from the left to the right in his politics, which figure in his appraisal of his essay subjects. So, I suppose you'll have to check out the dates of his works if you want to know what angle he's coming from. Anyway, a very incomplete list of his books includes Enemies of Society, To Hell with Picasso and Other Essays, Civilizations of the Holy Land, A History of Christianity, The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830, The Renaissance, The Papacy, and many works of history and biography. Whether his biographies and histories are at all important might be guessed, perhaps, from the soundness of his judgment on other authors' books about the people portrayed in this book. Whatever else you may say about him, though, Johnson provides an intriguing list of recommended reading about his subjects.
Read
January 27, 2022the modern Encyclopaedia Britannica, and was written by Arthur Koestler
Freud, who agreed that such emotion was repressed: in relief from tension
respiratory gymnastics
Tudor period, 1485 to 1547, that the business of professional entertainment came of age in England
Benjamin Franklin. He invented the one-liner. His father made candles and soap in Boston, and Franklin left school at ten to assist him. That did not stop him from acquiring a vast amount of book-learning, as well as practical experience, and in due course he founded an academy that became one of America’s nest colleges, the University of Pennsylvania. At twelve he was apprenticed to his half brother, a printer, and learned the trade from top to bottom. At seventeen he ran o to Philadelphia, and soon went to England to buy the latest equipment for a printing works of his own (he crossed the Atlantic eight times in his life—a record for a landlubber, I think). He made the Pennsylvania Gazette into one of the best and most successful newspapers of the day. He fathered two illegitimate children, and two lawful ones by his admirable wife, Deborah Read. He taught himself four languages.
lived to the age of seventy-ve with his chief faculties intact
They never speak well of one another
Freud, who agreed that such emotion was repressed: in relief from tension
respiratory gymnastics
Tudor period, 1485 to 1547, that the business of professional entertainment came of age in England
Benjamin Franklin. He invented the one-liner. His father made candles and soap in Boston, and Franklin left school at ten to assist him. That did not stop him from acquiring a vast amount of book-learning, as well as practical experience, and in due course he founded an academy that became one of America’s nest colleges, the University of Pennsylvania. At twelve he was apprenticed to his half brother, a printer, and learned the trade from top to bottom. At seventeen he ran o to Philadelphia, and soon went to England to buy the latest equipment for a printing works of his own (he crossed the Atlantic eight times in his life—a record for a landlubber, I think). He made the Pennsylvania Gazette into one of the best and most successful newspapers of the day. He fathered two illegitimate children, and two lawful ones by his admirable wife, Deborah Read. He taught himself four languages.
lived to the age of seventy-ve with his chief faculties intact
They never speak well of one another
August 30, 2017
Paul Johnson has a remarkable ability to tell the stories of history in a wonderful manner. This book is on humorists from William Hogarth through Dickens and WC Fields and Laurel and Hardy and Noel Coward - and a host of others.
He reminded me of one of my favorite James Thurber lines - How could I have called a wrong number - you answered the phone didn't you? Or WC Fields line to a neighbor - Either get those geese to shit green or get them the hell off my lawn. One of Johnson's remarkable abilities is to link sources in a way that often gets me back to figure out something about a person he mentions in passing. There are some classic cartoonists as well as writers and lots of movie types.
This is well worth the read.
He reminded me of one of my favorite James Thurber lines - How could I have called a wrong number - you answered the phone didn't you? Or WC Fields line to a neighbor - Either get those geese to shit green or get them the hell off my lawn. One of Johnson's remarkable abilities is to link sources in a way that often gets me back to figure out something about a person he mentions in passing. There are some classic cartoonists as well as writers and lots of movie types.
This is well worth the read.
July 28, 2017
I haven't read any of Paul Johnons's books before and only know him by reputation - a good one. This book was not so good, however. It has interesting details about the lives of several "humorists" like Noel Coward, Charlie Chaplin and Damon Runyon but the examples and explanations of why they are good vary from useful and instructive to non-existent. It's tough to write about humor and, after a promising introduction, the book rarely gets you to laugh along with its subjects. It isn't helped that the narrator (I listened to the book), although possessed of excellent enunciation, didn't seem to know how to deliver a joke most of the time.
November 27, 2022
Johnson tambien narra la vida de algunos personajes que conseguían hacer reír por otros medios ajenos a la comedia. Entre ellos la pintura, la actuación y creo que la escultura... Así que lo mejor es tomarse literalmente el titulo y no entender "comediantes" por "humoristas." Me gustó mucho la forma en que describió a G.K Chesterton, siento que absorbí su personalidad. Tres estrellas porque todos son hombres y algunos personajes no son descritos con el mismo rigor. En efecto, Aborrecí los capítulos sin conocer o haber escuchado previamente del personaje.
August 19, 2018
Very enlightening survey of humor over the past two hundred years. Johnson is a master stylist and his theory that humor is either chaos driven or order driven is interesting. It encourages me to look deeper into some of the biographies listed.
April 2, 2020
Some sad funny men, and then there is Chesterton. A fun book to finish on April 1st.
December 31, 2020
Annoying
Can't close the book and mark as read without doing a review. Too much control from the outside. Bah humbug.
Can't close the book and mark as read without doing a review. Too much control from the outside. Bah humbug.
December 1, 2012
Publicado en http://lecturaylocura.com/humoristas/
Una de mis películas favoritas es el musical Cantando bajo la lluvia (1952) dirigido por Stanley Donen y el propio Gene Kelly, protagonista de la inolvidable escena que da título a la no menos inolvidable cinta. Tiene tantas escenas memorables que sería difícil quedarse solo con una.
De hecho, me quería centrar en una de ellas que considero un paradigma metanarrativo de lo que cuesta hacer humor, conseguir que la gente se ría. Para los que no sepan de que hablo, aquí os pongo el momento llamado “Make ‘em laugh”. El increíble y acrobático Donald O’Connor rivalizaba aquí con Gene Kelly componiendo una de esas escenas memorables en la que ejemplifica como nadie lo difícil que es hacer humor (más allá aún de la letra en la que habla más de los méritos del humorista y cómo la gente quiere reir), solo hay que comprobar al final del número cómo el protagonista cae rendido y exhausto, pero, desde luego, ha conseguido que nos riamos.
En el ensayo Humoristas, el crítico y escritor británico Paul Jonhson, en su introducción realiza una especie de avance del humor a lo largo de la historia para acabar intentando ofrecer, quizá de una manera un poco simplista, una posible categorización de los tipos de humor; así tendríamos por un lado aquellos “cómicos que crean el caos”, como los Marx; “aquellos que buscan, y encuentran, y analizan, la preocupante exuberancia y pura egregia rareza del individuo, y lo presentan con viveza y precisión para nuestro gozo”, como Chesterton o Dickens; por último habla de “la categorización, que es la interacción entre distintas clases, razas, nacionalidades y edades”, como Nancy Mitford y P.G. Woodehouse.
La base histórica de la que hablaba y este intento de clasificación le sirven al escritor para ir presentando los humoristas que van pasando por las páginas del libro, salpicando cada uno de ellos con detalles anecdóticos y biográficos (e incluso autobiográficos, ya que el propio autor explica sus curiosos encuentros con algunos de ellos), sin pararse demasiado en la forma en que realizan el humor y cómo ese humor hace reír a la gente.
Teniendo todo lo anterior en cuenta, la verdadera gracia es que se puede ir conociendo a varios de estos genios, saber un poco de sus vidas y, cómo no, disfrutar con su sentido del humor: así William Hogarth, “único gran maestro de la pintura y el grabado que te hace reír”; Samuel Johnson y sus “agudezas verbales, chanzas bondadosas, payasadas ridículas o insultos puros y duros”; Thomas Rowlandson, pintor inglés que tendía a la caricatura con sus “accidentes pictóricos”; Charles Dickens, “el cómico con más éxito de la historia”; y continúa con otros tantos, pasando por los Hermanos Marx, Stan Laurel y Oliver Hardy, Chesterton, el dibujante y escritor James Thurber y acabando con los británicos Noel Coward y Nancy Mitford. Eché de menos que hubiera puesto algún músico, no en vano, Mozart fue, igualmente, un humorista sin igual.
Concluyendo ya, lo verdaderamente interesante del ensayo son los propios humoristas, y eso es lo que hizo medianamente bien Paul Johnson: darles voz, y que ellos mismos se presenten y nos cuenten lo que les cuesta hacer que nos divirtamos.
Qué importante es no perder la sonrisa en unos tiempos tan difíciles como los que estamos viviendo: “El mundo es un valle de lágrimas. Los que pueden enjugar nuestras lágrimas y hacer que asomen a nuestros labios trémulas sonrisas son más preciosos para nosotros, a decir verdad, que todos los estadistas y generales y sabios, más incluso que los grandes artistas”.
Una de mis películas favoritas es el musical Cantando bajo la lluvia (1952) dirigido por Stanley Donen y el propio Gene Kelly, protagonista de la inolvidable escena que da título a la no menos inolvidable cinta. Tiene tantas escenas memorables que sería difícil quedarse solo con una.
De hecho, me quería centrar en una de ellas que considero un paradigma metanarrativo de lo que cuesta hacer humor, conseguir que la gente se ría. Para los que no sepan de que hablo, aquí os pongo el momento llamado “Make ‘em laugh”. El increíble y acrobático Donald O’Connor rivalizaba aquí con Gene Kelly componiendo una de esas escenas memorables en la que ejemplifica como nadie lo difícil que es hacer humor (más allá aún de la letra en la que habla más de los méritos del humorista y cómo la gente quiere reir), solo hay que comprobar al final del número cómo el protagonista cae rendido y exhausto, pero, desde luego, ha conseguido que nos riamos.
En el ensayo Humoristas, el crítico y escritor británico Paul Jonhson, en su introducción realiza una especie de avance del humor a lo largo de la historia para acabar intentando ofrecer, quizá de una manera un poco simplista, una posible categorización de los tipos de humor; así tendríamos por un lado aquellos “cómicos que crean el caos”, como los Marx; “aquellos que buscan, y encuentran, y analizan, la preocupante exuberancia y pura egregia rareza del individuo, y lo presentan con viveza y precisión para nuestro gozo”, como Chesterton o Dickens; por último habla de “la categorización, que es la interacción entre distintas clases, razas, nacionalidades y edades”, como Nancy Mitford y P.G. Woodehouse.
La base histórica de la que hablaba y este intento de clasificación le sirven al escritor para ir presentando los humoristas que van pasando por las páginas del libro, salpicando cada uno de ellos con detalles anecdóticos y biográficos (e incluso autobiográficos, ya que el propio autor explica sus curiosos encuentros con algunos de ellos), sin pararse demasiado en la forma en que realizan el humor y cómo ese humor hace reír a la gente.
Teniendo todo lo anterior en cuenta, la verdadera gracia es que se puede ir conociendo a varios de estos genios, saber un poco de sus vidas y, cómo no, disfrutar con su sentido del humor: así William Hogarth, “único gran maestro de la pintura y el grabado que te hace reír”; Samuel Johnson y sus “agudezas verbales, chanzas bondadosas, payasadas ridículas o insultos puros y duros”; Thomas Rowlandson, pintor inglés que tendía a la caricatura con sus “accidentes pictóricos”; Charles Dickens, “el cómico con más éxito de la historia”; y continúa con otros tantos, pasando por los Hermanos Marx, Stan Laurel y Oliver Hardy, Chesterton, el dibujante y escritor James Thurber y acabando con los británicos Noel Coward y Nancy Mitford. Eché de menos que hubiera puesto algún músico, no en vano, Mozart fue, igualmente, un humorista sin igual.
Concluyendo ya, lo verdaderamente interesante del ensayo son los propios humoristas, y eso es lo que hizo medianamente bien Paul Johnson: darles voz, y que ellos mismos se presenten y nos cuenten lo que les cuesta hacer que nos divirtamos.
Qué importante es no perder la sonrisa en unos tiempos tan difíciles como los que estamos viviendo: “El mundo es un valle de lágrimas. Los que pueden enjugar nuestras lágrimas y hacer que asomen a nuestros labios trémulas sonrisas son más preciosos para nosotros, a decir verdad, que todos los estadistas y generales y sabios, más incluso que los grandes artistas”.
March 2, 2016
Paul Johnson's Humorists: Brief character sketches of his select few standout funny men--all British or American--big names and small, fools and geniuses, wits and wretches all. Loved the "A Living, Talking Gargoyle" chapter on G. K. Chesterton but always love me some GKC. Where but in casual passing are Chaucer and Shakespeare mentioned? What of Pope and Swift?
Two tragic challenges for both comedians and humans alike:
"In Groucho's moral universe (and all great comics have one), the destructive business of creating chaos was justified by its fascinating uncertainty--what the poet Keats called "negative capability." But Groucho also had a strong moral principle, illustrated by his assertion that "I don't want to belong to a club which would have me as a member." He was making an important philosophical point, which robustly adds another dimension to the Marx Brothers' chaos theory. It is arguable that the urge to perfection is exactly balanced by the consciousness of imperfection. Belonging to the perfect club is thus impossible to the altruistic." (171)
"But are ordinary people, as opposed to minor officials, in charge anymore? Democracy doesn't really seem to work, and people are insufficiently dismayed at its impotence." (214)
Two tragic challenges for both comedians and humans alike:
"In Groucho's moral universe (and all great comics have one), the destructive business of creating chaos was justified by its fascinating uncertainty--what the poet Keats called "negative capability." But Groucho also had a strong moral principle, illustrated by his assertion that "I don't want to belong to a club which would have me as a member." He was making an important philosophical point, which robustly adds another dimension to the Marx Brothers' chaos theory. It is arguable that the urge to perfection is exactly balanced by the consciousness of imperfection. Belonging to the perfect club is thus impossible to the altruistic." (171)
"But are ordinary people, as opposed to minor officials, in charge anymore? Democracy doesn't really seem to work, and people are insufficiently dismayed at its impotence." (214)
July 20, 2011
This book is a collection of short biographical sketches about notable humorists -- many of whom I had never thought of as humorists, e.g., Benjamin Franklin, Dr. Johnson, and G.K. Chesterton. I found Paul Johnson’s analysis and insights highly perceptive as usual. And the sketches are short introductions that give you a taste of the individual's life; for the full meal you'll need to consult a biography. I was also impressed by the author’s diction and vocabulary: I often had to scramble for a dictionary to look up the meanings of words I didn’t recognize.
But I think the book could have been so much more if it included prints or pictures. Johnson spends several chapters discussing different “humorist” painters, but none of their artwork is included in the book. It’s difficult to appreciate the humor of visual art if you can’t see it. To make the book even better, I would like to have an electronic edition that would include pictures and short movie clips of the works being discussed.
But I think the book could have been so much more if it included prints or pictures. Johnson spends several chapters discussing different “humorist” painters, but none of their artwork is included in the book. It’s difficult to appreciate the humor of visual art if you can’t see it. To make the book even better, I would like to have an electronic edition that would include pictures and short movie clips of the works being discussed.
December 4, 2012
I read this book because I love almost everything Paul Johnson has written. I learned several things about characters, including ...
• William Hogarth
• James Thurber
• Marx Brothers
• Benjamin Franklin
• Charles Dickens
• Damon Runyon
• WC Fields
• Samuel Johnson
• Laurel and Hardy
• Thomas Rowlandson
• G. K. Chesterton
• Chaplin
Most of Johnson books are about major historic events or personalities. This book was about people from the arts which is not really my area of interest and certainly not my area of expertise. Since I knew little on this topic I did get pleasure out of learning about these humorists (as he calls them). I did make me want to read some Charles Dickens books (non of which I have ever read).
• William Hogarth
• James Thurber
• Marx Brothers
• Benjamin Franklin
• Charles Dickens
• Damon Runyon
• WC Fields
• Samuel Johnson
• Laurel and Hardy
• Thomas Rowlandson
• G. K. Chesterton
• Chaplin
Most of Johnson books are about major historic events or personalities. This book was about people from the arts which is not really my area of interest and certainly not my area of expertise. Since I knew little on this topic I did get pleasure out of learning about these humorists (as he calls them). I did make me want to read some Charles Dickens books (non of which I have ever read).
July 2, 2017
Humorists is a very pleasant read. The introduction, explaining humor, laughter, and comedy, makes the book worthwhile by itself. However, it seems that Johnson is trying to do something that is perhaps left untried. He creates some broad categories that are useful in understanding the subjects' humor, and he gives some hilarious examples of the humor. (The Dickens examples are particularly good.) Yet, I did not fully understand what warranted some of the characters' inclusion in the book, although I enjoyed learning about them, and I suspect that as with most things related to humor, the more it is explained, the less funny it becomes. All in all, though, the book left me with a good feeling toward the author and his subjects.
June 11, 2015
This is a collection of biographical vignettes about several humorists in the western world such as Hogarth, Rowlandson and Coward to name but a few.
There are some funny anecdotes, he analyses stand-up comedy, one liners and much more. His storyline manages to weave its way through countless more people than are listed in the book's blurb.
By the end I was quite interested in doing some research of my own.
An interesting and quick read.
Sergiu Pobereznic (author)
amazon.com/author/sergiupobereznic
There are some funny anecdotes, he analyses stand-up comedy, one liners and much more. His storyline manages to weave its way through countless more people than are listed in the book's blurb.
By the end I was quite interested in doing some research of my own.
An interesting and quick read.
Sergiu Pobereznic (author)
amazon.com/author/sergiupobereznic
Read
August 3, 2011Anything by the great British writer Paul Johnson is worthy ready. Anything. This is an idiosyncratic book about humor and those who made it in their books, speeches, appearance, films, and plays. You may wonder at his choices (or omissions) but you will find yourself alternately chuckling, giggling, guffawing, snorting and just plain laughing as Johnson recounts the humorous antics of his picks as history’s greatest wits.
September 9, 2012
Humorists is a step down for Johnson after his engaging works on Creators and Heroes (and, I believe, Intellectuals, which I have not yet read). I still enjoyed getting to know many of these famous and not-so famous greats, but the prose wandered more, and his characters' sexual oddities seemed to occupy vastly more of Johnson's attention than they deserved. Still, he got me to watch two great Chaplin movies (Gold Rush and The Kid), for which I am grateful.
December 3, 2013
Paul Johnson always writes captivating stories. Several of the chapters in this book very fascinating as they delved into the lives of a colorful cast of humorists and explain the basic art forms used by those who evoke laughter.
A couple of the chapters were less compelling, almost having a Freudian feel to them. But I did find the book a good and informative read. The analysis is notable for its historical breath, scope of genres and collection of an unusual collection of personalities.
A couple of the chapters were less compelling, almost having a Freudian feel to them. But I did find the book a good and informative read. The analysis is notable for its historical breath, scope of genres and collection of an unusual collection of personalities.
May 13, 2014
One of those books that doesn't work for an audiobook. Considering at least 3 of the humorists (honestly, I lost count because I started tuning out the audiobook about 2/3rds through - never a good thing) in this book are artists, verbose descriptions of the humor in their drawings & etchings just doesn't cut it.
June 15, 2015
I didn't think I'd like this book so I began by skimming. By the time I realized how fabulous it is, I was nearly halfway through. I savored all the rest, written by a great and very knowledgable author, learned a lot and had fun. Now I have to start all over at the beginning and absorb what I missed by skimming
February 28, 2011
Humor tends to be very personal and cultural. It is interesting to see the choice of subjects used to illustrate the humorists - bare bottoms & pie throwing. The choices seem to be between "chaos" humor and one liners. But then I have always heard that comedy is hard.
January 16, 2016
Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward by Paul Johnson (Harper Collins 2010) (920) contains mini-biographies of a number of humorists. None of these are my favorites, and none were of any real interest to me. My rating: 3/10, finished 8/24/11.
May 25, 2019
Johnson's profiles of individual comic writers, actors and artists articulate not only what they did but also the source of their humor. I enjoyed chapters on those I knew well as well as those I didn't know as well.
August 22, 2015
Summary of historical figures who have been funny. A lot of the emphasis was on people's visual wit (cartoons) rather than verbal wit. Though there were interesting examples and anecdotes, there was little actual analysis of why the humorists were funny or how their life influenced their humor
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