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Funny Ho Ho and Funny Fantastic
139 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1973
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April 5, 2025
This, the successor to Funny Ha Ha and Funny Peculiar, is — or purports to be — a collection of amusing headlines and stories culled from newspapers around the world. The stories on the even pages have funny misprints and unintentional ambiguities; those on the odd pages are simply bizarre. At first glance they seem to be authentic, and indeed many have the ring of truth; but I would be more convinced if more details were given as to the sources, which are often vague (e.g. “Letter to schoolmaster”, “Provincial paper”). Even when a magazine such as Reveille is cited, there is no date given (possibly there are copyright issues, of course).
But the point, of course, is amusement, of which there is plenty. You can see some examples on the cover. My favourites, however, are an amazing translation of Jabberwocky into German; and this:
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There are restaurants in France where you may select your own lobster [...]. In such an establishment a customer complained that the crustacean paraded for his approval was not fresh. Whereupon, according to his evidence, the restaurant proprietor waved it under his nose, shouting ‘Not fresh? Smell it!’. This invitation he accepted but, so the restauranteur contended, went beyond its terms, peering at it in a manner calculated to cause it annoyance or irritation, so that the sequel was the natural and probable consequence of his own act.
That sequel was that the denizen of the deep, with well-judged precision, reached out a claw and seized the tip of the customer’s nose, nor would it let go until it had drawn blood or (as one report suggests) actually removed the extremity of the (to it) intrusive organ. [...]
(from Straws in my Wig, by Richard Roe)
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Ideal, then, for the next boring train ride.
The third volume is:
Funny Amusing And Funny Amazing
But the point, of course, is amusement, of which there is plenty. You can see some examples on the cover. My favourites, however, are an amazing translation of Jabberwocky into German; and this:
----------
There are restaurants in France where you may select your own lobster [...]. In such an establishment a customer complained that the crustacean paraded for his approval was not fresh. Whereupon, according to his evidence, the restaurant proprietor waved it under his nose, shouting ‘Not fresh? Smell it!’. This invitation he accepted but, so the restauranteur contended, went beyond its terms, peering at it in a manner calculated to cause it annoyance or irritation, so that the sequel was the natural and probable consequence of his own act.
That sequel was that the denizen of the deep, with well-judged precision, reached out a claw and seized the tip of the customer’s nose, nor would it let go until it had drawn blood or (as one report suggests) actually removed the extremity of the (to it) intrusive organ. [...]
(from Straws in my Wig, by Richard Roe)
----------
Ideal, then, for the next boring train ride.
The third volume is:
Funny Amusing And Funny Amazing
Displaying 1 of 1 review