Patricia Sargeant

What’s so funny?

Humor is subjective. I think we can agree on that. What we each find humorous depends on a slew of things, including life experiences, mood and whether we have even one humorous bone in our bodies.

Even within families, a joke may hit relatives differently. I suppose that shouldn’t surprise me but it kind of does. For example, there’s always that one family member who thinks a nickname you were cursed with at childhood because of some ill-conceived prank should be brought up at each and every family reunion because it’s just so funny. For the record, it shouldn’t be because it’s not. But I digress.

Some people never seem to get the joke. Then there are those who always find a way to make us smile. Like a good friend—or a good book. (You knew I’d get to the point sooner or later, didn’t you?)

Escaping into a good book is therapeutic. I don’t need to tell you that. But I’ve found well-placed humor in a story also can be energizing. Rom-coms and cozy mystery sales blew up especially during the pandemic because of the way those stories make people feel.

I admire authors who can write humor. I admire them so much. They slip in the humor at just the right moment to complement the pacing. The character’s delivery itself has to be almost surgically precise. Humor done well—which I recognize is subjective—is masterful.

Personally, I’m not a “laugh-out-loud, zany” cozy mystery author. I’m definitely not a “laugh-out-loud, zany” romantic suspense author, either. Ha! To fill that gap, I tend to lean more into emotion. So while some cozy mystery authors have you struggling to catch your breath from laughing so hard, my books probably have you reaching for a tissue. Sorry about that.

Which is why, when readers tell me they’ve laughed while reading one of my books, I’m flummoxed. The other day, I had a lovely virtual chat with a book club podcaster. We were discussing my recent release, BEHIND THE BADGE. It’s a romantic suspense. The main protagonists are law enforcement officers tasked with capturing a serial killer. These murders are connected to the unsolved homicide of the female lead’s aunt, and the female lead is suspected of being a corrupt detective. This is serious stuff.

However, the podcaster told me she’d laughed during an interrogation scene because she thought the character’s reaction in the scene was funny. She was impressed because romantic suspense novels had never made her laugh—until she read mine. Thank you. I think?

Once I thought about her reaction for an hour or three, I realized although the humor she found in the book was unintentional, she connected with it. I can appreciate that. In fact, it makes me happy.

Writers, what type of humor do you write: dry wit, zany, sarcastic, all of the above, other?

Readers, what type of humor do you most enjoy in your books?

21 thoughts on “What’s so funny?”

  1. Patricia,

    hmmm. That’s a hard call for me. I love to read humor. I get tickled pink when I am reading a book and I literally laugh out loud (not just say t”that’s funny” in my head).

    biggest compliment I ever got was when Dawn Dowdle was considering avenging me, and she said “I don’t remember what you wrote, but someone in that first chapter made me laugh out loud.” WOW!

    what humor do I read? Anything, even the dark humor.

    what humor do I write? I have no clue! I don’t try to write humor, it just shows up on the page. It’s hard to write it. You can tell a great story to someone at a party, but writing it always seems to be so flat.

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  2. As a reader, I often find deliberate attempts at humor injected in a book awkward and not necessarily as funny as intended. I do love situational humor and the way characters react to it. I hope this makes sense. It seems more like life, we all do things or see things happening that just strike the funny bone and we laugh. Even in the most (maybe especially) intense and serious moments, a comment or response just makes me laugh, or at least want to!

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  5. I didn’t start out trying to write humor into my stories, but it has worked quite well in my Elmo Simpson Mysteries. I tend to go for dry wit that emerges from Elmo’s observations of the world. Humor is such an amazing coping mechanism and I love reading it!

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  6. Like you, Patricia, I’m not a “laugh out loud zany” writer or reader. I mostly appreciate clever, dry humor. Lately, I’ve been reading Benjamin Stevenson’s EVERYONE IN MY FAMILY HAS KILLED SOMEONE and EVERYONE ON THIS TRAIN IS A SUSPECT, and his sense of humor really gets me!

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  7. Love the quotes in this post, Patricia! I tend to go for light wit, quirky humor, and sometimes zany. Usually, these humorous things arise from character.

    My kiddos, though, inherited sarcastic streaks (how?!); those sometimes go over my head, so they laugh at me in real life!

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  8. I don’t consider myself particularly funny. Which, like you, is why when someone says they laughed at a particular scene, I’m always a bit caught off guard. Thanks…but I wasn’t trying, I swear.

    I think I do best with the quirky, dry wit. I think. Maybe.

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  9. It takes a lot to make me laugh when I’m reading a book. I still definitely enjoy the light vibe, but there are some authors that people say are funny, and I just don’t see it. I still enjoy their books, but I don’t laugh myself.

    For a book, I tend to enjoy the quick wit. Sarcasm. And, of course, puns. When watching a sitcom, I enjoy those, but I can get more laughs from reactions and physical humor, too. I don’t tend to see that in writing most of the time.

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  10. And now I’m wondering what might that nickname be… Ha!

    As for my writing, I call my books snarky cozies. They’re not laugh-out-loud funny, or even all that humorous as a whole, but there’s a certain tone that keeps them light and upbeat.

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  12. I find so many things unintentionally funny! It’s good because it makes life a lot more interesting. But when it comes to reading, I’m a sucker for wry humor and sarcasm! 😄

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