“That's one of the things about comedy - I think it works best when it's contextualized, as opposed to kind of an island of cleverness.” ThinkingKindComedyCleverness Author:Joshua Ferris
“The whole time I was writing, I had to fight my normal inclination to be funny, to sort of patch humor in, in order to convey all of the disruptions of the disease to the family dynamic, the loss of individuality, the impact on professional life, and the sanity of the main character. Of course, that's not to say it never sneaks in; there's some black comedy in there, like when he shows up to court wearing a bicycle helmet and won't take it off.” WritingCharacterFightingBlackLossComedyIndividualitySanityBicycleSneakHelmet Author:Joshua Ferris
“I think comedy is so much easier to do on the page than it is in real life. When I'm writing, comedy is an easy way to win over the reader. You're automatically more disposed to keep reading, thinking maybe, "I'll get another laugh or two." I think it's a survival instinct in me. I mean, you don't want to lose these guys within five or ten pages. You want them to keep going. I think to some extent it's a desperate measure that I throw out there, because a novel isn't a complete waste of time if it made you laugh.” ThinkingWritingMeanRealGuyReadingWinningEasyNovelLaughingComedySurvivalInstinctReal LifeDesperateKeep GoingWasting Time Author:Joshua Ferris
“Comedy is like fictional charm. It's the charm of fiction. Or the charisma of fiction. When you meet somebody who's immediately charismatic, you're attracted to that person. And in fiction it's got to come out in either one of two ways: in the prose itself, and you're hooked immediately because you never want to leave such a colorful and penetrating world. Or, it's simply being a funny writer.” WorldComedyProseColorfulCharismaCharismatic Author:Joshua Ferris
