Fantasy-Humour

Smashfiction said:

I'm a big fan of Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels, I love how he mixes the often serious plots and themes of fantasy with his sarky characters and consant underlying humour.

I have always wanted to do a sort of parody on fantasy novels, and by parody I don't mean something like Muddle Earth but just taking the mickey out of the genre in general a bit.

Thing is I have never written a humourous story before at all, and finding the right mix might also be tough. Could anyone advise me on themes that might be cliché or very hit-and-miss, so I don't make some ridiculous blunder?

Oh and, I'm new here, so once I have a stab at it should I post it in Share My Work straight away or put it here for some constructive crit first?

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Read Robert Lynn Asprin. He has a series with titles such as 'Myth Adventures'. It is a series set in this 'middle earth' scenario but with a twist.

Also try: 'Magic Kingdom for Sale/SOLD' by Terry Brooks...and just for perspective, pick up that novel by Dave Berry...the one with the mobsters and the goat.

...then, after you've gotten a handle on it, post it in Share your Work!

I was going to suggest the same thing! I also liked his Phule series, though that's more sci fi than fantasy.

The "chosen one" who is a geeky teen boy who must discover his real identity? Done to death. Although the world is ripe for a good Aes Sedai sendup, methinks.

I'm with you Smashfiction as in I'm walking the same path as you!

You can also do an AW search and find a little ditty called 'Haggis Chihuahua and the Writer's Bone' which is a little parody of Harry Potter done wicked by a few AWer's I may or may not know. . .

Yes, but those kind of parodies are not what I like (sorry for hi-jacking the thread by the way). Those books like Bored of the Rings and Barry Hotter (or whatever it's called) make me really wobbly in the knees...

Then perhaps you might like Hunter S. Thompson.

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" It will make you laugh...it will make you cry...it will make you check into rehab.

Jaycinth said:

Then perhaps you might like Hunter S. Thompson.

"Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas" It will make you laugh...it will make you cry...it will make you check into rehab.

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*scratches book off his "to read" list*

First, congrats on being a Pratchett fan. If you're looking for tired old plotlines to tweak the nose of, start at the Not So Grand Cliche List of Overused Fantasy Plotlines and check out the daddy of sci-fi cliche plots at The Grand List of Overused Science Fiction Cliches. There's plenty in both pages to turn sideways for humor. Good luck!

Ha ha! Them lists are brilliant!

I also recommend reading The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy books-- especially the first two. They are a send-up of science fiction, rather than fantasy, but are, in my humble opinion, among the funniest books ever written. Brilliant and hilarious.

I've been writing a fantasy comedy saga, and while it isn't a send up of the fantasy genre, it still highlights how to get humour out of the genre.

I don't feel confident in taking stock-standard plotlines and making them funny, but taking the emotions usually felt in whatever fantasy scene you write about, that's easy enough.

For instance, it's usually written that being able to perform high magic is a noble thing, something to be proud of. So, turn it around - make it insulting. While I would put a little more thought into it, you could use something such as a demon appearing and kicking the wizard in the shin whenever he adds eye of newt to anything.

See where I'm going? It's all in the emotions - read a lot of serious fantasy and see what emotions crop up with whatever specifically impossible things (the fantastic element) and just make comedy where there was once serious writing.

And try not to steal any actual storylines. Same *type* of story, fine, same *exact plot* but twisted to be funny - lawsuit.

Edit: What I meant with my wizard example didn't seem clear when I read through. You don't just come out and say, "It's demeaning to be a wizard" and expect a laugh, rather you have to take on board in your mind that it's demeaning and come up with plot examples of that. After all, if you just say, "It's demeaning to be a wizard" then chances are you're depriving your reader of the opportunity to ascribe their personal favourite phrase or mental image regarding your examples of such.

But still - it's all in knowing the emotions, but not just saying them. (If that makes any sense yet...)

Cliff.