Thanks to the Midwest Review and reviewer Diane Donovan (Donovan’s Literary Services ) for this thoughtful review of my book Funny Thing Is: A Guide to Understanding Comedy.
“Funny Thing Is: A Guide to Understanding Comedy analyzes the evolution of comedy in many different ways; from sociological observations to political, psychological, and historical components of comedy. Stephen Evans includes insights from philosophers and other observers during the process of considering what makes people laugh (and why), and what makes terminology or twists of language humorous.
This, in turn, leads to a reasoned study of the influences on comedy’s development, perception, and appearance which provides food for thought. The opportunity emerges on levels ranging from personal reflections and experiences to examples from scholars who come from different disciplines and approaches to comedy.
From Chaucer to Freud, this wide-ranging hop through worldviews and laughter is marked by its own special brand of serious inspection and insight:
Comedy is like an iceberg; most of it floats below the water line of consciousness. And just as Kant connected comedy with meaning, Freud connects it with truth.”
Chapters also delve into why comedy has not been seriously studied in depth, despite the many allusions to its devices and incarnations. Of special interest is the attention given to how comedy began and has evolved over human history.
From the nature of laughter to philosophical reflections, the connections drawn between major thinkers and comedy’s impact on daily life makes for thought-provoking reading, and certainly will power book club and classroom discussions:
I don’t mean to say that some comedy is true and others false. What I mean is that some comedy, the rarest form unfortunately (maybe we can change that) is comedy that leads us toward truth. True comedy opens the mind and keeps it open.
Is Funny Thing Is funny? Not in and of itself – and it’s not meant to be. Plenty of other books tap the funny bone, but it’s the flow of enlightened consideration of comedy’s roots and applications that makes Funny Thing Is highly recommended for a wide audience. This includes those interested in philosophical, social, or psychological analysis and general-interest readers who will relish the rare history embedded in this story of human laughter.”
