The Humour Club discussion
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Wasn't sure what thread to post this in, but I have a question for you readers of humor. Those of you familiar with Carl Hiaasen, how would you categorize his adult books? What section of the bookstore would you put them in? I've written a couple in a similar style, but I'm finding it's kind of a gray area. I've been calling it "humorous suspense," but is there a better/more accurate/more appealing label? Thanks for your input!
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"Humorous suspense" may be more accurate.
I tend to agree--suspense vs. mystery, but I think we may be too close to the genre, while most readers don't distinguish.
wait! is this a humor group!? or it's the misspell on the group's name a bait so i don't feel uncomfortable!? or is Humour a person and this is a group about that person??? damn it! i'm confuse!!! are we into jokes? are we fanboys or what!? also! hi!!!
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Our group was started by a Brit, and apparently, silly as it seems, that's how they spell "humor".
But you're welcome to be a fanboy if you like.
We'll only make fun of you for a bit before moving onto something else.
Melki wrote: "Hello, Alfonso. Our group was started by a Brit, and apparently, silly as it seems, that's how they spell "humor".
But you're welcome to be a fanboy if you like.
We'll only make fun of you for..."
Melki, Canadians follow British spelling (mostly), so it's not silly to us. But if you like, I will spell "humour" without the u just to humor u. (Apologies to those who've seen this joke in a conversation with Kat, but I just couldn't help myself.)
ahhh! i see! as usual! a Briton is to blame for making something simple complicated!!! fair enough!!!!i am also fascinated by the promise of attention! no matter how short lived it may be!!! i'm already getting fantasies of being some sort of shooting star!!!
sexy!!!!
Alfonso wrote: "ahhh! i see! as usual! a Briton is to blame for making something simple complicated!!! fair enough!!!!i am also fascinated by the promise of attention! no matter how short lived it may be!!! i'm..."
Not "complicated," Alfonso. "Sophisticated" is the word you want!
Don't you know that, historically at least, to be really famous you have to be dead? And if the u is so complicated, why do you still spell it "famous"? Why not "famos"? The English language is compli... er, sophisticated no matter how you slice it.
Finished, Red Green Talks Cars: A Love Story . It was ok, not as funny as the other Red Green books I've read.
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Are you going to share with us the answer, or are we really gonna have to read a 544 page book to find out?
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I'm heading into town tomorrow,and plan to swing by the community veg patch and see if there is anything worth snaffling. The tomatoes may be ready to go, but I suspect it will be a while longer before I can have off with some corn or courgettes. I love that my home town grows veg in public plots that you can take food from for free.
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How does the community garden work? Is it the honor system that keeps one person from snarfing every ripe veggie?
its not so much a garden as there being various patches around York that have veg planted in the public planters. The one nearest to me has corn, marrows, courgettes and tomatoes, and various herbs. All the lettuce has gone, but I'm as willing to blame rats as people for that.And yeah, basically, its on peoples honour to not take everything. I just plan on walking past on occasion and seeing if anything is ready to have with dinner that day.
Had a salad in my lunch today - all from my garden or backyard (yes, I'm the kind of guy who picks 'weeds' from the yard and eat them. Today it was lettuce, tomato, yellow bean, and lambs quarters (aka, goosefoot, aka pig weed) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chenopod...
Top ten causes of a zombie apocalypse:1. Obama
2. Zombies
3. Meteorites
4. Synchronized swimming
5. Mosquitoes
6. Loved ones
7. Corporate greed
8. Well meaning scientists
9. IKEA
10. Terrorists
Zombies would be my number one reason...with Mitt Romney as the second.IKEA, aka the Swedish world domination will bring equal rites (as in non gender specific zombies) zombies...which is ok for zombies, but, not humans.
Nano particles...nuff said.
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The other day I was thinking, what if I just dropped dead and the cops came, went through my pockets and backpack, what would they piece together...I had,
A wallet stuffed with UPCs from Tetley tea boxes
A coupon for Old Navy I had printed off the internet
A backpack with a thermos, a soldering iron, and a spliced up cord from a laptop
A swiss army knife (camping version)
Car keys
A book - Amish Christmas stories
Trust me, there is a logical explanation for all this.
What do you have on your person right now?
I'm currently wearing my running clothes (I run into work) and my backpack currently consists of:My purse complete with loyalty cards for Simply Shakes filled enough for one free one and two 'plastic' £5 notes from Northern Ireland
My somewhat battered phone
Bug repellent
Rather scruffy field notebook and pen
Work clothes
Swiss army knife
Headphones
Bat detector and recording device
GPS dodad
The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl
My lunch
And most importantly the emergency snickers bar.
Think that basically shows I eat rubbish and work outside a lot...
If I dropped dead and the cops went through my briefcase, they'd conclude: "This guy really thought he'd be coming back."
Hi everyone, I'm new to Goodreads and your group so I hope you'll forgive any lack of etiquette etc.Don't really know where to start, but I do want to be involved because I love reading and writing humour. I'm currently over half way through 'Malice in Blunderland' by Jonny Gibbings. Never read anything quite like it, but it is making me laugh out loud - frequently. Anyone else got any observations on it.Hope I'm posting on the right thread here, but I am brand new. Feel like a new kid at school.
Charlie wrote: "Hi everyone, I'm new to Goodreads and your group so I hope you'll forgive any lack of etiquette etc.Don't really know where to start, but I do want to be involved because I love reading and writing..."Charlie, Jonny Gibbings happens to be a Goodreads author, so I'm sure he would enjoy hearing from you.
Thanks Richard, very thoughtful. I have actually exchanged posts on Twitter with him, but we'll definitely link up on Goodreads. You should try his book, if you've not already done so, it's hilarious. Life in the gutter is clearly not all doom and gloom.
Just read Contraptions. It was a weird collection of humourous illustrations. Weird because it was a satirical collection from the 20's, 30's, 40's. It seemed to mock the idea of making extremely complex machines that do simple tasks...
Sorry about that Melki...I believe part of the moderator job description is to know the topics. I feel I need to invent a twenty six step contraption that kicks me in the behind with an old boot.I will continue the trend of the board and not comment on your other post. Nothing personal.
Mod
Another praise for my library.They have this little display shelf they have just set up, it's stuck away in a corner with a big sign - STORAGE. There is a little note explaining since they only have so much floor space in the library they have to store older things away in the basement or something. You can order them from the website or talk to a librarian, blah blah.
But, on this shelf they had some old VHS tapes - Monty Pythons! Score! No waiting list, seems I'm the only one in town with a VCR player. Ha, pays not to throw things away...which is also good for the environment (Double SCORE!)
Funny story - I go to Starbucks the other day to get a frap for my wife. She's waiting in the car with the kids.The girl working the cash says to me, nice shirt. Being a nerd, I'm wearing this Napoleon Dynamite shirt...
Anyway they put your name on the cup to make it personalized, I guess?
So, she asks my name. I say Matt...er, actually put Napoleon down that would be funny!
Then when they call out my order they would yell Napoleon...funny eh?
Anyway, I get back to the car with the drink and my wife looks at the writing on the cup. She asks about the Napoleon part...and the hearts the girl drew all over the cup! Try to explain that?!
Now that I think about it, the girl was being a little flirty, but, I'm married so I guess I'm oblivious to it now.
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Wasn't sure where to post this. I'm starting a Facebook page entited Babyboomer Humor for babyboomer readers and authors who enjoy the humor genre.I'd appreciate any "likes" to get the ball rolling. Feel free to Post humor or Funny eBooks around babyboomer humor Thanks guys and gals.http://www.facebook.com/BabyboomerHumor
Hey. My name is Kaj. I love to read! And this group looks cool. ^.^
KAJ {I'M OUT FOR YOUR BLOOD} wrote: "Hey. My name is Kaj. I love to read! And this group looks cool. ^.^"Kaj, welcome. And, you are right, this group is very cool. Ice cool...or outer space cool (isn't it like 0 degrees Kelvin out there, which is like -200 celsius or -1000 fahrenheit...or something?)
Just finished, The Best Laid Plans, winner of the 2011 Canada Reads contest and The Leacock award for humour...funny fictional story about our political system up here in the north. A reluctant guy is elected into parliament by a twist of fate and mixes things up a bit. One of those fish out of water, maverick, stories.
Went to Denny's the other day, for those who do not know it is a big chain restaurant, and they've taken a
theme on. Jumping on the new movie bandwagon.Yes, there is even a special limited time menu offering such treats as Bilbo Smoothie, Shire Sausage Skillet, Gandalf's Gobble Melt...
I went with the Hobbit Hole, kind of a play on Toad in the 'ole, but, not quite. It was an egg fried in the centre of a cheese bun.
You can probably guess how good it was.
Melki wrote: "Was it Hobbitilicious?"Sounds hobbit forming, i.e. you want to eat it for breakfast, second breakfast, luncheon,...
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nAAioc...
The ONLY reason to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.
Our local parade was pretty interesting. Apparently there was some drunk walking along with it yelling, 'there's no such thing as santa'.
First, the apology. I'm new around these parts, so if I screw up anything, please accept my apology in advance. I'm thinking of making up cards to pass out which say that and save time.Anyway, an author friend suggested I come here to mention my new book, A Christmas Carol 2: The Return of Scrooge, since...well, 'tis the season. It's been out for only a couple weeks, and just reached #2 on the Amazon New Releases Hot List for Humor. (Or, humour.) Of course, the way lists works, it could be #65 by the time I finish typing this... However, it's been in the Top 10 for the past week-ish, so who knows?!
Happily, I haven't been boiled in Christmas pudding by Dickens's experts yet. In fact, David Perdue of the well-regarded The Dickens Page wrote that he "thoroughly enjoyed it!" And film critic Nell Minow of The Movie Mom, called it, "An expert updating of a classic story filled with sly wit -- a pleasure to read!"
Oh, okay, one more. Edgar Award-winning writer/director Mick Garris (The Stand, The Shining ABC mini-series) said the book was "witty, smart, and hugely entertaining."
(And James Schmidt on Goodreads wrote it was “Dreadful.” Hey, to each their own. I'm just glad the Dickens expert loved it...)
The novella is purported to be a long-lost manuscript by Dickens. It continues the original tale, five years after Ebenezer Scrooge has passed away. His former clerk, Bob Cratchit. has driven the company to near-bankruptcy, and so the ghost of Scrooge returns one to teach Cratchit the true meaning of money. The adventure is assisted by dozens of characters from other Dickens novels woven throughout.
The book includes dozens of footnotes, taken from supposed-letters between Dickens and his publisher, notes left behind by the author, and scholarly research.
As for myself, I'm a two-time recipient of the Lucille Ball Award for comedy screenwriting, and my screen work includes the upcoming comedy-adventure, The Wild Roses, for Callahan Filmworks. I've also been a columnist for the Huffington Post since almost its start, a member of the Writers Guild of America, and...well, other stuff. I'm also considered the world's foremost expert on Charles Dickens, except for all those who know more.
Anyway, I appreciate folks taking the time to read this note. I believe that the book is almost shorter.
A Christmas Carol 2: The Return of Scrooge
Was just reading some David Sedaris quotes,“He took a sip of my father’s weak coffee and spit it back into the mug. "This shit’s like making love in a canoe."
"Excuse me?"
"It’s fucking near water.”
― David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
“Boys who spent their weekends making banana nut muffins did not, as a rule, excel in the art of hand-to-hand combat.”
― David Sedaris, Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim
I've started watching The Big Bang Theory...finally, my world revealed! At long last a TV with 'smart' jokes about Quantum mechanics, String Theory, Astrophysics, and Star Trek! Someone I work with would sometimes refer to me as 'Sherman'...and now I get the joke (or would it be more of an insult)?
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Bookworm wrote: "I've started watching The Big Bang Theory...finally, my world revealed! At long last a TV with 'smart' jokes about Quantum mechanics, String Theory, Astrophysics, and Star Trek! Someone I work wi..."
Did you mean Sheldon by any chance? I have a friend at work who has many characteristics of Sheldon and has even been called Sheldon by many of his friends, including me. He tries to own his Sheldonness (Sheldonity? Sheldonicity?) but I think it stings a bit when someone calls him this. So I don't do it... too often.
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The Humour Club
Books mentioned in this topic
The Book of Heroic Failures (other topics)Fox in Socks (other topics)
Green Eggs and Ham (other topics)
Fox in Socks (other topics)
Fox in Socks (other topics)
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Authors mentioned in this topic
Katherine May (other topics)Richard Osman (other topics)
David Sedaris (other topics)
Christopher Moore (other topics)
Christopher Buckley (other topics)
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Kyle it's been awhile and here is a short comment needing serious contemplation.